Well, the Undercover Readers Club is now officially launched. In case you missed it — we’ve had children’s authors, poets and illustrators visiting the blog to talk about what they used to read undercover when they were growing up.
Tomorrow we’ll post a list of all the books mentioned, in case you’d like to look for them the next time you’re at a library or book shop.
And if you came late to the tour, here’s a list of all our visitors. Thanks for helping us launch the Undercover Readers Club. Hurrah!
Kathryn Apel is the author of Fencing With Fear and This is the Mud. She’s here today to help us celebrate the launch of the Undercover Readers Club by sharing the books that she liked to read after ‘lights out’ when she was a child. Welcome, Kat!
What did I read after lights out when I was growing up?
Kathryn Apel
Oh – that’s so easy!
If I was reading anything undercover when I was a kid, it would have been an Enid Blyton. (And then Nancy Drew … ) I loved the The Secret Seven and The Famous Five. I even staged a protest when our librarian banned these books from our school. Disgraceful – that they should be banned!
My lights-out reading was by the glow of the lounge room light spilling into my bedroom. I crouched near the door and tilted the words toward the light – but had to be ve-ry careful turning the pages, so I didn’t alert my parents to my presence. Just as well I had a carpeted bedroom floor. It softened flurried footsteps on those frantic flights back to bed! (Though the bedsprings did give me away on occasion … )
I also remember staying at my cousin’s house for a holiday and going to Vacation Bible School. My cousin and I were in stiff competition for the most bible verses memorised, and I needed an edge! My cousin was puzzled at how I had memorised so many verses next day – but I wasn’t telling him about that torch trick!
Yr 3 student Curtis Costa obviously had a few tricks up his sleeve, too. I was pretty chuffed by his review of my book Fencing With Fear: “When I was reading and Dad told me, ‘Lights out!’ I hid the book, turned on my lamp and kept reading because it was so exciting.” What an awesome review! Thank you, Curtis.
Hmmmm … All this talk about Undercover Readers is making me a bit suspicious of my two book bug boys … and their lights out routines.
Alphabet Soup magazine is celebrating the launch of Undercover Readers (our new reviewers club for kids)! If you’d like to join the Undercover Readers Club, you’ll find an information pack you can download from the Alphabet Soup website. As part of the celebrations, we have a different children’s author or illustrator visiting Soup Blog each day until 29 June 2010 to talk about what they used to read after ‘lights out’ when they were growing up.
Sandy Fussell is visiting today, to tell us about what she got up to after ‘lights out’ when she was growing up! Sandy Fussell is the author of the Samurai Kids books (The first book in the series, White Crane, is pictured below), and Polar Boy. Her latest book is Jaguar Warrior, and the fifth Samurai Kids book — Fire Lizard — will be out in September 2010.
Sandy Fussell
I had a strict childhood. There were so many rules. Reading in the bedroom, in bed, under the covers, or otherwise was definitely not allowed. I wasn’t a rule-breaker to begin with but …
Rule Number One was bed time at 7.30pm. That’s doubly hard to take when you are in Year 12 and it’s summer daylight savings time, but my mother wasn’t one to argue with about anything. Her house, her rules. Rule Number Two was no more than one hour’s homework. That was also hard in Year 12 when I already had one subject over the scheduled 12 unit limit. Mum believed homework was set by teachers who didn’t get their work done during the day and she wasn’t going to help make up for their shortcomings. *sigh*
So I began doing my homework under the bed covers. My partner in crime was my grandfather who lived next door. He worked in the local coal mines all his life and firmly believed in the importance of a good education leading to a better job. I didn’t have any money so Pop bought me a torch and kept up the supply of batteries. Mum knew something was up but she couldn’t catch me. I was quick at turning off the torch and hiding the evidence. Mum thought I was reading in bed and removed my bookcase from my bedroom.
That didn’t seem fair to me. So after my illicit homework was done, I read, read, read. I was a huge science fiction and fantasy fan and luckily so was the school librarian. I loved those series of big thick books. It was pure escapism. From Frank Herbert’s Dune to Isaac Asimov’s Foundation and Empire, to Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings and William Horwood’s Duncton Wood.
In some ways not much has changed. Last night I finished Tallow, the first book in Karen Brooks ‘Curse of the Bond Rider’ series. The second title in the trilogy, Votive, isn’t out until March 2011. I don’t want to wait – that’s what I really want to read under the covers now. Right now! It’s a story of wonderful scope in very way – the world building, the characters and the narrative itself. Other titles on my immediate list are The Sky is Everywhere (Jandy Nelson), Thai-riffic (Oliver Phommavanh), Beatrice and Virgil (Yann Martel) and the last two books in the ‘Rangers Apprentice’ series.
There are winter days when I would be happy to stay in bed and read under the covers all day!
Alphabet Soup magazine is celebrating the launch of Undercover Readers (our new reviewers club for kids)! If you’d like to join the Undercover Readers Club, you’ll find an information pack you can download from the Alphabet Soup website. As part of the celebrations, we have a different children’s author or illustrator visiting Soup Blog each day until 29 June 2010 to talk about what they used to read after ‘lights out’ when they were growing up. So be sure to check back tomorrow!
Today we are officially launching our new Undercover Readers Club!
What is Undercover Readers?
Undercover Readers is the book review club for kids under 12 – and it’s free to join! The club is run through Alphabet Soup magazine. Club members write book reviews, and send them in to Alphabet Soup for publication in the magazine, and/or on the magazine’s blog at https://soupblog.wordpress.com. Members can review their own books, books they borrow from the library, or books that we send.
Who can join?
Individual children can join, with their parent’s permission. A teacher can sign up their primary school class.
What does it cost to join Undercover Readers?
Membership is free!
To celebrate the launch of Undercover Readers, we have invited a different author or illustrator to visit the blog every day until 29 June. They’ll be sharing stories about what they used to read under the covers after ‘lights out’ when they were growing up. Today Sheryl Gwyther is sharing her undercover reader story with us. Be sure to check back every day for other authors and illustrators!
What do YOU like to read after ‘lights out’ at your house?
The Undercover Readers Club will be launched here on Soup Blog on Monday!
If you haven’t heard about it yet, Undercover Readers is a book reviewers club for kids aged 12 and under. And it’s FREE to join! Club members with an Australian postal address receive one free book to review, but you can also review your own books, and books you borrow from friends or the library. (Members outside Australia can send book reviews of their own books, but unfortunately we aren’t able to send you a free book, due to the high costs of postage to overseas addresses.)
Members can be individual children, or a primary school class. The reviews will be published in Alphabet Soup magazine, and/or here on Soup Blog.
Back to the launch celebrations! Starting on Monday, we’ll have a different author or illustrator visiting this blog every day (14 – 29 June), to tell us about the books they read after ‘lights out’ when they were growing up — when they were still reading under the covers with a torch! So make sure you check back on Monday, when we’ll be hearing from our first author, Sheryl Gwyther .
Want to join the Undercover Readers Club?
Go to the magazine’s website (www.alphabetsoup.net.au) where you’ll find a PDF to download with information about the club and how to join.
A. WINTER 2010 WRITING COMPETITION – WIN A $20 BOOK VOUCHER!
Entries close 12 JULY 2010
Write a short story up to 350 words (shorter is FINE!). Your story must include the word ‘ice’. Include a competition entry form. This may be printed from the website .
Your entry can be handwritten or typed. Make a copy of your entry as we cannot return entries. (Make sure you read the competition rules.)
—
B. DESIGN-A-COVER COMPETITION – SEE YOUR ARTWORK ON THE COVER OF THE SUMMER ISSUE!
2009 winning design by K Larson, 9
Using any materials you like, design a cover for Alphabet Soup magazine. Your artwork must be on one side of a sheet of white A4 paper. Make sure the paper is portrait orientation. Do not include the Alphabet Soup logo.
You may enter as many times as you like, but each entry must have a competition entry form with the declaration signed by you and a parent. (Entry forms may be printed from the website or contact us to have one sent to you.)
The winner will receive one copy of the summer 2010 issue (out November 2010), and art supplies worth $20.
The theme for the 2010 cover is: wetlands.
There will be one winner chosen. By entering the competition, you agree to us using your artwork on the cover of the summer 2010 issue of Alphabet Soup magazine. We will publish the winner’s name, age, suburb and state, unless you advise us otherwise.
Have you heard that Alphabet Soup magazine is starting a Junior Reviewers Club for kids aged 6 to 12?
You can write reviews of books you love, and go on our list of club members who would like to receive free books to review. Your reviews will be published in the Write On section of Alphabet Soup magazine, or occasionally here on Soup Blog.
Membership to the Junior Reviewers Club is free, and club members can be individual children, or a primary school class. (In the case of a class, we will send one book for the class to read together, and class members can write a collaborative review, or individual reviews).
While club membership is open to Australian and overseas children, currently we can only send review copies to Australian addresses due to the high cost of postage. (But members outside Australia are welcome to submit reviews of their own books, and receive the members’ newsletter.)
In every issue of Alphabet Soup magazine, we interview an author or an illustrator. We can’t include all their answers in the magazine (we only fit so much into two pages!) and we like to put the whole interview on Soup Blog so you don’t miss out! Issue 6 of Alphabet Soup magazine includes a Q&A with Chris Nixon.
Chris Nixon lives in the southern suburbs of Perth, Western Australia. He is a freelancer for a design studio and has also illustrated Crocodile Cake, by Palo Morgan, and Jake’s Gigantic List, by Ken Spillman. Jake’s Monster Mess will be published in May 2010.
When did you start drawing?
My earliest memory of drawing is when I was 5 or 6 and I was drawing Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I loved drawing and painting animals and things outside so I started taking art classes painting in oils and sketching in charcoal and pencil. Most of the time the classes were outside so I would get to go on bushwalks and go exploring, which was great fun.
Did you have a favourite artist/illustrator as a child?
I wouldn’t say I had a favourite artist, but I did love the book Where the Wild Things Are. I loved the artwork and story then, and now Maurice Sendak is one of my favourite illustrators.
At the launch of Jake's Gigantic List, signing a copy of Crocodile Cake
What was your favourite book as a child?
Apart from Where the Wild Things Are, I loved Winnie the Pooh and all the Disney books that were adapted from films. I really liked 101 Dalmatians.
Why did you decide to become a children’s illustrator?
I was always interested in art but I
didn’t know how to turn it into a job. I studied design and illustration at university and in my last year I wrote and illustrated my own picture book. I researched a lot of kids’ books and found I really liked the characters. Up until then, I hadn’t picked up a children’s book since I was child. I really enjoyed them again and saw a good outlet for my artwork and passion for bringing good stories to life.
Was it easy to get your first job as an illustrator?
I have been very lucky and haven’t had to go looking for work; it’s always come to me. Fremantle Press saw my work at my graduate exhibition from uni and saw that I had illustrated a crocodile in one of my designs. They had a story called Crocodile Cake and needed an illustrator, and that was enough for them to pick me … very lucky! A few weeks later, I was working on my first picture book.
Do you have a preferred medium? Why?
I have found a medium that really works for me and my style and that is a blend of traditional and digital techniques. I use pencil and watercolour as an under painting and then I finish the work digitally. This allows me to make easy changes on the computer, but allows the work to have a traditional hand painted and drawn look to it.
What do you like to do when you are not working on your art?
I love being outside and traveling so I love surfing, kayaking, mountain biking and seeing as much of the world as possible. I’ve played basketball since I was 6. I also like music, film and cooking, so there is never enough time to fit it all in!
Where do you get your inspiration?
I watch a lot of films, particularly animated and kids’ films. They are like kids’ books brought to life and I always look to them for inspiration. I plan to work in the film industry one day, making movies and bringing great stories to life with my artwork.
Are you influenced by anyone’s work?
The artists working in the film industry are some of the best artists in the world, particularly the artists from Pixar, DreamWorks and Blue Sky Studios. I follow all their work and use it as a goal for my skill as an illustrator. In the book world, I really like Shaun Tan’s work. His career path is something I follow closely as he is also from Perth and now working as an artist making films.
Do you need to meet with the author when you are illustrating their books?
I never met the authors until the books were completed. I worked closely with the publisher to make decisions on my illustrations.
Does the story influence your choice of materials?
Absolutely. If the story is set outside with a more natural setting I will use more traditional materials like watercolour to create a more flowing illustration. If the story is more energetic and fast paced, I might use effects on the computer to make it more convincing.
How long did it take for you to illustrate Crocodile Cake and Jake’s Gigantic List?
Crocodile Cake was my first book so it took a lot longer to finish. From start to finish it took a little over a year. Jake’s Gigantic List took about 3 months.
Are you working on illustrating a new book?
I just finished my third book, which is called Farmer Mick: Harvest Time Havoc, which is all about farming with some really fun characters including talking horses and tractors. I’m also finishing off my own book I started writing and illustrating in uni. It’s called Chasing Zach and I hope to have it finished this year.
Do you have any advice for young artists?
Find a certain artist or style, or even part of art that you really like and research it to find out what other people in the world are doing. Other than that; practice and more practice. Take a sketchbook and pencil with you in case you see something that inspires you. I have a sketchbook in my car, in my bag and next to my bed in case I dream about something really cool and I need to draw it so I don’t forget it.
Well, the Undercover Readers Club is now officially launched. In case you missed it — we’ve had children’s authors, poets and illustrators visiting the blog to talk about what they used to read undercover when they were growing up.
Alphabet Soup magazine is celebrating the launch of Undercover Readers (our new reviewers club for kids)! If you’d like to join the Undercover Readers Club, you’ll find an information pack you can download from the 
Alphabet Soup magazine is celebrating the launch of Undercover Readers (our new reviewers club for kids)! If you’d like to join the Undercover Readers Club, you’ll find an information pack you can download from the 
Today we are officially launching our new 
The Undercover Readers Club will be launched here on 
alphabetsoup.net.au 