Special forum guest

Tue, 16 Mar 2010 21:52:35 GMT

by Cecily.

Hello everyone,
Kim Miller, author of They Told me I Had to Write This and other books for young adults , is a special guest in the Beware of Books Project forum until March 31st.

Kim has introduced himself in the project with a short biography. In his first forum posting at http://www.ozprojects.edu.au/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=1149 he provides a link to the website about the book. Kim will be checking the forum each evening to answer questions from students and teachers.

For more information or assistance please contact the OzProjects team by emailing ozprojects@edna.edu.au

Cecily Wright
Coordinator- OzProjects

Harper Lee's Birthday

Mon, 27 Apr 2009 23:30:06 GMT

by Cheryl.

Harper Lee, author of To Kill a Mockingbird, was born on 29 April 1926.

Graeme Base's birthday

Mon, 06 Apr 2009 07:13:43 GMT

by Cheryl.

Today (6 April) is the birthday of Graeme Base, Australian author and illustrator of many much loved picture books, beginning with My Grandma lived in Gooligulch in 1983. Born in England in 1958, Base moved to Melbourne in the 1960s where he has lived ever since. Children of all ages continue to enjoy his amazing talent, his latest book being Enigma, published in 2008.

To remind yourself of the intricate nature of Base’s artwork, go to the Graeme Base Official Art Gallery Website which showcases a small number of pieces of artwork.

Did you know that Animalia, published twenty years ago, was made into a TV series in 2007?

My favourites? Well, if I had to choose, I’d say Animalia (published in 1986), The Discovery of Dragons (published in 1996 and revisited in 2007) and last year’s Enigma.

If you want to know more about Graeme Base and his work, you should read The art of Graeme Base by Julie Watts, published in 2008.

Listen to Tony Palmer’s October 2008 interview with Graeme Base in which Base talks about writing and illustrating children’s books.

And who said picture books are only for young children?

Listed below are just a few picture books that I think of as picture books for older readers:

Raymond Briggs, When the wind blows . This 1982 wordless picture book is about nuclear attack on Britain. It created controversy when it was set for study in Year 12 English courses, the debate focussing on whether a wordless book has a place on a Year 12 course. Have you read the book? What do you think?

Gary Crew (illustrator Stephen Woolman), The Watertower and Beneath the surface. Through the remarkable collaboration of Gary Crew and Stephen Woolman, these books convey a strong sense of threat or menace. The pictures subvert the norm and the books are often used by teachers in visual literacy classes as a focus for discussion on postmodern approaches to presenting visual and written text.

Armin Greder, The Island. This amazingly dark book looks as themes such as refugees, racism, exclusion on the grounds of difference, tolerance and fear. It’s a great discussion starter.

John Marsden (illustrator Shaun Tan), The rabbits. If you haven’t read it already, you should find this allegory of the introduction of white settlement and its damage to the existing Australia.

Tohby Riddle, The Great Escape from City Zoo (1997). This book has humour and satire and some fabulous filmic references. Have fun working out which scenes from movies inspired the pages.

Shaun Tan, The arrival. This wordless picture book is about migration, displacement and dislocation. It’s epic in its approach. Should it be categorised as a Picture Book?

Shaun Tan, The red tree. This is another of Tan’s wordless picture books. It is about dealing with depression and finding hope in a bleak world.

Shaun Tan, Tales from Outer Suburbia. This is the latest book by Tan and has been shortlisted for the 2009 CBCA Award for Books for Older Readers. (Allen and Unwin) Is this the right category for it? Should it have been listed in the Picture Book category? What do you think?

Margaret Wild (illustrator Anne Spudvilas), Woolvs in the Sitee. In this controversial and confronting book, the reader is challenged because a number of interpretations are possible.

Finally, if you had to nominate three books as the best ever picture books for older readers, what would they be?

Book Week 2009

Wed, 01 Apr 2009 03:37:31 GMT

by Kerrie.

The shortlists have been announced for the Children's Book Council of Australia Book Week 2009.
http://cbca.org.au/shortlist.htm

On the Beware of Books, come in and tell us what you think of each book on the Older Readers shortlist, the Eve Pownall shortlist, and the Picture Books shortlist, as you read them. It is exciting to see Melina Marchetta on the Older Readers list - she was our guest on Beware of Books last year.

We'll give you a chance in a few weeks to vote for the book of your choice.

Don't forget that when you write a book review, if you would like somewhere for other people to read, and perhaps even comment on your review, you can do it on Beware of Books.
Come in and tell us what you are reading now.

News forum

Special forum guest

Harper Lee's Birthday

Graeme Base's birthday

Book Week 2009