The book Button Boy was written and illustrated by Rebecca Young and Sue deGennaro. Button Boy is a fabulous book because it is about being helpful.
Button Boy is about a little boy called Banjo who loves to collect buttons. His grandma sews the buttons onto his jumper. Every day when he’s on his way to school he finds someone who has a missing button and he gives them one. Finally, he has only one button left. Banjo is a kind and giving boy.
We like the book because the pictures are very funny. The best thing about Button Boy is that the main character is a kind little boy. People who like collecting things would like this book. It would be good for boys or girls aged 5 to 8.
You should go and get this book now! It is great.
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* Year 2 at Yidarra Catholic Primary School is a member of our Undercover Readers Club. A review copy of Button Boy was provided by the publisher.
In every issue of Alphabet Soup magazine we interview an author or illustrator. The trouble is, we can only fit some of their answers in the magazine. So we print the full interviews on the blog—we wouldn’t want you to miss out!
In issue 13 we talked to Norman Jorgensen, author of many books includingThe Last Viking, and In Flanders Fields.
Where do you live?
I live just out of Perth city in an old Federation house built in 1906. It is a bit too cosy; in fact, it is far too small for all the books I have collected over the years. If I buy any more books my wife and I will have to go and live out in the garden shed along with the rakes, spades, half empty paint cans and redback spiders.
What do you love about being a writer?
I love the way stories develop from just the flimsiest shred of a single thought or sentence into full-blown worlds full of exotic places and interesting out-of-control people.
I also love the ego stroking that comes with the job. People seem to think writers are special, especially children’s book creators, and treat us accordingly. I know for a fact, however, that most kids’ book writers are just adults with arrested development issues, and have never really grown up properly. That is certainly true in my case.
A real bonus being a writer is that I get to travel to all sorts of great places for literature festivals and writers’ talks, and get to meet kids who like reading.
What was your favourite book as a child?
There was a load. One I remember and was very keen on was as series by Anthony Buckeridge, called Jennings and Darbyshire, about boys in an English boarding school that was an awful lot like Hogwarts. Unlike Hogwarts, though, Linbury Court Preparatory School was a ripping and topping place with midnight feasts, easily fooled school masters, japes and pranks, and, fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, no wizards. The books were also a great deal funnier than Harry and Co. They kept me in stitches of laughter for days at a time and I loved them.
My other great favourite was Biggles by Captain WE Johns, a series of nearly a hundred books about an ace World War I fighter pilot who never seems to get any older and also flies planes in WWII and into the jet age, and has hair-raising adventures together with his chums, Ginger, Smyth and Algy. They are probably horribly dated by now, but at the time they sure kept me wide awake at night.
Was it easy to get your first book published?
My first book came out years ago. It was a graphic novel illustrated by Allan Langoulant and was called Ashe of the Outback. At the timeI had no real idea of what I was doing and used to flood Allan with hundreds of ideas, often on coasters or scraps of paper. He was very patient with me and managed to pull them into a sequence that made sense and that he could illustrate. Luckily for me, he was such a clever artist and well-known that that a publisher soon contracted it.
My fourth book In Flanders Fields proved to be a much harder task. A picture book about the war in the trenches for small children? Are you joking? A number of publishers couldn’t see past the idea that picture books don’t always have to be about talking rabbits or cute teddy bears, or for little kids, and instantly rejected it. Luckily, the crew at Fremantle Press weren’t so traditionally bound.
Like all writers I read a great deal. I like comedies and funny writers, historical novels, spy thrillers and well constructed sentences but, above all, I like a good story that drags you along with it.
I also love travelling, especially with my gee-wiz top-of-the-range camera and taking photographs, especially to Europe. I love the old castles, cathedrals, villages, country pubs, museums, battle grounds and all the stuff that makes history so exciting.
Watching old movies give me a thrill, especially black and white dramas, westerns and silent comedians like Charlie Chaplin and Laurel and Hardy (go and look them up on You Tube. They are hilarious, even 80 years later. )
I like woodworking and have made several pieces of furniture using old recycled Jarrah. I love the smell of wood shavings and the sense of achievement when you do something as well as you can.
What made you become a writer?
Truthfully? I saw an old film when I about fifteen called Beloved Infidel, starring Gregory Peck, about the famous writer F Scott Fitzgerald. He was a romantic, tortured writer and as a teenager I could see myself being just like that. These days I’m not particularly tortured and, sadly, neither do I look like Gregory Peck or F Scott Fitzgerald.
Where do you get your ideas/inspiration?
Here you go, from the horse’s mouth, as they say:
Ashe of the Outback was inspired by Biggles (and The Jolly Postman).
In Flanders Fields isfrom a scene is a movie called All Quiet on the Western Front.
The Call of the Osprey came from all the times I spent with my grandfather in his marvellous old workshop in Northam.
A Fine Mess isfrom a poster I have on my office wall of old comedy duo Laurel and Hardy, and also the adventures my brothers and I had growing up in Kalamunda.
Another Fine Mess 002 has James Bond stamped all over it.
Jack’s Island is a collection of stories about my father’s life growing up on Rottnest Island during the 1940s.
The Last Viking I wrotebecause of my Danish name, and the thought that perhaps one day I should do a Viking story to honour the ancestors. You never know if they are watching. If they are, I hope they like it. It has only just been released.
Do you have any advice for young writers?
Yes, ignore all advice!!!Except, practice writing a lot. Just like violin or netball training, the more practice you put in the better you get at it. Oh, and always carry a notebook with you to jot down ideas when they occur. They are such fleeting things and are easily forgotten.
Also don’t take rejection too personally. Pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and start all over again.
Are you working on a book at the moment? Can you tell us anything about it?
Hmmmm … There are three on the go.
The Goldminer’s Son is a picture book, based on a true Western Australia story, about a miner trapped underground, his son’s steadfast belief he’ll be saved, and the heroic efforts to rescue his dad from a flooded pit.
Brave Art is about a girl who doesn’t fit in at a school, at home or with her friends. All she wants to do, with a single-minded passion, is paint pictures like the Great Masters and become a famous artist herself. Luckily, it has a happy ending as she does achieve her ambition.
Sons of the Desert is, hopefully, an authentic and action-packed, rip-roaring, page-tuning, old-fashioned adventure with horses, villains, stagecoach robberies, explosions and enough realism for you taste the dust and feel the heat as the battles rage.
The summer issue of the magazine has been posted to subscribers, so keep an eye on your letter box. We love the artwork on the cover by Emma Nolan, the winner of this year’s design-a-cover competition. Doesn’t it look fantastic?
Subscribe via our website (you can order single copies from the subscribe page, too). Single copies can also be purchased from our WA stockists—Westbooks (Victoria Park) and Zero to Ten (South Fremantle).
In our spring writing competition, we asked you to write a story with the title ‘The Three Little ____’ (characters of your choice). Here is the winner in the final category—Under 12s.
A reminder: always check the rules of the competition. If you don’t stick to the rules, we have to disqualify your entry and that makes us sad!
Under 12s winner: B Kempson (WA)
THE THREE LITTLE JELLYBEANS
Once upon a time, there were three jellybeans. Their names were Orange, Red and Green, although their colours were different. Orange was red, Red was green and Green was orange! Red was curious, which usually landed him in trouble, Orange was smart, always solving equations, and Green was brave. They were orphans, who lived in a packet in a cupboard with other jellybeans. One day, they were quietly playing with other jellybeans, when Red said something that shocked them all.
‘I wonder what it’s like outside this packet?’ All the other jellybeans gasped.
‘What, in the HUMAN world?’ said Green. The other jellybeans gasped again, as if Green had said a swear word.
‘To my calculations, surviving the outer world is one in one million of a chance,’ said Orange. ‘Still, it’s possible … ‘ Orange trailed off when he saw the look in Red’s eye.
‘Oh no you don’t, ‘ said Green, who had realised the look as well. ‘If i have to save you once more, I’ll have to get a personal doctor. Look what happened the last time you did something crazy!’ Green lifted his arm to show a nasty scar.
Even so, the next day, Red cut a hole in the packet, small enough for one jellybean to slip through, and leaped out onto the floor. He grinned to himself muttering, ‘Who’s a clever jellybean? Me!’ Suddenly, he felt a giant glob of slobber, as big as one dozen jellybeans, fell on his head.
He looked up to see where it came from, and saw an ugly brown and white beast with yellow teeth, beady eyes and a small black snout. He had heard legends of a creature like this, but the pictures he had pictured in his mind were nowhere near as terrifying as this.
It was a dog.
You could hear Red’s scream from miles away. Luckily, Green and Orange were lying in the sun near the place that Red escaped. Green’s head jerked up from its position, wondering what Red had done now. He looked around for Red, but stopped when he saw the hole in the packet.
‘Oh no,’ he said, running to the hole. Thinking of Red, he leapt throught he hole and onto the floor. He looked around, and saw Red and the dog. The dog had cornered Red by a table, and was about to eat him, when Green dived through the hole. Red sat down, dazed.
‘You know what? I’m never going to do anything dangerous again,’ he said.
‘Good,’ said Green and Orange.
‘Now let’s go cliff diving!’ said Red, walking off with his friends.
Here is the winning Under 9s story from our spring 2011 writing competition.
A reminder: always check the rules of the competition. If you don’t stick to the rules, we have to disqualify your entry and that makes us sad!
Under 9s winner: C Ng (WA)
THE THREE LITTLE WISHES
So I was just messing around with my pencils and was just about to pack them into boxes when my own pencil dropped to the floor. I had not realised and stepped on it. I heard a cracking sound. ‘NOOOOO!’
The van arrived to pick up the box to take to my customers. I quickly packed my pencils into the box and watched the van drive away.
I decided to go into the bush near my house to locate a piece of wood to make myself a new pencil. After making my pencil, I polished the wood and sharpened the pencil. The wood sparkled. My cupboard rattled. A piece of paper flew onto my desk. I couldn’t help but started drawing. I was ravenous and drew a sandwich. I looked at my drawing and my mouth started to water.
Suddenly, there was a sandwich made out of Turkish bread with cheese, avocado and turkey on the table! I couldn’t believe my eyes. It looked exactly like my drawing! I munched the sandwich. It tasted yumtious!
The drawing of the sandwich was no longer on the paper. Instead, there was a message, it said, ‘YOU HAVE 2 WISHES LEFT’
I stared in astonishment. I had made a wishing pencil! I rushed back to the bush. Where was that tree? I would be rich making all these pencils. But the tree had vanished. I better use my wishes carefully.
Money! I could draw a stack of money and I’ll be rich! I could buy a new house and car. I quickly went to my desk and used my magic pencil to draw a stack of money on the paper. I waited in anticipation. A stack of monopoly money appeared on the table. I can’t use this! I stamped my feet in anger.
I took a walk down the street trying to calm down. While I was strolling, I saw a child crying and asked her why she was crying.
‘My mother is terribly sick in hospital and may not come home!’ she cried.
I went home feeling empty. I had an awful time deciding what to do with my final wish. I had been selfish. A little girl is worried about a dying mother while I am thinking of a new car!
I realised what I should do. I went back to my desk and grabbed my magic pencil. I drew the little girl’s mother coming home healthy. I then went back down the street to see that little girl. A beautiful woman got out of her car and ran towards the girl.
I couldn’t believe the happiness I felt in my heart. It was the most satisfying feeling I ever felt.
Sam, Grace and the Shipwreck by Michelle Gillespie and illustrated Sonia Martinez. Published by Fremantle Press, ISBN 9781921696008.
(A review copy of this book was sent to us by the publisher.)
A ship—the Georgette—runs aground in Calgardup Bay WA in December 1876. This is the true story of a shipwreck and the daring rescue of the survivors by stockman Sam Isaacs and sixteen-year-old Grace Bussell, both on horseback.
This picture book tells an exciting story and it’s great to read aloud. Here are the opening words:
There is something about this morning—a quiet in the hills, a shiver in the air—something that prickles the nose of the stockman’s horse.
The illustrations show the drama as it unfolds and have the feel of long-ago adventure—with sepia coloured backgrounds framing lots of the artwork. We also love books with interesting endpapers, and the endpapers in this book are paintings showing scenes before and after the events in the story.
At the end of the book you’ll find a summary of the events of that day and a brief biography of the author and illustrator (apparently the illustrator drew lots of horses when she was growing up, and it came in handy for illustrating this story!).
Sam, Grace and the Shipwreck has adventure, bravery, history … and horses. You’ll love it!
Darius Bell and the Glitter Pool, by Odo Hirsch, ISBN 9781741757163, Allen & Unwin.
Reviewed by Year 5 students at Duncraig Primary School.*
Darius is worried. Time is running out. Will he and his family ever decide upon this generation’s Bell Gift from the family to the town so they can retain the family house and name? When he and his friends find a mysterious glittering pool in the grounds of the house they wonder if it might provide an answer.
This imaginative book will appeal to some tween readers but does not work as a read aloud book as the detail slows the plot. Quirky, well-developed characters carry the story. Our class thinks it would help retain interest if the author moved between locations and plot lines more frequently. We enjoyed the unexpected plot turns and the overall quest structure.
This acclaimed author has written the much-loved Hazel Green series and others such as Amelia Dee and the Peacock Lamp.
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*Duncraig Primary School is a member of our Undercover Readers Club. A review copy of Darius Bell and the Glitter Pool was provided by the publisher.
The summer issue of Alphabet Soup is only a few weeks away. We can’t wait to show you the cover by the winner of our design-a-cover competition! As you know, the theme for the summer issue is Medieval. Here’s a taste of what you’ll find inside:
Christmas subscriptions: Light to post and perfect for kids who love books and creative writing! Let us know if you’re ordering a subscription as a gift. You can request that the first copy be posted to you (so you can wrap it to put under the tree) or we can post it to the recipient with your message attached on 20 December 2011. Simply add your message in the ‘message to seller’ box if ordering via our website. Or email our editor with your instructions/message.
Plus, subscribers with an Australian delivery address go into a draw every issue to win a $200 book pack. The book pack for our summer 2011 draw is provided by Scholastic Australia! (Note: books in pack may differ from those pictured.)
Subscribe and go into a draw for a $200 book pack!
All through October, Alphabet Soup has been celebrating turning three. We had lots of writers and illustrators visiting our blog to answer THREE QUICK QUESTIONS. Today we have our last visitor, Sally Murphy—poet and author. Her books include Pearl Verses the World, Toppling and many more …
1. Where do you like to write?
At home—either at my desk or on the kitchen table. My desk has lots of piles of paper—ideas, drafts, books to read, and so on. So sometimes I have to move away from my desk to the kitchen table.
But I can write anywhere. I carry a notebook in my bag and if I have a few minutes to spare, or if inspiration strikes, or I suddenly know what is going to happen next, I can grab the notebook and start writing.
2. Can you name a book you’d recommend to our readers?
Just one? I am happy to say that I read all the time (even more than I write) It is a great way to improve your writing skills, and of course it’s fun, too. One book I read recently that has stayed with me is Angel Creek, by Sally Rippin, about some kids who find an injured angel and decide to keep it.
Sally Murphy recommends Angel Creek by Sally Rippin
3. Can you offer a word or phrase that kids could use for inspiration if they have writer’s block?
That’s the end of our Three Quick Questions series. In case you missed any, here are links to all our visitors. (Check out your favourite writer or illustrator’s recommended read and writing prompt!)
at Yidarra Catholic Primary School is a member of our Undercover Readers Club. A review copy of Button Boy was provided by the publisher.
alphabetsoup.net.au 