This post was added by Rebecca Newman. Rebecca is a children's writer and poet, and the editor of the Australian children's literary blog, Alphabet Soup.
For more about Rebecca visit: rebeccanewman.net.au.
It’s Friday! And that means it’s time for Pass the Book Baton. Alphabet Soup features a book creator every Friday who will answer one question before throwing a new question to the next Friday visitor. (It’s kind of like a book relay in slow motion.)
Award-winning author Deborah Abela takes the baton today. Deborah Abela’s recent book, Teresa: A New Australian, was inspired by her dad who was born in a cave in Malta during one of the heaviest bombing raids of WW2. Her latest book is TheStupendously Spectacular Spelling Bee.
Do you find that your characters reflect different aspects of your personality? So the heroic characters might reflect your good side, the villains might reflect your naughty side, the protagonists might share your strengths and weaknesses, etc?
xx
Deborah’s answer:
Dear James,
That’s a great question. My characters are often small versions of people I know or of me … or the me I’d like to be.
In my series, Max Remy Superspy, Max is a young feisty but very clumsy girl who loves adventure … that is pretty much how I was as a kid.
In Grimsdon — my novel about kids living in a flooded city — the hero is a girl called Isabella Charm. She is brave and courageous and very good with swords … she is someone I would very much like to be.
In The Stupendously Spectacular Spelling Bee, India Wimple is a brilliant speller but is terribly shy and lacking confidence … I was also a bit shy as a kid.
xx
Check in every Friday forquestions and answers from children’s authors and illustrators. See you next week!
Lily woke up one morning to find something strange sitting at the end of her bed. The little monster was so cute that she wanted to care for it every single minute of every day. It was pink with purple ears and blue eyes that sparkled. It had little green spikes along its tiny pink tail. It was one-foot-long including its tail. It was really small. When she said, “Hello,” it squeaked like it was saying hello back. Lily wanted to tell her mum, but she knew she would say she couldn’t keep it. She asked her mum anyway. To her amazement, her mum said she could keep it and asked, “Where did it come from?”
She said, “The monster told me it came from Harmless Cute Monster Land.”
Her mum said, “How do you understand it, Lily?”
“Mum, I never told you this, but I can understand the animal language. Every child in the world named Lily has a power. And I was born with the power to understand animals and creatures that don’t speak human languages. I also feel very happy that I have this power!”
“I’m glad you understand animals because I’m going to open a zoo,” said Mom.
At breakfast, they ate eggs, bacon, cereal, and orange juice, and talked about what Lily was going to do at school. After breakfast, Lily got ready and left for school. She had many friends named Lily, too.
They came over to her desk and asked her, “Did you tell your mum about your powers?”
Lily answered, “Yes, I did.”
Her friends asked, “When?”
Lily answered, “This morning.”
Her friends all said together, “That’s so funny, we did too!!”
Lily jumped up and down and did cartwheels everywhere! She was so excited about the coincidence. They all went back to their desks because class was about to start.
Later that day, all the Lilys sat together at lunch. The first one to talk was Lily. “My mom told me this morning that she is planning to make a zoo. And I was wondering if you would help me make it.”
“Sure,” said all the Lilys together.
“Can you meet me at my house after school today?” They agreed.
In the evening, all the Lilys came over Lily’s house and she introduced them to her mum. She said, “Mum, these are all my Lily friends. I’m going to introduce them to you.
“Here are Lily A, Lily B, Lily C, Lily D, Lily E, Lily F, Lily G, and Lily H.”
“I’m really surprised that the only friends you have are named Lily,” said her mum.
“These are just my Lily friends. I have other friends that are not named Lily.”
“What are you guys all doing here?” asked the mum.
“They’re here to help me make the zoo, because they have powers too.”
The girls made a blueprint. They developed houses for the animals with special compartments to deliver food and water, and bought supplies from the hardware store to start building. Her amazing, billionaire mum bought everything. She was the head of every job in their town and also the CEO of Everything in the World.
On the tenth day, Lily was on her way to the exotic, wild animal pet store. The pet store only sold wild animals, and she asked if she could buy two of every animal. On her way home, she rode on a galloping hippo and tumbled off its back! She called her mum to pick her up because the hippo then ran away.
Her mum picked her up five minutes later with a 10-foot high limousine. It was so tall because they had to fit two giraffes and many wild animals. They started building the zoo. Lily H made the structure. Lily G put in the glass. Lily F put natural materials in the cages. Lily E put in the animal toys in the cages. Lily D laid the bricks. Lily C made all of the signs for the building. Lily B made the habitat scenes on the brick walls. Lily and Lily put the animals in after everything was done. They made an extra compartment for the little cute monster. They opened it a week later after they painted the outside in bright colors. The zoo was a success!
After the zoo opened, everyone went to the new Lily zoo instead of the typical, old zoo. They liked the new zoo’s animals, especially the cute monster. The monster told Lily that it liked all the attention.
She said, “I’m glad you do.”
At the end of the day, everyone had a party at Lily H’s house with lots of different food and drinks. They danced and danced and the party lasted for eight years!
This is Elle’s first story published with Alphabet Soup. If YOU would like to send us a story, drawing, poem, or book review, check out our submission guidelines.Happy writing!
The painful panda picked up a peaceful peach playing a piano.
Pink pigs prefer pineapples.
Purple peacocks don’t like pasta or prawns.
Penelope Parker has a pet penguin and pet parrots.
The police pointed to a polar bear poking a poisonous pilot.
This is Zara’s first poem published with Alphabet Soup. If YOU would like to send us a story, drawing, poem, or book review, check out our submission guidelines.Happy writing!
It’s Friday! And that means it’s time for Pass the Book Baton. Alphabet Soup features a book creator every Friday who will answer one question before throwing a new question to the next Friday visitor. (It’s kind of like a book relay in slow motion.)
Today author-illustrator James Foley takes the baton. James Foley is a writer, illustrator and cartoonist. He likes working with pen and ink, pencil, charcoal, watercolour, and digital tools. He has illustrated books by other people, and written and illustrated his own books.
Last week AL Tait posed two questions for James. AL asks:
Q. You started out as an illustrator — what made you decide to write In The Lion and Brobot yourself?
A. I’ve always written and illustrated my own stories; it just worked out that my first book was only as the illustrator. It’s easier to break into the industry by working with someone more established, as Norman Jorgensen was. Then I got the opportunity to make In The Lion on my own, which was great. It’s a different experience writing AND illustrating a book yourself, as opposed to illustrating a text written by someone else (as I did with Sigi Cohen for My Dead Bunny) or collaborating with a writer quite closely through the initial process (as I did with Norman Jorgensen for The Last Viking and The Last Viking Returns). Also, when you do the book yourself you get the full royalty … 😉
Q. As an author-illustrator, do you start with the words for a story or start with the pictures?
I usually start with a bit of both — some loose images and a few phrases. I may have a few key scenes playing in my head, but they’re fragments of what the overall story will eventually become. Then I nut out the character designs and the overall storyline at the same time; these two processes feed off each other. A character design may give you a plot idea, and vice versa. Then when the characters and the storyline seem to have settled, I can get started on thumbnails and storyboards, and then final artwork.
And now James Foley passes the baton to the next Friday visitor — Deborah Abela. Deborah is the author of many books. Her most recent title is The Stupendously Spectacular Spelling Bee.
James asks: Do you find that your characters reflect different aspects of your personality? So the heroic characters might reflect your good side, the villains might reflect your naughty side, the protagonists might share your strengths and weaknesses, etc?
Check in every Friday for questions and answers from children’s authors and illustrators. See you next week!
Visit James Foley’s website for more information about him and his books. You can also read earlier Alphabet Soup interviews with James here and here.
It’s the 31 October … the last day of the month means it’s time for some more book recommendations from our Top Reads team (yay! yay!). If you’re looking for a good book, this is a great place to start:
You’ll find a recommended list from our Top Reads Team on the last day of every month (February to November). If you missed last month’s, don’t forget to check out the September Top Reads. Our November top reads list next month will be the last one for 2016.
*All our Top Readers are kids aged 13 and under. No grownups allowed!
It’s Friday! And that means it’s time for Pass the Book Baton. Alphabet Soup features a book creator every Friday who will answer one question before throwing a new question to the next Friday visitor. (It’s kind of like a book relay in slow motion.)
Today bestselling author AL Tait takes the baton. AL Tait is the author of The Mapmaker Chronicles — a series full of danger and adventure.
Q. Which book in your Mapmaker Chronicles series have you enjoyed writing the most?
A. It’s funny, but kids always ask me which of the three books are my favourite, and I always give the same answer: I love them all. But then, I qualify that answer. I love the first book a little bit more because that’s where I met all of my characters for the first time. As someone who doesn’t plot very much, I’m really watching the story unfold and the characters develop in much the same way as the readers are.
Q.Does creating a series get easier or harder to achieve?
I think the most difficult part of any series is the middle. But then I feel the same way about every book I write — the middle (act two) is the most difficult section to write. I’m in the process of writing a brand new series at the moment and I’ve whisked my way through book one, and am about to climb the mountain that is book two. Writing a series does teach you the value of at least having an outline to work from, even if you don’t plot every detail.
And now AL Tait passes the baton to the next Friday visitor — James Foley. James is an illustrator and an author-illustrator. His most recent book is a graphic novel, Brobot.
AL asks: You started out as an illustrator — what made you decide to write In The Lion and Brobot yourself? As an author-illustrator, do you start with the words for a story or start with the pictures?
Check in every Friday for questions and answers from children’s authors and illustrators. See you next week!
Tania McCartney is the author of fiction and nonfiction picture books. Now she is launching the first book she has written and illustrated. Today one of our regular book reviewers — Matilda, aged 10 — asks Tania some questions about her new book Australia, illustrated.
Matilda: Why did you think of illustrating this book yourself when your other books are illustrated by other people?
Tania: Just like you, I’m sure, I absolutely loved to draw when I was a kid. Writing and drawing was my thing. I did it right through school and into high school but then something terrible happened. I became an adult.
Well, actually — it’s not terrible to become an adult! But what IS terrible is that so many adults stop doing the things they love, and instead do the things they ‘should’. So I lost my ability to draw, and I really, honestly believed I could no longer do it.
I began writing children’s books around 10 years ago (around when you were born! spooky!), and I had a secret dream to illustrate my own books. I never, ever thought that would happen because I still believed I could no longer draw.
Then, in 2014, I started the 52-Week Illustration Challenge [a group of illustrators where the members each create their own illustration in response to a weekly prompt] and over two years I learned that I could still draw! I couldn’t believe it! At first, my drawings were pretty horrid, but over that time, they quickly improved — and that goes to show that practice does make ‘better’!
I was stunned and delighted when my publisher said they’d be happy for me to illustrate my new book idea — Australia Illustrated. I was also a bit scared. Could I do it??? Well, I did. And I still have to pinch myself!
Here is a picture of my first drawing for the 52-Week Illustration Challenge, and then after that you’ll see a page from Australia Illustrated. Do you think I’ve improved?
Tania’s first illustration in the 52-week illustration challenge.
A page from Tania’s new book.
Matilda: How did you have the idea for a book like this about Australia?
Tania: There are so many books about Australia, but I wanted to do something really different. I don’t know of any other book like this one.
For a start, it’s a whopping 96 pages! (Picture books are generally 24 to 32 pages.) And it’s also unusual in that it’s mostly pictures, with only a handful of words.
It also covers parts of Australia that are really well known (like our animals and icons like the Sydney Opera House) but it covers things people don’t know much about, too — like quokka selfies or Tasmanian chocolate factories.
The other thing I’ve done with Australia Illustrated is that I’ve included lots and lots and lots of kids of all different cultures and races. I think it’s important to celebrate the multicultural country we live in!
Matilda: How many of the places in your book have you also been to?
Tania: What a great question. I’m going to look through the book and tell you exactly!
Okay, I’m back. So, out of all the places I cover in the book (towns, sites, states) I’ve been to around 70 out of around 100. This doesn’t include the maps I’ve done for each state which have hundreds of place names — though I have been to a lot of those places, too. I like to travel!
My big dream is to go to Uluru. I used to be a flight attendant and I used to fly over it all the time! If they’d given me a parachute, I could have jumped out and gone to see it! I’m hoping next year I can go.
Matilda: What was different about illustrating your own book instead of having someone else illustrate it?
Tania: Oh, it was SO different. It was the first time I’d ever illustrated an actual book so I wasn’t really sure how to do things. In fact, I did the cover first … and books are hardly ever done that way! But it worked out really well for me.
It was fantastic being able to have control over how the book looked visually. And it was also fantastic to get to draw whatever I wanted — it was such a creative process and I loved it so much. I could mix things up and change things and dream up kooky things. It was just SO much fun.
When you have an illustrator doing pictures for you, it’s a whole different experience because the illustrator reads your words and has their own thoughts about how the pictures should look. When my illustrators send me their pictures, it’s like Christmas! Opening the email to get a wonderful surprise — a beautiful picture. It’s really exciting — and you can never guess what they might have created.
You may have heard of that saying ‘two heads are better than one’ and when I work with an illustrator, I find they bring so many great ideas and thoughts to the text. They might read my words and see things completely differently from me — and they could add some wonderful things to the story with their illustrations … extra things that I may not have thought of.
I love both ways — illustrating my own books and having illustrators create the pictures, too. They are totally different but both are a lot of fun.
Oh, and also — when you illustrate your own book, it’s twice the work!
Matilda: Are you planning to illustrate more books?
Tania: I am. I’ve already started on three illustrated books and each one of them is going to be digitally illustrated. In December, I’m starting work on a big book for the National Library of Australia. I’m doing the illustrating but someone else is compiling the book — someone quite famous! I can’t say more yet but I’m really excited about that one.
I also have some ideas for more picture books I want to illustrate but I want to try a different style — perhaps just watercolour. And a few people have asked me to illustrate their books, too. I might be doing one for a friend, not sure yet — we’ll see! The thing about publishing is that we so often say ‘we’ll see!’
Thanks for the wonderful questions, Matilda. I just loved them.
Today’s weather was as hot as a stove. But everyone kept switching me on. I have to blow air and I feel sleepy and tired. Then I get hot!
My friend, the air purifier, has to be switched on non-stop every night because he makes the air clean. He feels tired like me!
This is Gabriel’s first story published with Alphabet Soup. If YOU would like to send us a story, drawing, poem, or book review, check out our submission guidelines.Happy writing!
It’s Friday! And that means it’s time for Pass the Book Baton. Alphabet Soup features a book creator every Friday who will answer one question before throwing a new question to the next Friday visitor. (It’s kind of like a book relay in slow motion.)
Today Perth author Paula Hayes takes the baton. Paula has one husband, four children, three dogs and five rabbits. She is the author of a YA novel and also a recent children’s novel, Lily in the Mirror, which one of our regular reviewers (Matilda, 10) described as ‘creepy but good’.
Last week Joshua Button and Robyn Wells posed a question for Paula. They ask:
Q. Your character Lily loves all things dark and mysterious. Were you inspired by any real life mysteries, strange events or unusual people?
A. Lily loves all things dark and mysterious and so do I. I like fantasy that is almost scary but not too scary. The book was inspired by a room in my grandmother’s house full of vintage family treasures. The door would shut behind you but that was because the house really did need restumping and not due to supernatural events. But add a little imagination … and I was in the Rosy Room.
And now Paula Hayes passes the book baton to the next Friday visitor — AL Tait. AL Tait is the author of the bestselling series, The Mapmaker Chronicles.
My question(s) for AL Tait: Which book in your Mapmaker Chronicles series have you enjoyed writing the most? Does creating a series get easier or harder?
Check in every Friday for questions and answers from children’s authors and illustrators. See you next week!
It’s Friday! And that means it’s time for Pass the Book Baton. Alphabet Soup features a book creator every Friday who will answer one question before throwing a new question to the next Friday visitor. (It’s kind of like a book relay in slow motion.)
It’s Friday! And that means it’s time for Pass the Book Baton. Alphabet Soup features a book creator every Friday who will answer one question before throwing a new question to the next Friday visitor. (It’s kind of like a book relay in slow motion.)
And now James Foley passes the baton to the next Friday visitor — Deborah Abela. Deborah is the author of many books. Her most recent title is The Stupendously Spectacular Spelling Bee.
And now AL Tait passes the baton to the next Friday visitor — James Foley. James is an illustrator and an author-illustrator. His most recent book is a graphic novel, Brobot.
alphabetsoup.net.au 