Sandy Fussell's Blog, page 9

I’m thrilled to welcome an author whose life-long dedication to children’s literature is inspirational. It was my privilege to give the introduction speech when she was so deservedly given the Lady Cutler Award for Services to Children’s Literature.

Di Bates taught me most of what I know about writing and impressed upon me the importance of being an active contributor to the cause for child literacy. She’s a brilliant mentor and a much valued friend.

But today is about her latest publishing success – two new books with striking bright covers and wonderful stories about cats (my favourite pets) and dogs (my second favourite pets).

1. Tell us about yourself. 

I’ve been writing books for over 30 years and have published 120+ titles. Living near Wollongong NSW, I have the great fortune to live and work with my prize-winning husband YA author Bill Condon. We share the website http://www.enterprisingwords.com.au

2. What is your book about?

Awesome Animals (Big Sky Publishing) is an entertaining new non-fiction animal series for kids – a Guinness Book of Records meets Ripley’s Believe It or Not!

Awesome Cats and Awesome Dogs, the first two books in the series, are each an entertaining new read — a Guinness Book of Records meets Ripley’s Believe It or Not! which features fascinating stories about animals from all over the world. As well, there are relevant book lists, jokes and even humorous animal verses. Each beautifully styled book contains true stories and amazing photographs and quirky, illustrated break-out boxes, introduced by funny cartoon animal characters. The book is best suited for Children aged 8 to 11 years, but there’s no doubt older readers will love the books, too.

5. Why does your book offer the reader that differs from others covering similar subjects?

Before writing these books I searched all over the market for something similar, but found nothing. Yes, there are books about cats and dogs, but certainly nothing presented in this way. Take cats, for example: in Awesome Cats there are hundreds of short stories about cats in history, cat adventures, famous cats and famous people’s cats, working cats, spoilt cats, and cats in fiction and in TV, on stage and in movies. Here’s just a little ‘teaser’ from the book: In 1976 a mystery cat in Hong Kong killed more than 20 dogs. According to local people it was about four feet long and black or gray in color. It was never caught. Imagine that, a dog-killing cat; certainly not a lap cat!

6. How did the idea for this book come about?

As a full-time, professional children’s author, I am always searching around for an idea which will result in a book that any child would love to read. The three books in the Awesome Animals series are dogs, cats and horses: it would be impossible, I’m sure, to find one of these animals that any child didn’t love, much less cherish. My quest for unusual animal stories began when I found the story of Old Shep, a dog that maintained a five year vigil at the train station in Fort Benton, Montana, America after seeing the coffin of his master loaded onto a train. How faithful is that? Next thing I was finding amazing dog stories everywhere! (I just love dogs and really miss our last beloved dog, Sassy; she has been irreplaceable since she died two years ago of old age.)

7.  Where can people buy Awesome Cats and Awesome Dogs?

The books retail for $14.99 each. Here’s where you can get Awesome Cats … and Awesome Dogs.

Awesome Animals Blog Tour:

5 October Di Bates http://diannedibates.blogspot.com.au/ Article: Working with Big Sky Publishing
6 October Karen Tyrrell http://www.karentyrrell.com
7 October Dee White deescribewriting.wordpress.com
8 October Clancy Tucker clancytucker.blogspot.com.au
9 October Susan Whelan http:// www.kids-bookreview.com
10 October Elaine Ouston www.elaineoustonauthor.com
11 October Sandy Fussell www.sandyfussell.com/blog
12 October Alison Reynolds www.alisonreynolds.com.au
13 October Kate Foster http://www.katejfoster.com/blog
14 October Robyn Osborne http://robynosborne.com/blog-2
15 October Sally Murphy http://aussiereviews.com
16 October Georgie Donaghey www.creativekidstales.com.au
 17 October Melissa Wray http://melissawray.blogspot.com.au

I’m thrilled to introduce Anastasia Gonis, one of Australia’s most respected reviewers of children’s literature.

Anastasia has written reviews for Good Reading Magazine, The Reading Stack, The Age, The Herald Sun and Bookseller and Publisher. She is a long-term member of the Buzz Words Magazine viewing team and a skilled picture book reviewer.

I bumped into Anastasia on my writing journey and we became friends. She’s insightful and generous – and absolutely, unequivocally loves to read.

Reviewing a picture is a special reviewing talent and as part of the Sad, the Dog blog tour, I asked Anastasia if she would write an article sharing picture book reviewing expertise.

How to Review a Picture Book

Copyright 2015 Anastasia Gonis

To review a picture book one must be passionate about this genre. There should be no pretending; no clinical examination. Every emotion must be engaged to obtain an overall view. Picture books are full of information to be discovered and used. The review of a picture book should be a dissection of everything that lies between the back and front covers. Questions should be asked. Does it tell me something? If so, what and how much does it

say?

The first things I encounter after examining the covers are the front end papers. They frequently give up information that is helpful. If they are illustrated, what is read there depends on if and how I’m seeing what the illustrator is portraying. They might simply be coloured. It is wise to turn to the back end papers to see if they are identical or not. This gives added information to the reviewer therefore, also to the reader.

Always read the dedication. It’s there to give insight into the two major contributors: the writer and illustrator. Follow down and read the publishing information. This too, is critical to the analysis for it contains the subject matter, the age group, ISBN and other relevant information, and frequently, the medium/media used for the illustrations.

The title page always demands attention and should get it. Then (for me) the major part begins. Picture books deserve full concentration. I read the text first. What is the story about? Who are the main characters? Which of the characters carries the story? Is there more than one story? This last question may be answered when it’s the illustrations’ turn.

I search for themes as I read. I make note of the text. What size is it? What font has been used? Does anything stand independently? Where is the text situated on the page? Does it accompany the illustration or stand aside to allow the illustrations to speak louder than words?

Then I read the illustrations. By ‘read’ I mean carefully examine and take into account every aspect of the page. Where is the picture situated? I make note of the colours used, and the detail in the drawings. Can I visually identify what the author has written?

I read how the illustrator has translated the text. Often there is a more extended story visible in the illustrations. This happens when an illustrator is perfectly tuned in to a writer’s words and meaning. If so, they see a wider, more detailed picture in their mind’s eye, and express it in their translation.

What kind of layout have the illustrations been allocated? Is there a reason for this particular choice of presentation? When my interest is aroused I’m challenged to look closer look at what I’m seeing.

Then I read the text again, simultaneously taking in the illustrations and making them a whole. Has the illustrator complemented the story? How do you feel when you close the cover?

Picture books are amazing creations due to their refinement process. Reviewers play a large role in the success of a book. Therefore they must give each book the respect it deserves. Sometimes the gestation period for a picture book is a number of years. Let the words and pictures speak to you. Listen to what they say. Look past the obvious and seek the beauty it contains. If you can’t see anything worth writing well about, set it aside, and pick up something else, for there is no denying that when reviewing picture books, you should feel a passion for them. There should be no pretending.

A touching look into the life of an unloved pet and the heart-warming journey towards finding your true home.
Sad, The Dog

by Sandy Fussell and illustrated by Tull Suwannakit.

Thursday 1st October, Kids’ Book Review

Friday 2nd October, Kirsty Eager’s Blog

Saturday 3rd October, Buzz Words

Sunday 4th October, Sandy Fussell’s Blog

Monday 5th October, Susanne Gervay’s Blog

Tuesday 6th October, Boomerang Books Blog

Wednesday 7th October, The Book Chook

Thursday 8th October, Creative Kids Tales

Friday 9th October, Dee Scribe Writing

Saturday 10th October, Read Upside Down

Sunday 11th October, Sandy Fussell’s Blog

It’s a digital party. I hope you can join us.

A touching look into the life of an unloved pet and the heart-warming journey towards finding your true home.
Sad, The Dog

by Sandy Fussell and illustrated by Tull Suwannakit.

Thursday 1st October, Kids’ Book Review

Friday 2nd October, Kirsty Eager’s Blog

Saturday 3rd October, Buzz Words

Sunday 4th October, Sandy Fussell’s Blog

Monday 5th October, Susanne Gervay’s Blog

Tuesday 6th October, Boomerang Books Blog

Wednesday 7th October, The Book Chook

Thursday 8th October, Creative Kids Tales

Friday 9th October, Dee Scribe Writing

Saturday 10th October, Read Upside Down

Sunday 11th October, Sandy Fussell’s Blog

Original Sad

In a bright light bulb moment about six months ago, I decided it would be a good idea to have a knitted Sad to help tell the story when I was reading Sad, the Dog to young listeners.

A good friend is a brilliant knitter. She quickly found a suitable pattern and in no time, I had not one Sad but two, in different sizes.

They looked great. Looked so good that my publisher suggested we give one away as a launch prize.

The sales reps loved them and even bookstore staff were smitten.

Lots of knitters wanted the pattern. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could distribute it?

Sad – first draft

That was a problem.

While the purchase of a pattern entitles the buyer to knit multiple items and even sell them, the pattern itself is copyright.

But I’m a knitter from way back. Surely, I thought, I could create my own unique, copyrighted pattern – and I could distribute that.

Much easier thought than done. The cupboard was empty. Ten years ago, I decided I wasn’t knitting any more and donated away a substantial collection of knitting and crochet needles of every size.

But new equipment was  purchased and the hands remembered what the brain had forgotten. Three more knitted Sads later, I can still, on odd occasions, be heard muttering distractedly, “Who would have thought there was so much knitting in picture books?”

I’ve since started another knitting project. I’ve rediscovered how meditative and enjoyable knitting can be.

Is there no end to the doors books open?

If you would like to download the free pattern for Sad the Dog, click here. If you would like to purchase the pattern for the original knitted Sad from Etsy (current cost $8.78), click here.

Lately I find myself writing posts about other people’s blog posts and today I’m doing it again.

Meg McKinlay has written a wonderful post about ‘quiet writing’, writing where action is not the driving force. She talks about how she has to focus on ‘things happening’ and that ‘forward narrative movement is the hardest thing of all’.

As a reader, I love quiet writing. I find it in books like Gabrielle Wang’s Wishbird, Glenda Millard’s Tishkin Silk series, Isabel Carmody’s Little Fur books, Cath Crowley’s Graffiti Moon, Jen Storer’s Tensy Farlow and the Home for Mislaid Children and every book Cassandra Golds has written. I know I’ll find it in Meg’s latest work. The excerpt I read put A Single Stone at the top of the list for my imminent birthday book parcel.

If I look over the ocean I find the queen of quiet writing in Kate DiCamiilo. Despereaux remains my hero, a sword-waving, rat-braving, princess-saving hero. Even Disney couldn’t destroy that.

It’s true that in every story not only do things need to happen, but something big has to happen. Here’s the crux - it doesn’t have to make a noise. Quiet writers, like Despereaux, are mice that roar.

Quiet writing has a soundtrack of it’s own – it’s more sensory, illusionary and ambient - more visual – but not at the expense of action. Things still happen but they sound different. 

It’s not about being an adult reader. Kids love quiet writing too, although I’m sure they wouldn’t describe it as wordily as I do. I watched the expressions on the faces of a classroom full of kids as their teacher read Sally Murphy’s Pearl Verses the World.

As a writer, I’m inclined to write a little quietly.  A reviewer for White Crane said “If your kids want violent action, let them read Sandy Fussell’s Samurai Kids series. They’ll love it and they won’t realise that in all the battle and fight scenes there’s no violence at all.”

That’s because I write those scenes quietly. With a lot of Zen. A true samurai doesn’t need a sword, Sensei said. (White Crane)

If a tree falls in the forest, somewhere an author is quietly writing about it.

When I saw The Successful Children’s Writer”: Many Eggs, Many Baskets tweeted by Sue Whiting yesterday, my first thought was to dissect why it was such a good heading having just completed a Year 9 English task with #2 that son involved deconstructing an article, from the heading down.

Many eggs, many baskets was a reference to diversifying your writing avenues while on the path to your dream writing goal. The moral of the article being, “You are a writer. Write.” For me, there’s a lot of truth in that, but for a different reason. I need to write around my major work. Like sharpening pencils, its sharpens my creative awareness. If my tools are in excellent condition, it lifts my writing.

I was a little surprised to realise how many other things I write regularly. I am a regular blogger at Brisbane Kids on technology for kids so there you will find me writing about Minecraft and how to teach your child to manage their phone data. I’ve joined Just Write for Kids blog as a regular blogger (every second Tuesday of the month) and my first post was about Hashtags for Writers.

I write book reviews for The Reading Stack – a recent favourite is Ilsa Tampke’s debut Iron Age Britain historical fantasy Skin. Yesterday I wrote a review of my standing desk for Buzz Words. During the last week I even write up an original knitting a pttern for Sad the dog. And user instructions for software. And emails. Lots of emails.

Then there’s the writing related things. Like The Story Crowd, organising literature festivals in schools and Read, Write, Draw which is a Flipboard magazine collation from the blog posts of Aussie authors and illustrators, there’s the young student I mentor, the two on-line critique groups I belong to and the (half finished letters) to children in detention (which I must finish this weekend).

Wouldn’t all that time be better spent writing? I sometimes hear a voice from the back of my brain ask.

No. It’s about staying sharp.  You can’t write with a blunt pencil.

This is one of my most favourite events on my bookish calendar.

The annual Illawarra and South Coast CBCA Children’s Literary Lunch is so popular among local schools there’s a waiting list every year.

One thing I particularly like to see is the relationship between the kids and their librarian. Often the kids are library monitors or champion readers, being rewarded for their efforts. There’s an obvious shared love of reading that reminds me of my own primary school days with a wonderful librarian.

This year I sat with Shellharbour Public School. Here we are looking very literary.

Jacqueline Harvey spoke abut how her school experiences influenced characters and stories in the Alice-Miranda and Clementine Rose series.The audience identified with many of her funny and sometimes embarrassing stories, coming up with some new plot ideas for her to use in her next book.

Another highlight was Oliver Phommavanh‘s platypus impersonation, to celebrate the release of Sue Whiting‘s visually stunning new book, Platypus.

The collection of autographs is always popular and Sally Hall produces an autograph booklet that is something special – definitely worth keeping. (I keep mine from every year).

I always take origami paper with em. It help break down any shyness barriers and gets conversation started. My personal highlight was this flower Emily made for me.

For 2015 #pb10for10, my first time, the picture books I’ve chosen are not connected by a theme but they are the ones that have a place on my shelves forever because of the memories that sit inside them.

Some books have been chosen for the sheer joy my children found in them, others for the message they spoke, or their wonderful rhythms that made music with words or the thoughtful interpretation that is picture book illustration.

Fox in Socks by Dr Suess. The man is a wizard of words and this is a most magical book. In our house, when my boys were younger, it was a regular bed-time read. Dad was the only one allowed to read it and he took the task very seriously indeed. It was wonderful fun and wonderful modelling of reading behaviour by a dad.

Fidgety Fish by Ruth Galloway. When my children I always announced the name of the book and who wrote, showing the cover, before moving on the story. Fidgety Fish was my eldest son’s all-time favourite first book. Whenever I announced the title of any other book, he would proudly pipe up with “by Ruth Galloway” as if the author of Fidgety Fish was the only author worth mentioning in the whole world.

For Every Child a Better World by Kermit the Frog in co-operation with the United Nations. I love this book. It has a timeless message for young children about differences in the world, written in a way young children can understand. Not every child is free or safe or healthy or has the opportunity to go to school but every child needs and deserves the best world possible.

Do Not Open this Book by Michaela Muntean. Books about books encourage children to engage with reading, books and libraries and my kids loved this one with it’s dire warnings about turning the pages.

The Children Who Loved Books by Peter Carnavas. Peter is one of my favourite Oz illustrators and this book about a family that had too many books warms my heart and is a little familiar (See Where Does Thursday Go below). The family gave their books away and the world grew empty until they discovered the library.

Where Does Thursday Go by Janeen Brian and Stephen Michael King. Gorgeous Illustrations, an important question and a sensible answer. Once in the sheer stupidity of trying to downsize our book footprint, I tried to send this book to a charity book drive, only to have a 16 year-old rescue it and give me a lecture about keeping his favourite books.

Duck, Death and the Tulip by Wolf Erlbruch. The first picture book I bought for myself. I read a review and was intrigued. I discovered a whole new world view of picture books with wider messages for older readers.

The City by Armin Greer. I heard Armin Greder speak about this book at the Children’s Book Council Conference and what he said made me purchase it ‘on the spot’. It made me think then and it still does now.

Isabella’s Garden by Glenda Millard & Rebecca Cool. This picture book is a riot of colour and the story sings. yes it does. Music to a child’s ear.

Sounds Spooky by Christopher Cheng and Sarah Davis. Sarah is one of my favourite illustrators so the artwork is fabulous. I like to read this story to kids because it’s a bit spooky but has a wonderful twist. The ghost is scared of the children. An empowering book to read to children who get a little scared at night.

Vampyre by Margret Wild and Andrew Yeo. When I heard about this book I had to have it. A real vampire story for children. I love the ending. As the child vampire rejects his darkness and reaches for the light which welcomes him – does he die as legend promises or does he triumph? Young readers usually choose the latter but I am older and I think he died but happy because he had overcome his birth to be who he wanted to be.

Read, Write, Draw is a Flipboard magazine collating selected recent blog posts by Australian authors and illustrators.

It replaces OZKYAI (Oz Kids & Young adult Authors & Illustrators) which I curated on Scoop-it. Finally I have found a better-fit name. I struggle with titles – just look at the titles of my books. Polar Boy. Samurai Kids.

 

I made the decision to move away from using Scoop-it as my curation tool because I noticed that some blogs would go “missing” and when I checked, they were still active with regular posting. I’d add them back and others would disappear. I can’t trust Scoop-it anymore.

It’s important to me that every author and illustrator has at least one post representation (If they have posted during the collation period and if I know their blog exists. Please contact me if you have a blog you would like added). Read, Write, Draw is an attempt to give back – hoping that when I publish and share it, others notice the Aussie talent inside.

I am loving Flipboard – so easy to read and collate on my iPad. Great to read on my MacBook too but unfortunately no curation features for PCs. It’s an added bonus that readers can share their love for a particular post if they sign up to Flipboard. Leaving a comment doesn’t require a sign up.

Finding the urls wasn’t easy. Unlike Feedly and the now defunct Google reader, simply entering the blog url didn’t enable Flipboard to necessarily find the rss feed. Often I had to paste the blog url into Feedly to find what I needed. In two cases I had to dig through website html.

I’ve read that Flipboard hopes to become a feed reader in the same sense as Feedly but given the issues locating feeds, I wouldn’t be recommending it to anyone unless they tech knowledge or a lot of time.

But for my purposes its perfect. Each issue I intend to have a new piece of artwork on the cover. The inaugural issue features Gabrielle Wang‘s wonderful cats (visit her blog and look for the equally wonderful dogs).

So here is Read, Write, Draw Issue 1. Enjoy.

I am surrounded by book launching friends which is a wonderful thing.

Di Bates launches two (!!) new books in October, Awesome Animals: Cats and Awesome Animals: Dogs. On 8 August, Jodie Wells-Slowgrove launches Daisy’s Gift, the fifth book in the Wilderness Fairies series at Sutherland Library. And on October 3rd I’m launching Sad, the Dog at Dean Swift Books in Nowra.

Photo credit: Georgie Donaghey

So it seems timely to look back on another friend’s book launch to get some info on how to get it right. Today I talk with Georgie Donaghey about her June launch of her debut picture book, Lulu. Imagine two friends sitting at a kitchen table, a teapot and a plate of polar bear cupcakes.

When did you begin planning the launch? 

Before I could walk. Seriously though.  I always believed I would be published, well you have to in this industry, or you will drown under the rejection letters.  I just needed to do the work and refine my writing.  It was a bit of a surprise that my first book published turned out to be a picture book.  I thought it would be the chapter book that has consumed my time for the last few years.  Lulu was born, fine-tuned and published within two years.  A dream outcome really.

Why did you choose Sutherland Library as the venue? 

There was never a question where I would have my first launch.  Sutherland is my local library, and one of my old school friends runs the children’s section.  She would never have let me have it anywhere else.  I think she was planning my first launch before I had even signed my first cont

Did something go wrong and if so, how did you solve it?

There were several bumps in the road along the way.  Life would be pretty boring if there wasn’t any bumps but just like Lulu if you believe, persevere and find the solutionyou can achieve anything.  I did, and the launch was a HUGE success.

What will you do differently next time?

Hmm, not sure.  I was pretty happy with how this one turned out.  Everyone left with a smile on their face and a copy of Lulu under their arm, so pretty successful.  I did have fun planning and although I swore I wouldn’t go to that much effort next time I’m pretty sure I will.  Someone said to me on the day I was a publishers dream putting so much effort and promotion into Lulu.

What sort of publicity did you do for the launch? 

Having founded Creative Kids Tales a few years ago and then hosting my radio show, The Author’s Shelf, I find promotion fairly easy.  Creative Kids Tales receives over 115,000 hits per month and has been archived with the National Library and partnered with Love 2 Read.  It’s important to time your promotion carefully; you don’t want to overwhelm people and turn them off you or your work before it is even launched.  I selected local pages on Facebook suited to the Sutherland Shire and messaged admin requesting they post.  Never assume it is ok to post on someone’s page unless they promote it as ok.  Always ask first. 

Then I targeted Australian children’s writing sites, again a few posts over several monthsand on key sites. It’s important to spread out your posts but keep the momentum going.  Creating a Facebook page was good too which allowed me to post not just about Lulu’s launch but polar bear fun facts and pictures of polar bears.   Sending out review copies just before the launch date to create a buzz is another good way to promote your work.  Once the launch is over it is important to keep interest up for your book.  Post launch interviews, giveaways, etcare also a good way to promote.

Image source: Georgie Donaghey

Were you an event organiser in a previous life? 

Haha no, but I believe an event should leave a lasting positive memory.  I wanted Lulu’s launch to be magical.  I wanted the kids and grown-ups to have fun and live the dream too.  From the polar bear cupcakes, Lulu slice to the craft masks and take-home goody bag filled with balloons, stickers, a polar bear chocolate and an activity book.  The activity book I have to say I am very proud of how it turned out.  Co-ordinating the colours from the book with the decorations was important to add to the overall presentation of Lulu.  Of course, what would a launch for a dancing polar bear book be without pink tutus (worn by my daughter’s) and a hand made polar bear hat (worn by me).

Thanks, Sandy for inviting me to chat with you about Lulu’s launch.

You can purchase a copy of Georgie’s beautiful book at www.creativekidstales.com.au