More swimming lessons
More doodling. The parents move about a bit less than the swimmers…
And little boys’ hair sticks up after a swimming lesson.
More swimming, more ink
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Category Archives: books and reading
Horseplay
Swimming with ink
I love books. I love altered books. I love black ink.
It was only a matter of time…
Watching my boys’ swimming lessons last week
I drew in an old book with a pen
And later I added my beloved ink
I think I could enjoy doing a lot of this. And I haven’t yet included another secret love of mine… collage…
Story Box Library
There are 15 Days to go until the Crowd-funding deadline for The Story Box Library is up. If they don’t reach their target, they don’t receive any funding at all.
If you love children’s books, you might like to check out their site and their Pozible funding page. At the moment there are some gorgeous Australian book illustrations (prints and originals) up for grabs as rewards for those who pledge towards the project, but you also get a subscription to the site with your pledge. The site will be a great resource for parents and teachers. (Check out the videos while you are there.)
Here’s what I just bought!
There are cheaper options than this and it also goes up. Something for everyone.
And this is my reward!
Oh my!!
Come on, get on board.
Donkeys can’t fly on planes
South Sudanese children tell their stories of survival
Click the invitation to go to KidsOwnPublishing web site to read more
This is an invitation to attend the launch of the publication Donkeys Can’t Fly on Planes. These powerful stories were written by students from refugee backgrounds at Latrobe English language centre and Traralgon (Liddiard Road) Primary School. A wonderful community collaboration.
Date: Tuesday August 20, 2013
Time: 6pm
Venue: Art Play, Birrarung Marr Park, Melbourne
I produced this image of a Sudanese family for the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development last year, as part of a frieze to promote reading to children in the early years.
Nicki Greenberg and other comics stars
This is Nicki’s gorgeous new web site, which shows off her breadth of work. Her graphic novels and comics work are particularly strong. I just love this piece Comic Fatigue. (Postmodern or just Loony Tunes madness? …Or was Loony Tunes a form of postmodernism?) And I really, really loved her graphic novels The Great Gatsby and Hamlet.
I’m often drawn to the idea of doing a graphic novel… but then I look again and imagine drawing all those pages, doing all that very difficult composition and hardest of all CHARACTER CONTINUITY x one billion! …And then I change my mind. Hats off to all you amazing graphic novelists. You are awe inspiring.
While I’m on the subject, if any of you out there are crazy enough… Oops, I mean spirited and passionate and motivated enough to want to launch into comics, I can highly recommend Scott McCloud‘s books Understanding Comics and Making Comics as a brilliant starting point.
For further inspiration on art, writing, comics and perhaps life… try reading What it is, by Lynda Barry.
Oliver and the Seawigs
New book by Philip Reeve and Sarah McIntyre – watch the video here
Find out more about the creators here and here and here.
Admire Sarah’s excellent poster below! Click on it for a link to her post about the lobby for school libraries.
This poster was used for a mass lobby of parliament for school libraries in the UK.
Oliver and the Seawigs. This is a lively and appealing video promo. So effective that I immediately went and pre-ordered my copy of the book. Well… alright, I admit I was an easy target. But nevertheless I think video skills are a probably a good thing to develop to promote books these days.
Here’s one place you can learn how… I’m not sure yet. But I might… Video Idiot Boot Camp
Study: Reading novels makes us better thinkers – Salon.com
Study: Reading novels makes us better thinkers – Salon.com.
This is cheery news, but I did think it amusing that the author uses the word ‘anecdotes’ where he presumably means ‘antidotes’.
Read on readers!
The Prettiest Publications of the Past on AbeBooks
The Prettiest Publications of the Past on AbeBooks.
In case you want something to drool over while you are drinking your morning cup of tea, check out the AbeBooks e-newsletter for this week at the link above.
By the way, a couple of weeks ago I wouldn’t have known what this book was. Now, I know a little about Charles Lamb whose life was an interesting one, because I have read Anne Fadiman’s book ‘At Large And At Small: Confessions of a Literary Hedonist’. I’m so glad I did! It is a really wonderful read.
If you crave more delicious book covers after you’ve drooled over that lot, make another cup of tea and go over here.
And if you’re still thirsty, here is something more contemporary and bright. You should be properly awake after that:-)
Have a great day!
Prime Minister’s Literary Awards 2013
Congratulations to the shortlistees for this wonderful award. Here are the children’s fiction covers. Hooray!
From The Age today: Miles away from the flak, PM gets acquainted with a good book or two.
The 2013 Prime Minister’s Literary Awards shortlists are:
Fiction
Floundering by Romy Ash
The Chemistry of Tears by Peter Carey
Questions of Travel by Michelle de Kretser
Lost Voices by Christopher Koch
Mateship with Birds by Carrie Tiffany
Poetry
Burning Rice by Eileen Chong
The Sunlit Zone by Lisa Jacobson
Jam Tree Gully: Poems by John Kinsella
Liquid Nitrogen by Jennifer Maiden
Crimson Crop by Peter Rose
Non-fiction
Bradman’s War by Malcolm Knox
Uncommon Soldier by Chris Masters
Plein Airs and Graces by Adrian Mitchell
The Australian Moment by George Megalogenis
Bold Palates by Barbara Santich
Prize for Australian History
The Sex Lives of Australians: A History by Frank Bongiorno
Sandakan by Paul Ham
Gough Whitlam by Jenny Hocking
Farewell, dear people by Ross McMullin
The Censor’s Library by Nicole Moore
Young adult fiction
Everything left unsaid by Jessica Davidson
The Children of the King by Sonya Hartnett
Grace Beside Me by Sue McPherson
Fog a Dox by Bruce Pascoe
Friday Brown by Vikki Wakefield
Children’s fiction
Red by Libby Gleeson
Today We Have No Plans by Jane Godwin and illustrated by Anna Walker
What’s the Matter, Aunty May? by Peter Friend and illustrated by Andrew Joyner
The Beginner’s Guide to Revenge by Marianne Musgrove
Judy Watson 