If you love the Dragonkeeper series* and you live in NSW—here’s your chance to meet the author, Carole Wilkinson over afternoon tea!
Where: The Children’s Bookshop, 6 Hannah St, Beecroft NSW
When: Monday 11 February 2013
Time: 4-30 to 5-30pm (Afternoon tea provided!)
Cost: FREE but bookings are essential!
RSVP Essential: phone 9481 8811 or email staff@thechildrensbookshop.com.au
* One of our Undercover Readers Club members reviewed Blood Brothers from the series. You can read the review here.
A Pterodactyl Stole my Homework by Nick Falk, ill. Tony Flowers, ISBN 9781742756561, Random House Australia
A review copy of this book was provided by the publisher.
Sam and his older brother, Nathan, are Team Dinosaur. Nathan is the Captain and he knows everything about dinosaurs. Sam is Second-in-Charge.
But Team Dinosaur might be broken up—Sam’s mum is so mad when his fifth lot of homework goes missing (stolen by a pterodactyl, but she doesn’t believe that) that she threatens to send Sam to a school for naughty boys instead.
Sam and Nathan have to find a way to get that homework back. They have to find a way to get up Saurus Hill to find the homework-stealing pterodactyl.
This is a funny chapter book for younger readers who love dinosaurs—and who doesn’t love dinosaurs? There are also cool black and white illustrations on almost every page and the adventures are chock-a-block full of pterosaur facts.
You can download the first few pages of the book for free on the Random House Australia website. And best of all, this is book two in the Saurus Street series—there are more Saurus Street adventures to read. Excellent!
UPDATE (20 January 2014). APOLOGIES – following the closure of Alphabet Soup’s print magazine, this offer is no longer available.
We’re giving away free back issues!
HERE’S WHY:
Alphabet Soup magazine is run as a small business—and our only income is from the sale of subscriptions and single copies. We’d love to continue to keep the magazine free of advertisements, but advertising would certainly help us financially.
So—can you help us to keep the magazine ad-free?
If you love Alphabet Soup, please spread the word for us. (Most of our subscribers say they first heard about the magazine from another subscriber.) To help you spread the word, from 4 January until the 4 February 2013, we will give away a back issue to the first 200 people who request it. You don’t even need to pay for the postage. We just ask that you show it to your favourite book-loving teacher, friend or family member!
HOW TO REQUEST A FREE BACK ISSUE:
Just email our editor and remember to include your postal address.
Fine print:
**Please note: There is no expiry date for requests from Australian schools.
Thank you. (And Happy New Year to all our readers, writers and artists … and subscribers!)
~ Rebecca
Editor
Alphabet Soup magazine
Thank you to everyone who entered our picture book + CD giveaway.
We put all the names in a basket and drew the winner this morning. And the winner is … spog 777. We’ve emailed you, so please check your inbox and email us a postal address so we can post your prize!
Merry Christmas everyone! We’ll be back in 2013. (In the meantime, if you know any young writers or artists who would like work published in the kids’ work section of the magazine, you can download the guidelines from our website.)
The Twelve Days of Aussie Christmas by Colin Buchanan ill. Glen Singleton, Scholastic Australia, ISBN 9781742833675
This picture book is an Aussie take on well-known Christmas song ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas’—and all set in the Australian summer with illustrations jam-packed with Australian flora and fauna. The picture book comes with a bonus CD of Colin Buchanan singing the familiar tune. (Of course, it gets stuck in your head, but that’s what makes it so sing-along-able.)
FIVE RUSTY UTES! FourfootyfansThreemeattraysTwojackaroosAndaplatypusupagumtreeeeeeeeeeeeeee.
A fun Aussie Christmas book that family members of all ages will enjoy (and possibly groan about) together. (There’s a page at the back of the book with a list of things to look out for, too.)
Merry Christmas!
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THE GIVEAWAY (IT’S EASY TO ENTER!)
We have one review copy of The Twelve Days of Aussie Christmas to give away. (The twelve days of Christmas start with Christmas Day, so you’ll still have plenty of days to belt out the tune and read the book even if the copy doesn’t arrive before Christmas Day!)
Just leave us a comment with the name of your favourite Christmas carol in the comments section of this post. (Make sure your email address is in the details section when you leave your comment—or email us after you’ve commented so we can contact you if you’re the winner). Entrants outside Australia welcome—but we will only post the book to an Australian address, so you’ll need to nominate an Australian address for us to post it to if you win.
The giveaway ends 6am WST (that’s when it’s 6am in Perth, Western Australia) on 24 December 2012. We will announce the winner here on Soup Blog by noon on 24th and attempt to get it in the mail to the winner on the same day. Immediate family members of Alphabet Soup magazine employees are not eligible to enter. This is a random draw.
So—you have a friend who likes to write. And you’d like to give them a gift befitting a writer but you’ve checked your money box and there’s only 25c rattling around in there.
Here are some low-cost or even cost-free gift ideas.
JAR O’ PROMPTS (for writer’s block)
Put all these things in a jar or small box. Next time your writer friend is a bit stuck, they can pull one item out of your jar and write about that to get the creative juices flowing again. (Ask your parents if you can have a pasta or jam jar when they’ve finished with it, or there might even be a few covered in cobwebs at the back of the shed. Or use an empty cocoa box and decorate with the comics page from the newspaper … )
A READING LIST
All writers need to read LOTS of books to keep those booky ideas cooking. Write them a list of cool books you think they should definitely read. List the books and their authors, and a sentence or two about why you think they’d love each one. Roll it into a scroll and secure with a bit of string, ribbon or a rubber band. Your writer friend can take the list to the library and work their way through the books. Brilliant!
AN APP LIST
If your writer friend has an iPad or iPod, write them a list of cool apps, websites, e-books or comic-creators you think they would love and should try out. (Know of any free ones? Even better!)
A COMPETITION LIST
Some writers love to enter writing competitions. If your friend is like this, they might like a list of current competitions they can enter. (You can start by checking out the Alphabet Soup ‘Comps for Kids‘ page right here on Soup Blog. You can thank us later!)
A LISTENING EAR
Create your own gift voucher—good for one (or three) sessions of listening to their story or poems read out—and giving an honest opinion if they’d like one. (If you have some suggestions about things that might need fixing, make sure you comment on some parts you did like, too. It’s hard to read your work out to someone.)
A GAME
Create another gift voucher—promise to play one (or three) games of Scrabble or Boggle or any of their other favourite Word games even if you know they consistently win. You know they’ll love it!
BOOKMARKS
As we said before, writers are readers … why not make a bookmark gift? You can use your own artistic skills to decorate a rectangular piece of card. Personalise it with their name or their favourite word or poem. Or try making these simple bookmarks below. (Ask your parents’ permission before checking out these other websites—and while you’re there asking permission, check about using a cutting blade because some of these involve cutting and you’ll need a parent to help if you are little.)
Owl bookmark (scroll down the page halfway for instructions in English)
Monster Bookmark using an old envelope
BOOKPLATES
We might have mentioned that writers like to read. And readers don’t like their favourite books to go missing. On the State Library of WA website, you’ll find bookplates you can download for free with artwork by some fabulous Australian illustrators, like Shaun Tan, Rebecca Cool and more! You just download them, cut them out and your writer can glue them into the covers of their favourite books. Excellent!
Got any other low-cost gift ideas for writers? Let us know in the comments below!
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Heipparallaa! by Liliana Stafford, ill. Elina Järvinen, ISBN 9781921136306, Windy Hollow Books
Reviewed by Matilda*, 6, WA
* Matilda is a member of our Undercover Readers Club. (Download information about the club on the magazine’s website.) Matilda reviewed her own copy of Heipparallaa!??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
If you were about to write a mystery story, what would your first line be? Send us only the first line of your story—make it irresistible!
You can send us as many first lines as you like. You can write your first line(s) on the back of your entry form. An entry form may be printed from the website (see competition rules), photocopied, or contact us to have one emailed or posted to you. (If you send us an entry and a few days later you send us some more first lines, you will need to include another entry form to go with your extra lines. We get quite a few entries and we can’t always match up stray writings with their entry forms!)
Your entry can be handwritten or typed. Make a copy of your entry as we cannot return entries.
A $20 book voucher is awarded to the winner in three age categories: Under 7s, Under 9s, and Under 12s.
Find more writing and art comps on the Comps for Kids page.
From today until 21st December 2012 all orders to Australian addresses will be sent via Express Post at no extra charge.
Prices: Single copies are only $8.20, a 1-year subscription (4 issues) costs $29.80 and a 2-year subscription (8 issues) costs $50.00. All prices include postage and handling.
Order online with a credit card on the magazine’s website.
Your shipping will be upgraded to Express Post at our office automatically, you do not need to enter a code when you order.
IT’S FRIDAY!
And you know what that means … it’s time to announce the winners of the 2012 Alphabet Soup Creativity Award!
*drumroll*
MOST OUTSTANDING ARTWORK—Daniel Hayes, 10, WA
The judge’s comments: This painting captures the drama of a long, dark arctic winter. Imagine this lonely polar bear waiting months and months for the sun to rise again! Despite being immersed in the freezing gloom, the artist has given the bear and her iceberg a magical inner glow.
Daniel wins $50 from the Book Chook, an art appraisal with James Foley, and a copy of James Foley’s book In the Lion.
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MOST OUTSTANDING STORY—Simon Bird, 11, WA
THE STRANGE CLOUD OF MIST
It’s night time, thought Jake. I hate night time. Jake was lying on his bed, looking out the dark window. He was 11 years old and had brown hair and eyes.
CRASH!
Jake heard some spray and saw the window cover in water drops.
‘What was that?’ he asked himself. He jumped out of his covers and sneaked towards the window. It wasn’t rain because it was only a quick burst of misty water. Jake opened the window and stuck his head out. He saw a large cloud of mist swirling around his neighbourhood.
Strange … Jake thought. It must be a dream … I’ll pinch myself. Jake pinched himself hard and closed his eyes. When he opened them again, he was in his bed and it was morning, yet the window was still covered in misty water.
Jake hopped out of bed and hobbled down the stairs. His breakfast was already waiting for him at the table.
‘I’m not hungry right now,’ Jake said to himself. ‘Something’s not right.’ Jake dressed himself and stumbled out the door. He jogged to the nearby beach and saw that most of the beach parasols had been washed into the ocean, plus mounds of seaweed were piling on the shore.
I knew something was wrong, Jake thought to himself. The beach has been wrecked.
Jake jogged home to tell his parents, but something captured his eyes. His parents’ car was gone! He panicked. Where were his parents? Surely they wouldn’t be gone at this time of the morning. The front lawn of Jake’s house was wet and ruined.
Jake heard a windy sound from behind him. He turned around and saw a massive cloud of misty water! The mist was swirling around at high speed, ripping out plants and pulling pots and cars. One of the cars Jake saw was his parents’ car!
‘No!’ Jake yelled. Jake ran as fast as his legs could carry him, but he was too slow …
The judge’s comments: This story carefully builds suspense, and Jake’s feeling of foreboding pulls the reader through the story. Abandonment is an age-old theme in storytelling and this story leaves us guessing what is to come. We sense that Jake is capable but his fear is real.
Simon wins $50 from the Book Chook, a manuscript appraisal with Dee White, and a copy of the e-book Ten Top Writing Tips for Kids—What to Write About.
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MOST OUTSTANDING POEM—Rose Thorpe, 11, NSW
RACCOONS
Smart and clever,
Cunning and quick,
The raccoon darts,
Weaves and dips
Between the buildings,
In the night,
Guided by
The silver moonlight.
The sun is rising,
Night is away
Hurry my friend
Before the brand new day.
The judge’s comments: Line breaks and well-chosen words reflect the movement of the raccoon at night. The poet conveys a lot of action in this brief poem.
Rose wins $50 courtesy of the Book Chook, a poetry appraisal/mentorship with Lorraine Marwood, and a copy of A Ute Picnic.
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SECOND PLACES
Second Place (Artwork)—Caspian by Benjamin Woo, 6, Malaysia.
Second Place (Story)—UFO by Harry Cordingley, 10, WA.
Second Place (Poem)—The Sun, Ellie Rose Fisher, 11, WA.
Benjamin, Harry and Ellie Rose each receive a runner-up medal.
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If you’d like to submit writing and/or artwork for Alphabet Soup‘s 2013 issues, check out our submission guidelines.
alphabetsoup.net.au 