This week I am delighted to introduce you to Australian author and fellow Queensland educator Robyn Osborne and her delightful picture book Bruno, the Boisterous Blue Dog from the Bush.
This post is but one of several celebrating Robyn’s book in Romi Sharp’s Books on Tour. Please read to the end of the post for details of other posts celebrating Robyn’s work.
About Robyn
Robyn Osborne is an Australian author and teacher based in Queensland. She is dog obsessive and many of her books, including Bruno, have been inspired by her furry friends. Robyn grew up on the Sunshine Coast in South East Queensland where her father worked as a sugarcane cutter. As a child, she was surrounded by pets and quickly became an animal fanatic. At age eleven, when she made the connection between cows and steak, she became a vegetarian.
Although she always wanted to be a writer, a number of uncreative roles got in the way. It was when she became a teacher that she rediscovered her love of writing. She has won or been shortlisted for many awards and has published many short stories, junior novels and picture books.
About Bruno, the Boisterous Blue Dog from the Bush
This is a timeless Aussie tale celebrating the friendship between Bob the bushie and his best buddy, Bruno the blue dog.
Dimity likes to fill every spare moment with words. She writes and reviews stories exclusively for kids and is the Managing Editor for Kids’ Book Review. Her word webs appear in anthologies, school magazines, junior novels, as creative digital content, and picture books including The Fix-It Man (2017) and At The End of Holyrood Lane (2018) with more to follow in 2019 and 2020.
She is a seasoned presenter both in Australia and overseas, an accredited Write Like An Author facilitator and a Books in Homes Role Model Volunteer in Australia.
Dimity believes picture books are soul food, to be consumed at least 10 times a week. If these aren’t available, she’ll settle for ice-cream. She lives just around the corner from Bat Man on the Gold Coast although she still prefers hanging out in libraries than with superheroes.
In this post, Dimity discusses her latest picture book At the End of Holyrood Lane. The book, illustrated by Nicky Johnston and published by EK Books, deals sensitively with the tough issue of domestic violence.
The story
At The End of Holyrood Lane is a poignant yet uplifting picture book that deals with domestic violence in a way that provides understanding and offers hope to young children.
‘At the End of Holyrood Lane is enigmatic. Different children will be able to interpret the story in different ways. I think this is excellent. Kudos to both author and illustrator for a successful creation that I hope will enrich many children’s lives.’ Susan Stephenson, The Book Chook.
The interview
Welcome to readilearn, Dimity.
Thank you for inviting me.
Dimity, At the End of Holyrood Lane was written for a very special purpose and a very special situation. Can you tell us a little about how you came to write this story and why it was important to you to do so?
As Christmas draws near, keeping children focussed on their lessons can be a challenge for teachers. But it’s not impossible. It is not necessary to fill every moment with Christmas themed activities, but a few interspersed throughout the day can be motivating and lift everyone’s spirits. Activities that promote children’s learning should always take precedence over time fillers.
To assist teachers keep the focus on learning while children would rather be thinking of Christmas and holidays, I have prepared a range of lessons and suggestions for use in different subject areas. Many of the lessons and suggestions integrate learning across curriculum areas. All readilearn Christmas themed activities can be found under the Cultural Studies tab in the subcategory Christmas.
Focus on the children
A great place to start is always with the children and their family’s traditions.
Begin with a survey to find out which children in the class do and do not celebrate Christmas. While you will already have an idea of which children do, it can be an interesting way to begin the discussion of different cultural traditions celebrated by children in your class.
The main ingredient in any of these discussions should always be respect, and it is important to find ways of making classroom activities inclusive.
How many school days until Christmas?
Advent Calendars that count down the twenty-five December days until Christmas are great for families to use in the home but not so suitable for school. What about counting down the school days until Christmas? Twenty-five school days would mean starting at least five weeks before school finishes, which might be a bit soon, so choose another number which suits your program. Fifteen (three weeks) could be a good number. (Note: If, for inclusivity, you didn’t wish to count down to Christmas, you could count down to the holidays.)
A countdown calendar
Schedule opportunities for the children to present information about their family traditions as part of the countdown.
This week, I have great pleasure in introducing you to Allison Paterson and her beautiful non-fiction picture book Australia Remembers: Anzac Day, Remembrance Day and War Memorials. With the observance of Remembrance Day occurring on the weekend, the interview is timely.
This post is but one of several celebrating Elizabeth’s beautiful picture book in Romi Sharp’s Books on Tour. Please read to the end of the post for details of other posts celebrating Elizabeth’s work.
About the book
The book explains, in a way that is detailed but accessible for a young audience, the origins and significance of both Anzac Day and Remembrance Day. Explanations of the traditions and symbols ensure that children understand why it is important to observe these historical events and why we should never forget those who fought for our country, and those who keep us safe today.
This volume is the first in a series. The second volume Australia Remembers: Customs and Traditions of the Australian Defence Force will be released in 2019.
This week I have great pleasure in introducing Elizabeth Cummings author of The Forever Kid. This post is but one of several celebrating Elizabeth’s beautiful picture book in Romi Sharp’s Books on Tour. Please read to the end of the post for details of other posts celebrating Elizabeth’s work.
About Elizabeth Cummings
Elizabeth Mary Cummings is a British author based in Australia. She writes, advocates for and speaks about storytelling and health matters for families and youth. She is a qualified Primary School teacher and has worked in many schools in the UK, New Zealand and Australia. She is a member of the American Psychology Association and studied psychology and business studies at The University of Edinburgh in Scotland before training to be a Primary School teacher and travelling around the world with her family.
The topics in Elizabeth’s books are of both local and global significance. Elizabeth travels globally to talk about family and mental health matters as well as creative writing.
About The Forever Kid
The Forever Kid, a sensitively written picture book about life after the death of a sibling, is a culmination of four years’ work. Beautifully illustrated by Cheri Hughes, it is published in Australia by Big Sky Publishing.
Synopsis
It is Johnny’s birthday and, although Johnny is no longer with them, his family gather to celebrate. Johnny’s brother explains to the reader how much Johnny meant to every member of the family and how the family feel closest to him when they remember him on his birthday. The story finishes with the family lying together on the grass telling each other cloud stories, just like they used to with Johnny.
This week I have great pleasure in introducing Jacqueline de Rose-Ahern author of Charlie’s Adventures…in South Africa. This post is but one of several celebrating Jacqueline’s beautiful picture book in Romi Sharp’s Books on Tour. Please read to the end of the post for details of other posts celebrating Jacqueline’s work.
About Jacqueline de Rose-Ahern
Jacqueline de Rose-Ahern is a Canberra based author and the recipient of the ACT Writers Centre 2017 Anne Edgeworth Fellowship. Her debut picture book, Charlie’s Adventures…in Hawaii, was shortlisted for the 2017 Speech Pathology Australia Book of the Year Awards and chosen as a finalist in the 2017 American Best Book Awards. Her second book in the Charlie’s Adventure series, Charlie’s Adventures…in South Africa, was recently released. At the heart of Jacqueline’s books are an appreciation of travel and the uniqueness of culture. She endeavours to encourage her readers to learn more about the world, supporting an empathetic and inclusive community.
About Charlie’s Adventures…in South Africa
Charlie is off on the second of his adventures with his family … to South Africa! With his friends, Charlie is set on a discovery of different clues to uncover South Africa’s Rainbow Nation. Join Charlie and his family on their adventures across the world.
One need look no further than a classroom of children to find a parade of nations. Below is my response to Charli’s prompt, but please read on for information about Multicultural Children’s Book Day, International Day of Peace, and suggestions of books to read.
A parade of nations
The children listened intently, eager to learn. Each family’s wish was for a better life. The group was a parade of nations; with Dragos from Serbia, Duy from Vietnam, Melino from Tonga, Ervine from Scotland, Rongo from New Zealand, Jung from Korea, Sanhitha from Sri Lanka, and Jawara from Senegal; and these were only the new arrivals. Others were first and second generation with but a few who could count back further than three, except for Kinta whose ancestors were the first to arrive. The wall map, dotted with pins to show each one’s heritage, was their proudest display.
While I have taught classes with children from each of these countries, and many more, for the purpose of my story I used the Baby Name Finder at Mom Junction to locate names with friendly, peaceful meanings. It is a very helpful resource.
It was my experience in such multi-cultural classrooms that prompted me to make a resource to facilitate learning about our own and each other’s cultural traditions and celebrations. The resource is now available on readilearn.
Used courtesy of Multicultural Children’s Book Day
Thinking about the diversity that exists in our classrooms, our cities, our countries and our world is a perfect time to bring to your awareness Multicultural Children’s Book Day, the focus of which is on “bringing attention to all of the amazing children’s books available that celebrate diversity.”
The co-creators of the event Valarie Budayr and Mia Wenjen define multicultural books as those that
include characters of colour or that represent a minority point of view
share ideas, stories, and information about cultures, race, religion, language, and traditions
embrace our world and offer children new ways to connect to a diverse and richer world.
On the Multicultural Children’s Book Daywebsite, teachers can find a collection of helpful resources; including a classroom kindness kit and a classroom empathy kit. Authors and publishers of multicultural books are also invited to sponsor Multicultural Children’s Book Day through a range of sponsorship options already open for 2019. Interest in the day has increased in the six years since its inception and that growth can only continue. While it is wonderful to see the greater number of books with multicultural and diverse themes now available, more are still needed.
One of my long-time favourites is Whoever You Are written by Mem Fox and illustrated by Leslie Staub. I have read it to many groups of children, every one of whom has loved its powerful message: that underneath it all, we are just the same.
You can read about, listen to Mem read, or purchase the book here.
A newer favourite is another by Mem Fox —I’m Australian Too. This one is illustrated by Ronojoy Ghosh.
This book is a celebration of all cultures and heritages that are represented in the Australian population and together make our country what it is.
You can read about, listen to Mem read, or purchase the book here.
An even newer favourite is All are Welcome written by Alexandra Penfold and illustrated by Suzanne Kaufman.
I first heard about this book from the wonderful Patricia Tilton who blogs at Children’s Books Heal. Patricia’s aim with her blog is to “share books on a wide range of topics that have a healing impact on children who are facing challenges in their lives.” I have purchased many lovely books recommended by Patricia and never been disappointed.
Just as I was completing a draft of this post, I received notification of a new post by Patricia. You won’t believe it, but Patricia wrote about the book again for the International Day of Peace on 21 September. How perfect. Please pop over to Patricia’s post for more details about this beautiful book.
Once, long ago, there used to be a recording of Bill Martin Jr. singing I am Freedom’s Child on his website. I loved singing along to it with my class. The words were especially meaningful in our multicultural classes. We sang, “As I learn to like the differences in me, I learn to like the differences in you.” What a wonderful thought that, with acceptance of ourselves, comes acceptance of others. If we could just do that, we would indeed, all be freedom’s children.
Thank you for reading. I appreciate your feedback. Please share your thoughts.
This week I have great pleasure in introducing you to Robbie Cheadle author and illustrator of the Sir Chocolate Book series.
What most appeals to me about the Sir Chocolate Books is Robbie’s amazing fondant illustrations. I am also impressed that her twelve-year-old son Michael co-authors the books with her, and has been since he was ten. Perhaps your children will also find this aspect interesting.
About the books
Sir Chocolate and Lady Sweet live in Chocolate Land where everything can be eaten. In each story, told in rhyme, Sir Chocolate and Lady Sweet have a new adventure or problem to solve. Robbie also includes recipes from the story in each book.
To date, there are five books in the Sir Chocolate Book series.
About Robbie
Robbie Cheadle was born in London. Her father died when she was three months old, and she and her mother emigrated to South Africa where they lived in Johannesburg, George and Cape Town. While growing up, Robbie attended fourteen different schools. This gave her many opportunities to develop social skills and meet new people as she was often “the new girl”.
Robbie is a qualified Chartered Accountant and writes in that field about equities and investments in South Africa.
While Michael co-authors the books with her, Robbie’s other son Gregory (aged 14) assists Robbie and Michael with filming and editing their YouTube videos and editing their books. The books are very much a family affair.
For other books written by Robbie, see the end of the blog post.
The interview
Welcome to readilearn, Robbie.
Thank you for inviting me.
Robbie, the number of books in the Sir Chocolate book series is continually growing with five books now available. What gave you the idea for this series?
This week I have great pleasure in introducing you to Sonia Bestulic author of Reece, Give Me Some Peace. While interviews with authors and illustrators have featured regularly on the readilearn blog, this interview marks a new collaboration with Romi Sharp and the team from Books on Tour. This post is but one of several celebrating the launch of Sonia’s beautiful picture book. Please read to the end of the post for details of other posts celebrating Sonia’s work.
About Sonia Bestulic
Sonia grew up in Sydney Australia enjoying a childhood filled with wonderful books, a passion for writing and music entwined. She played the violin until her late teens, including performances at the Sydney Opera House. Sonia is Founder of Talking Heads Speech Pathology established in Sydney in 2006. A long-term advocate for children’s learning and literacy, Sonia continues to write and speak about all things children.
About Reece Give Me Some Peace
Reece Give Me Some Peace is a fun-loving book about the wonderful world of music and noisy play. Reece is a very cheeky and curious boy who loves making noise. His mother’s requests for him to be quieter only seem to make him louder. As his exuberance grows, so does his mother’s exasperation. Will she ever get any peace?
The simple rhythmic text combined with delightful illustrations by Nancy Bevington reminds us of the power of learning through play and exploration. Children will love to join in making the sounds and adults will identify with the challenge of being able to enjoy some quiet.
Now, let’s meet Sonia.
The interview
Hello, Sonia. Welcome to readilearn.
Thank you for inviting me.
Sonia, today we will discuss your beautiful new picture book Reece, Give Me Some Peace, but first, can you tell us what inspired you to be a writer?
This week I have enormous pleasure in introducing you to Katrin Dreiling illustrator of The World’s Worst Pirate, written by Michelle Worthington.
The World’s Worst Pirate is a captivating book about being true to yourself and unleashing your inner strengths.
Story Synopsis
One might wonder why Will, the world’s worst pirate, would want to be a pirate anyway. The truth is, he didn’t. There wasn’t much at all he liked about being at sea. He was happiest in the galley cooking cupcakes. The ship’s captain, his mother, on the other hand, couldn’t understand why he didn’t love being a pirate as much as she did. When the ship is attacked by a terrifying sea monster, no one could have predicted the outcome. Katrin Dreiling’s illustrations are a perfect fit or Michelle Worthington’s story. They add humour, delight, and a sub-plot of their own.
The Illustrator
The World’s Worst Pirate, published by Little Pink Dog Books in 2017, is Katrin’s first picture book. In 2018 the book received the CBCA Notable Book award, a wonderful achievement, especially for a first book. Prior to becoming an illustrator in Australia, Katrin studied languages in Germany to become a teacher. She loves to come up with quirky creations that inspire children to get creative themselves. Katrin’s second book, also written by Michelle and published by Little Pink Dog Books, will launch in September this year. Katrin also enjoys writing for children and regularly teaches art classes in Newfarm, Brisbane.
The Interview
Welcome to readilearn, Katrin.
Thank you for inviting me.
Katrin, The World’s Worst Pirate was listed as a Notable Picture Book in the CBCA 2018 Book of the Year awards. Congratulations. Since it is your very first published picture book, that must have been very special. How did it make you feel?
Norah Colvin 