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!
Joseph borrowed this book from his public library.
I really enjoyed Escape from Mr Lemoncello’s Library (another book by the same author) so I was excited to find this book at the library. Although I enjoyed it, it wasn’t as good as Escape from Mr Lemoncello’s Library, which was my favourite book this year.
In this book: In the holidays Billy has to go to a boring cabin with his mum instead of staying at the apartment with his dad. Billy’s mum rented the cabin from Dr Libris, her university professor, for a very good price and she’s going to sit and work on her dissertation all holidays. Billy has to entertain himself, so when he smashes his iPhone and there is no other technology he has to amuse himself by reading books from Dr Libris’ giant collection. But as he starts reading he can hear strange sounds coming from the island in the middle of the lake. It’s almost as if the stories he’s reading are coming to life. Together with Walter — a boy he met around the cabins — he goes to investigate what’s happening on the island.
This is a fantasy adventure I would recommended for ages 10+ because it has quite a lot going on in the book and you need to be able to follow it. You’ll appreciate it best if you already know about well-known characters from classic literature like Robin Hood, Tom Sawyer and others.
Joseph borrowed this book from his school library.
Mr Lemoncello is the greatest game-maker that has ever been. When Kyle learns that his public library has been bought and redesigned by Mr Lemoncello he is desperate to win a place on the Library Lock-in this Friday. Then the children who win a place at the Lock-in discover the rules have changed. They will be racing against the clock to escape from Mr Lemoncello’s library and there will only be one winner with a cool prize.
The redesigned library is now full of awesome stuff like holograms, a domed roof covered in electronic screens, and interactive electronic ‘games’. (It makes me jealous — that library is so much better than any libraries I know.)
The story is well-written and you have to think of two or more paths for a puzzle to make all those parts slide together. I’ve reread this book lots of times since I first read it a month ago. This book hooks you from the start and keeps you wondering. It reminded me of the Encyclopedia Brown stories in parts because it gave you the opportunity to solve the clues yourself as you read along. There are also references to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and a range of other classic and modern books and authors.
This wacky, intriguing read is my favourite book this year. I can recommend it for readers 10+ (and advanced readers of 9+) because it makes the book more enjoyable if you understand the references and literary in-jokes.
Joseph is one of our regular book reviewers. His most recent review (if you don’t count this one) was of Wonder. If YOU would like to send us a book review, check out our submission guidelines.Happy reading!
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 we are lucky to have two visitors at once! Joshua Button and Robyn Wells collaborated over ten years to create their recently published picture book Steve Goes to Carnival.
Joshua Button and Robyn Wells.
Joshua Button is an Indigenous artist from Broome. He is descended from the Walmajarri people of the East Kimberley in Western Australia. He first worked with Robyn in a literacy program at primary school that resulted in the picture book Joshua and the Two Crabs. Robyn has a degree in Fine Arts and has lived in the Kimberley for many years. She is passionate about enabling young people to express themselves through language and art.
Kathryn Apel posed a question for Joshua and Robyn. Kathryn asks:
Q. I read that you collaborate for hours over the kitchen table. Can you describe your process — and how you came to form this wonderful working partnership?
Joshua answers:
Robyn and I help each other a lot with the artwork. Robyn often cuts out stencils and does the background textures with sponges. Then I usually use black drawing ink to paint the characters or animals over the background textures.
Robyn and I research the animals and characters together. We look at the size and shape of the animals, the structure of their bones and the texture of their fur. Sometimes we take photos of people we know in Broome to base the drawings on — we study the colour of people’s skin, how they are standing, the expressions on their faces and what clothes they are wearing.
Robyn and I work really well together. We don’t have any arguments — working with someone else means it takes half the time to finish the work!
[Here are some photos of Joshua Button and Robyn Wells working together. Thank you to Magabala Books for permission to use these photos.]
Joshua and Robyn creating a picture book together.Joshua working with ink.
And now Joshua and Robyn pass the book baton to next Friday’s visitor — Paula Hayes. Paula is the author of the novel Lily in the Mirror.
Our question for Paula Hayes is: Your character Lily loves all things dark and mysterious. Were you inspired by any real life mysteries, strange events or unusual people?
Check in every Friday for questions and answers from children’s authors and illustrators. See you next week!
On 8th September I turned 8, but today is 9th September. At ten-thirty, my birthday party began. Every friend arrived right on time!
“It’s time for games, everyone,” Mum said, clapping her hands. Dad took a huge piece of paper and stuck it on the floor with Blu Tack. Then we drew a game of hopscotch on the paper and we played it.
When we were playing the games, an uninvited brother of a friend also came. He saw my birthday cake! After we finished the games we saw that the birthday cake was all gone! Luckily we found the little brother. But no birthday cake! I felt a bit sad.
The brother had a picture of a cupcake on his shirt. It gave me an idea! I told Mum my idea.
She said, “What a good idea for a birthday surprise!”
She quickly got a shopping bag and ran out the door. Mum came back with white sugar, flour, eggs, cinnamon, butter, oil, some icing sugar and blue pink, red and yellow food colouring. Then mum and I got ready.
After we were prepared, I told everybody to come to the table. When we all got to the table, we made and decorated our own cupcakes. With the icing sugar and food colouring, we wrote our own name. Mine said, Happy Birthday Joshua. I forgave the little brother and thanked him for coming. And I hope he comes again!
This is Joshua’s second story published with Alphabet Soup. His earlier story was The Mystery of the Thief! and you can read it here. If YOU would like to send us a story, drawing, poem, or book review, check out our submission guidelines.Happy writing!
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.
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