Jo Sandhu’s mid grade historical fiction/adventure, Tarin of the Mammoths trilogy has burst onto the scene with a bang. Book one: The Exile, won the 2018 Readings Children’s book prize, was an Aurealis finalist and a CBCA notable book. The three books were released over 2017 and 2018. I first noticed Jo on Twitter and then kept […]
Today I welcome Catherine Pelosi to the JWFK blog. Catherine’s mid-grade novel about science and inventions, Quark’s Academy, was released earlier this year and she was invited to speak about it recently at an international festival in the United Arab Emirates! Her picture book, Something For Fleur is released next month (check out the invitation […]
Paul MacDonald, owner of The Children’s Bookshop, Beecoft, NSW addressed The Northern Sydney Sub branch of the CBCA recently, sharing his knowledge and experience of the Children’s Literature industry from a bookseller’s perspective. The following is a summary of the information I took home from the event. Thanks also to my ‘brains trust’  Brydie Wright, Paula […]
Aura Parker is an author and illustrator who is certainly going places – and I don’t just say this because I ran into her at the airport recently! Her picture book Twig (her first as author and illustrator) has been published internationally as well as recognized nationally as a Notable book in the CBCA Book of the […]
The title of this article might seem a misnomer given the physical stature of both Margaret Wild and Julie Vivas, however there is no doubt about their giant status in the picture book world. It was an absolute pleasure to hear them speak in conversation with Belinda Murrell at the CBCA Northern Sydney sub-branch Christmas […]
One thing I love about the creative industries is that several people can have a similar idea yet express it in totally different ways. This was brought home to me the other evening when attending a talk by CBCA judge, Cathie Tasker. Cathie pointed out that two of the books shortlisted for awards this year […]
It’s that glorious time again where teachers, parents, children, literacy creatives and advocates raid the bookshelves (and craft cupboards) in honour of the annual Book Week celebrations! Hosted by the Children’s Book Council of Australia and running from August 20th to 26th, this year’s theme is inspiring; it’s ‘Australia! Story Country’. Last year I wrote […]
Deborah Kelly’s publishing career is really taking off! Since the publication of her delightful picture book The Bouncing Ball (Random House) in 2013 Deborah has had 7 books published, across a variety of genres. Deborah’s second picture book, Jam for Nana (Random House, Illustrated by Lisa Stewart) was published in 2014, the same time as […]
As creators and educators in the children’s literature field we need support and up-to-date knowledge of the industry to help us continue, and succeed, on our writing and teaching journeys. With opportunities to have work published, profiles discovered and resources on hand, we applaud those generous literary magazines and e-zines that do just that. Buzz […]
I’ve just added this accumulated pile of books on my desk to my Goodreads profile. It got me thinking about the importance of reading for writers. One of the things I put on my Writers’ Action Matrix at the beginning of the year was “Read books in your genre – study their elements.” It’s something […]
