Posted in illustrator, teachers' resources

Two book launches (WA)

Posted on by Alphabet Soup

Here are two book launches coming up in June and July!

1. JUNE 2011 BOOK LAUNCH for picture book, The Last Viking

written by Norman Jorgensen, illustrated by James Foley

"The Last Viking (cover)"
When: Friday 24 June 2011, 6:30pm
Where: Fremantle Children’s Literature Centre (Old Freo Prison hospital), cnr Hampton and Knutsford Rd, Fremantle WA
RSVP for numbers to Fremantle Press: (08) 9430 6331 or email admin@fremantlepress.com.au

A bit about The Last Viking (taken from the Fremantle Press site):

Young Josh is very brave.
He’s not afraid of anyone or anything—except maybe the dark. Pirates worry him a bit, of course, and so do boy-eating dinosaurs, and monsters under the bed. He’s also just a little afraid of dragons and vampires. But other than those few things, Josh is as brave as a lion.

Sort of.

When Josh comes face to face with real-life trouble, he begins to find out how brave he really is …

2. JULY 2011 BOOK LAUNCH for Kumiko and the Shadow Catchers

written and illustrated by Briony Stewart

"Kumiko and the Shadow Catchers (cover)"

When: Sunday 10 July 2011, 1.30pm–4.30pm
Where: Town of Vincent Library, 99 Loftus St, Perth WA.
Short reading, book sales, signing, sale of original illustrations and prints from the book.

Light refreshments and a chance for kids to win book prizes and colour in a giant dragon!

For more info, email Briony Stewart.

A bit about Kumiko and the Shadow Catchers (taken from the UQP site):

Kumiko is used to having a dragon guarding her night and day, but what she doesn’t quite know is why she needs one …

Since discovering the secret of the Shadow Catchers, a group of powerful sorcerers determined to steal magic at any cost, Kumiko knows it’s only a matter of time before her family’s link to dragons puts them all in grave danger. Is there a way to stop the Shadow Catchers once and for all and will Kumiko take the risk?

Kumiko and the Shadow Catchers follows Kumiko’s last and most exciting adventure as she travels through a world of shadows and dark magic in order to find freedom for herself and the kingdom of dragons.

—

Do you know about any upcoming book launches? (Let us know!)

Posted in Book reviews by Rebecca, teachers' resources

Review: Our Australian Girl series

Posted on by Alphabet Soup

A brilliant new series for girls: Our Australian Girl

Review by Rebecca Newman

Under the main title of the Our Australian Girl series, there are four Australian girls who each have their own series. The four girls are Grace (a convict girl from 1808), Letty (a free settler in 1841), Poppy (a gold rush girl in 1864) and Rose (a Federation girl in 1900).

Penguin Books sent me the first book for each girls’ series. Each book is an adventure and you learn a bit about Australia’s history without even trying to. They aren’t true stories, but they are based on the lives of children who lived in those particular times in Australia.

Here’s a bit about each of the books:

Meet Grace (book 1 in Grace’s series). Author: Sofie Laguna Meet Grace (cover)

Grace is poor and lives with her uncle in London. She loves horses, particularly the horses on Fleet St and one day she steals an apple from a cart to give to one of them. Grace is seen stealing the apple so she runs away and she’s terrified about being caught—she knows she might be sent to prison or something even worse.

—

Meet Letty (book 1 in Letty’s series). Author: Alison Lloyd Meet Letty (cover)

Letty’s big sister is about to go on a sea voyage to Australia to start a new life. When Letty and her father go to wave goodbye, there’s a misunderstanding and Letty somehow ends up on the ship too. There’s no way to go home to her family, she has to stay on the ship and nobody seems pleased to have her on board. Life on the ship is hard, but what will life be like when they arrive in Australia?

—

Meet Poppy (book 1 in Poppy’s series). Author: Gabrielle Wang Meet Poppy (cover)

Poppy lives at Bird Creek Mission near Echuca during the Gold Rush. She hates it there—and her brother, Gus, hates it, too. When he runs away from the mission, Poppy really misses him. She decides to run away from the mission and find him. But how can she escape without being caught? Will it be easy to find Gus when she doesn’t know the way?

—

Meet Rose (book 1 in Rose’s series). Author: Sherryl Clark Meet Rose (cover)

Rose lives with her family in a big house in Melbourne. She’s a bit of a tomboy and in those days girls weren’t supposed to play cricket or climb trees. Then Rose’s aunt comes to stay and she’s not like the other women in Rose’s life. Rose is not even sure her mother will let her aunt stay. With her aunt around, maybe her life will start to change …

—

I loved all four of these books. The girls are similar to girls today, and things that are important to today’s girls are important to them, too—friendship, to feel safe, to have a home and a family that cares about you. But back then these girls also had different challenges—like having to make all the decisions because there were no grownups around and you were in danger. Or like girls not being allowed to wear comfortable clothes, especially trousers (unless they were secretly disguising themselves as boys!), having to wear a corset even when you were still a kid, and not being allowed to go to school. (Sometimes you might think it would be better if you didn’t have to go to school. But imagine if you weren’t allowed to, or that you weren’t allowed to read a lot or ride a bike or play sport either because it wasn’t ‘ladylike’. Would your life be different?)

These books are suited to girls aged 8–11, especially girls who love reading books in a series and like stories with adventures and friendships.

Extra bits:

Check out the series website with extracts from the books, quizzes, activities and competitions. (The second books in the four series are out now!)

Don’t forget to read our interview with Gabrielle Wang about writing the Poppy series!

—

These four titles from the Our Australian Girl series were sent to us by Penguin Books Australia.
Posted in authors, illustrator, teachers' resources

Kids’ workshops, July 2011 (NSW)

Posted on by Alphabet Soup

Can I cuddle the moon? (cover)ILLUSTRATING WORKSHOP with children’s illustrator, Lisa Stewart

Kids aged 8–12 will use Washi (Japanese) papers combined with drawing to create original works of art.

When: Tues 5 July  2011, 9am–12.30pm.

Cost: $50 per student. All materials provided.

Book early! RSVP to The Children’s Bookshop, 6 Hannah St, Beecroft NSW. Email staff@thechildrensbookshop.com.au or tel 9481 8811.

—

Thai-riffic! (cover)WRITING WORKSHOP with Oliver Phommavanh, author of Thai-riffic!

9–12 year olds can explore the writing process, learn how to develop plot, character and setting.

When: Wed 6 July 2011, 9am–12.30pm

Cost: $50 per student, all materials provided

Bookings essential. RSVP early to The Children’s Bookshop, 6 Hannah St, Beecroft NSW. staff@thechildrensbookshop.com.au or tel 9481 8811.
Posted in Book reviews by Rebecca, teachers' resources

Book review: Press Here by Hervé Tullet

Posted on by Alphabet Soup
Reviewed by Rebecca Newman, Editor
"Press Here (cover)"
Press Here by Hervé Tullet

With thick, shiny white pages and brightly coloured spots, this is a fun picture book. It has instructions on each page and you’re asked to press or tap on the dots. It’s a book, so you KNOW pressing or tapping is not going to do anything … and yet … you can’t help pressing and blowing and tapping and shaking that book and doing whatever else you are asked to do to make the dots move and change.

I read it with a 5 year old and a 7 year old and they can’t get enough of it.

As well as being fun to read (and press), it helps with understanding some Maths ideas, too. It’s fun to test out some predictions: “If you tip the book this way, what do you think will happen to the dots?” Tipping the book to the left will make all the dots slide to that side of the book (well, they don’t REALLY, but it looks like they do!) and tipping it to the right will make them all slide the other way. And with all the dots lined up, you have to stop for a bit of counting every now and then (you just can’t help yourself).

This book trailer shows you how it works.

Press Here by Hervé Tullet, Allen & Unwin, ISBN 9781742375281
A review copy of this book was sent to us from the publisher.
Posted in info, teachers' resources

Send us your writing & artwork!

Posted on by Alphabet Soup

In every issue of Alphabet Soup, we include 6 pages of kids’ work—your stories, poems, letters-to-the-Editor, book reviews and artwork. Issue 11 is coming up. We still have a few spaces left for a poem or a story (or two) and some artwork.

If you’d like to see your work published, read our submission guidelines and send us something! (If it doesn’t arrive in time for issue 11, we can include it in a later issue. So if you can’t send something until next week, don’t panic.)

Remember, you don’t have to subscribe to the magazine to send us your work or to enter our writing competitions.

"Walker Books 2011 titles"

For those of you who DO subscribe, subscribers are automatically entered in a Subscribers’ Draw every issue. The winner of the issue 11 Subscribers’ Draw will receive a $200 book pack from Walker Books Australia. (See some of their books above. Books in the winner’s pack might differ though.)

Now I’m going to sit by our post office box to wait for your writing and artwork. (Give that postman something to do and send me some mail!)

Rebecca Newman, Editor

Posted in Book reviews by Rebecca, teachers' resources

Book review: Song of the Dove

Posted on by Alphabet Soup

Song of the Dove by Errol Broome, illustrated by Sonia Kretschmar

"Song of the Dove (cover)"This picture book for older children might remind you of Romeo and Juliet. This is the story of the rise to fame of Italian composer, Vincenzo Bellini.

Bellini falls in love with Maddalena Fumaroli, one of his singing students, but Maddalena’s parents refuse to allow her to marry a poor musician. Bellini and Maddalena agree that if Bellini writes ten great operas, her parents will see what a great musician he is and allow them to marry.

After writing his second opera, Bellini leaves for Naples and continues to write operas. His fame spreads and Maddalena’s parents do realise they have made a mistake. But is it too late for a happy ending?

The illustrations by Sonia Kretschmar are detailed and show how hard it is for Bellini and Maddalena to wait for so long. Through the artwork we also learn a little about the 19th century world—the art, music and fashion of the time. And we see how powerless you were if you were a young woman living then. Maddalena tells Bellini that doves live in pairs for life, and doves in the illustrations and endpapers reflect the couple’s story.

Song of the Dove includes a brief biography of Bellini, and a list of his ten operas.

Song of the Dove, by Errol Broome, ill. Sonia Kretschmar, Walker Books Australia, ISBN 9781921529245.
A review copy of Song of the Dove was sent to us by the publisher.
Posted in competitions, teachers' resources

Kids’ writing comps 2011

Posted on by Alphabet Soup

A good way to hone your writing skills is to enter a writing competition. You won’t always win, of course, but it’s a good way to get motivated, get ideas and get writing!

"Boy writing © Greg Mitchell"

Keep an eye on the closing dates, and remember to read the guidelines. Judges hate it when they read a fabulous story or poem and they can’t award it a prize because it was longer than the word limit, or didn’t stick to a rule listed on the entry form.

Here are some upcoming competitions for kids.

Australia-wide:

Alphabet Soup‘s autumn 2011 short-story comp (Closes 29 April. Entries postmarked 29 April accepted)

Dorothy Mackellar Poetry Awards (Closes 30 June 2011)

Sally Odgers Aussie Schools Writing Contest (Closes 30 June 2011)

WA:

The Tim Winton Award for Young Writers (Closes 22 May 2011)

Make Your Own Story Book Competition (Closes 3 June 2011)

Randolph Stow Young Writers Awards 2011 (Only open to Geraldton area. Closes 8 July)

Write a Book In a Day (Teams must complete the challenge by 31 August 2011)

SA:

SA English Teachers Association—The Young Writers Award 2011 (Closes 31 May 2011)

Do you know of any other writing competitions for kids?

Posted in poetry, teachers' resources

Poem in Your Pocket Day 2011

Posted on by Alphabet Soup

"Child on swing © Rebecca Newman 2009"Today is Poem in Your Pocket Day!

I love pockets, and the bits and pieces carried around in them (except tissues, after the washing machine—I don’t love those). Carrying a poem around in your pocket is fun. You can read it to yourself if you need cheering up. You can read it to someone else if they need cheering up. You can give it to someone—as a Poem in Your Pocket Day present. And you can even use it for inspiration to write your own poem.

The first poem I ever remember learning (if you don’t count nursery rhymes) was The Swing by Robert Louis Stevenson. My mum used to recite it whenever we went to the park and we begged her to push us on the swings.

The first poem I remember learning at school was Forgiven by AA Milne. And that’s the poem I have in my pocket today.

Forgiven
by AA Milne

I found a little beetle; so that Beetle was his name,
And I called him Alexander and he answered just the same.
I put him in a match-box, and I kept him all the day …
And Nanny let my beetle out—
Yes, Nanny let my beetle out—
She went and let my beetle out—
And Beetle ran away.

She said she didn’t mean it, and I never said she did,
She said she wanted matches and she just took off the lid,
She said that she was sorry, but it’s difficult to catch
An excited sort of beetle you’ve mistaken for a match.

She said that she was sorry, and I really mustn’t mind,
As there’s lots and lots of beetles which she’s certain we could find,
If we looked about the garden for the holes where beetles hid—
And we’d get another match-box and write BEETLE on the lid.

We went to all the places which a beetle might be near,
And we made the sort of noises which a beetle likes to hear,
And I saw a kind of something, and I gave a sort of shout:
“A beetle-house and Alexander Beetle coming out!”

It was Alexander Beetle I’m as certain as can be,
And he had a sort of look as if he thought it must be Me,
And he had a sort of look as if he thought he ought to say:
“I’m very very sorry that I tried to run away.”

And Nanny’s very sorry too for you-know-what-she-did,
And she’s writing ALEXANDER very blackly on the lid,
So Nan and Me are friends, because it’s difficult to catch
An excited Alexander you’ve mistaken for a match.

—

Do you know a poem you’d like to put in your pocket? If you had a poem in your pocket, would you keep it a secret? Or would you read it to someone?

~ Rebecca (Editor, Alphabet Soup)

Posted in teachers' resources

Need some writing tips?

Posted on by Alphabet Soup

Sometimes writers need inspiration. Are you having trouble coming up with ideas for your next story?

"Miss Llewellyn-Jones Goes to Town"Yesterday I found the writing tips page on Elaine Forrestal’s website. It has a section dedicated to writing tips—like how to get ideas, finding the right voice for your characters, and using metaphors and similes. (And some other tips too!)

Elaine Forrestal is the author of many books and her latest is the picture book Miss Llewellyn-Jones Goes to Town (illustrated by Moira Court).