Australian Children’s Laureates announced

IBBY Australia congratulates children’s authors Alison Lester and Boori Monty Pryor as the first Australian Children’s Laureates. Each of them brings a wealth of skill, experience and passion for children’s literature to the role.

From the official website:   ACLA Chair Marj Osborne says, “We are delighted to announce Alison and Boori as our joint inaugural Australian Children’s Laureates for 2012 and 2013. In them we found not one but two incredible individuals with the creative and passionate spirit we were looking for, so we made the unusual but exciting decision to appoint both.” During their appointment Alison and Boori will act as national and international ambassadors for Australian children’s literature and will separately visit every state and territory inspiring young people to tell their own stories.

Lady Cutler Award honour to Margaret Wild

Picture credit: James Roy

 

The NSW Branch of the Children’s Book Council of Australia honoured children’s author Margaret Wild with the Lady Cutler Award.  The Guide to the Margaret Wild Papers held at the Lu Rees Archive in Canberra gives some indication of the great contribution Margaret has made to children’s literature in Australia.

During the evening the inaugural Dr Maurice Saxby AM honour lecture was announced by Libby Gleeson and Margaret Hamilton, with the first lecture to be held at the State Libraryof NSW during 2012, rather fittingly the National Year of Reading.

 

 

Authors Belinda Murrell and Kate Forsyth shared their family insights into the life and times of Charlotte Barton, their ancestor and the author of A Mother’s Offering to her Children: By a Lady, Long Resident in New South Wales published in 1841, the first children’s book to be published in  Australia.   It seems fitting that on the 170th anniversary of it’s publication the NSW Branch of CBCA have named the Frustrated Writers Award in her memory.

Sydney fundraiser for Japanese IBBY Tsunami Relief

IBBY Australia is hosting a fundraising event for the IBBY Children in Crisis Appeal. The Japanese section of IBBY will use the funds raised to buy minivans for delivering books to children affected by the earthquake and tsunami.

WHAT: More Than a Bookshop – A Conversation with Robin Morrow
WHEN: Wednesday 9 November 7.00 PM for 7.30 PM start
WHERE: The Children’s Bookshop, 6 Hannah Street Beecroft NSW

Dr Robin Morrow is president of IBBY Australia. She pioneered children’s bookselling in NSW when she began The Children’s Bookshop in Beecroft in 1971. She owned the bookshop for its first 25 years. Owen Belling will interview her about her life with books.

BOOKINGS ESSENTIAL: (02) 9481 8811 OR STAFF@THECHILDRENSBOOKSHOP.COM.AU
$20 Entry

International recognition for Australian Authors

Queensland illustrator Gregory Rogers and Victorian writer Glenda Millard have had publications recognised on the 2012 Honour List for IBBY. The biennial list contains the most highly regarded titles of the previous two years as selected by participating IBBY countries. Rogers and Millard join previous Honour Book awardees, such as Julie Vivas, Nadia Wheatley, Allan Baillie, Margaret Wild and Jeannie Baker all of whom have received significant international recognition for Australian children’s literature. The wordless picture book, The Hero of Little Street, is the third in a series by Gregory Rogers that features a boy and characters such a medieval baron, Shakespeare and a bear. In this latest story, the boy finds himself in the Delft of the Dutch Old Masters after a chase through Trafalgar Square and the National Gallery. Many references to famous paintings are scattered throughout the pages as the boy and an escapee dog have multiple and often hilarious adventures. No words are required as the reader pores over the masterful watercolour and pen-and-ink drawings to join in the visual jokes. The Hero of Little Street was the Children’s Book Council of Australia Picture Book of the Year in 2010. The IBBY listing will bring Rogers’ work to the attention of an international audience.

A dystopian, but very recognisable, Melbourne is the setting for Glenda Millard’s A Small Free Kiss in the Dark. War has come suddenly and unexpectedly to the city leaving a disparate group stranded in the State Library, including the narrator, street kid Skip. Billy, an older homeless man, young Max, whose mother has not returned and Skip make a hazardous journey to Luna Park where they find shaky refuge. There they meet up with Tia and her very young baby. Millard challenges readers with notions of family, and although the subject matter is grim, her storytelling is both powerful and hopeful and is conveyed through lyrical prose. A Small Free Kiss in the Dark has been recognised by the US Branch of IBBY on a list of significant foreign titles, was an Honour Book in the 2010 CBCA Awards and won its category in the 2010 Queensland Premier’s Literary Awards. Both titles are published by Allen & Unwin. Writers and illustrators from more than 60 countries will be recognised on the 2012 IBBY Honour List.

Own your own Bob Graham limited edition print

Are you looking for a gift for a fellow picture book lover?

IBBY Australia (Inc.) offers limited edition prints by 2012 HC Andersen Award Illustrator Australian Nominee, Bob Graham.  These exclusive fine art prints in a limited edition run of 50, are signed and numbered by the artist.  Cost: $175 + $15 postage in Australia.

The funds raised will support the work of IBBY Australia (Inc.).  For more information see the flyer

IBBY International Congress 2012 – London

The 33rd IBBY International Congress to be held next year in London.  The theme is “Crossing Boundaries: Translations and Migrations”.

International Literacy Day 2011 – Celebrating Peace

The 8th September is UNESCO’s International Literacy Day. This year’s focus is on the link between literacy and peace, an important priority for IBBY too.

One world, many stories…

In Australia this week, we are celebrating children’s book week with the Australian Children’s Book Council to the wonderful theme of  “One world, many stories”.

It is also the time when the winners of the book of  the year awards are announced from the many worthy books on the shortlist.    It cannot be an easy thing for the judges to read all of the nominated stories and to reach agreement and we are glad that they also provide us with an extended list of notable titles as well.

Congratulations to all of the authors and illustrators who have been honoured this year.

Australia announces candidates for HCA Awards

IBBY Australia Inc  is proud to announce the nomination of two outstanding candidates for the 2012 Hans Christian Andersen Awards.    Bob Graham and Christobel Mattingley are the Australian candidates.

Bob Graham is one of Australia’s most revered and best loved artists for children, and his disarmingly insightful and engaging work has also garnered an international reputation.

Christobel Mattingley has, in her long career as a writer, always shown a passionate commitment to subtly articulating and provoking debate via the prism of artfully constructed language.

The Hans Christian Andersen Awards are presented each two years to a living author and illustrator whose complete works have made a lasting contribution to children’s literature. This Award is the highest international recognition given to an author and an illustrator of children’s books.   The National Sections of IBBY nominate candidates and a distinguished international jury of children’s literature specialists selects the winners.

See the Press Release for more information.

Dr Maurice Saxby, AM – Lifetime IBBY Australia Member

Birthdays are often packed with nice surprises, and the NSW April 2nd birthday fling was no exception. Former IBBY president Dr John Foster had flown to Sydney for the International Children’s Book Day afternoon to announce with his usual flair and verve that an honorary lifetime IBBY Australia membership was to be bestowed upon one particular conference participant.  That participant, John revealed, had contributed so substantially to illuminating and promoting Australian children’s literature over the years, particularly through his role on the international IBBY awards jury, that it seemed imperative that he be recognised in this way. And so it was to a thunder of applause that Dr Maurice Saxby stepped forward.   Following a short acceptance speech dappled with delightful memories, Dr Saxby was asked to wield a knife right into the official birthday cake.