Over the past week Australian children’s authors and illustrators have been hitting the streets and the schools, taking their stories to the peeps, enthusing kids on writing and reading and creativity. I was among them and it was good.
I am constantly amazed and inspired by the wacky ideas, questions and mindful meanderings of kids. We have so much to learn about present-momentness from children. The more time I spend brainstorming, sharing stories and chatting with kids the greater respect I have and the more informed my stories are. So, thank you for a fun Book Week and thanks to the CBCA for promoting the value of children’s books.
Here is my week in pictures and a few words.
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| 1100 boys from 100+ different nationalities in the hall at Patrician Brothers Fairfield for a Book Week chat and reading. |
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| At Sydney’s Shore Prep they did ‘book busking’ to raise money for Room to Read – www.roomtoread.org – a seriously amazing charity building libraries and providing girls’ education in developing countries. Book busking involves students reading from fave books while other students wander and listen and toss coins into the hats of the readers. |
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| I travelled to schools north, east, west and south of Sydney throughout the week. |
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| Modelling clay sheep and snail created by students at a workshop I ran at Voices on the Range festival, Toowoomba, the week before Book Week. |
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| A series of pop-up displays created by students at Moriah College , based on my ‘Nit Boy’ books. |
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| I finished the week fittingly with a visit to Sydney’s amazing ‘Art of Dr Seuss’ store. Inspiring to read about the good doctor and see some of his ‘secret’ artwork. |
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| This week it’s Melbourne Writers Festival. Will post some pics soon. |
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| The view from the 47th floor of the hotel in Melbourne. This is a seriously fantastic city. Like a mini New York. |
