Tasmania Reads Week

Mark your calendar for a week of reading as part of the Tasmania Reads Week campaign. Sue McKerracher, Executive Director of Libraries Tasmania, is a guest blogger and introduces the event and provides tips to help you immerse yourself in books.

From 5-11 March, we’ll be celebrating Tasmania Reads Week. This new statewide campaign is run by Libraries Tasmania and brings together an impressive line-up of supporters, including local booksellers, publishers, award-winning authors and illustrators, the JackJumpers, Metro buses, libraries, schools, UTAS and the Governor of Tasmania.

While Tasmania Reads Week is new, we’re building on an existing national program called Australia Reads. This annual book industry activity emerged from the National Year of Reading back in 2012 and has gone through several iterations. It is now an ‘always-on’ campaign to promote Australian books and reading, with an anchor event on 9 March – the Australian Reading Hour.

Sustaining an ‘always-on’ campaign takes far more resources than we have available, so we’re concentrating our efforts on one week of the year and building our program around the Australian Reading Hour. 

There’s a free magazine available in schools, libraries and bookshops. If you don’t manage to scoop up one of the 20,000 print copies in circulation, you can look at it online here. This gives you a full overview of what’s happening during Tasmania Reads Week and let’s you know how you can take part.

It’s not too late to run an event for the week. You might gather a few people to talk about books, or you could share a post about what you’re reading for the Week on social media. Just tag the campaign #TasmaniaReads.  If you’re in a school, we have a pack with ideas for students from kinder to Year 12 (email us for a copy Libraries Tasmania - Tasmania Reads (tasmania.reads@libraries.tas.gov.au). And if you don’t have time to do anything in 2023, put a note in your calendar for the same time next year, when we’re planning to run another week-long celebration of all things books and reading.

Sue McKerracher

Executive Director, Libraries Tasmania

Mother and daughter team up for children’s picture book

© Kaz Hutchison
& Jo Siggins

Jo Siggins is a professional investigator and author of children’s book Undercover Coco the Pine, the Crime and the Mystery Footprint. In this week’s post, Jo reveals the inspiration for her children’s book and shares her experience working with the illustrator (and her mother) Kaz Hutchison.

I clearly remember the day I was inspired to write Undercover Coco. It was a long-held dream to become an author but many false starts later I was still trying to come up with that elusive story idea. 

My husband and I were walking around our property with our dog Coco when we noticed one of our pine trees had been damaged. Coco started sniffing around the tree base looking at wildlife footprints on the ground. I was struck by the thought that she was trying to figure out what had been there. I recall laughing at the time and pointing out that Coco will sniff out the offender – and thus an idea was born!

In the book, the main character Undercover Coco finds a footprint at the scene of a damaged tree and secretly investigates the animals on the farm to try and find the culprit. 

The story also draws on elements from my work as an investigator as Undercover Coco is curious about what has happened and looks for clues in her search for the truth.

I always knew I wanted my mum, Kaz Hutchison, to illustrate the book. Not only is she an amazing artist, but we have undertaken other projects together in the past so I knew we worked well together. She had also painted Coco previously and really captured her spirit. 

© J. Siggins & K. Hutchison, image used with permission

As a mother/daughter team, we wanted to develop the book collaboratively, which had its challenges as we each had a strong artistic vision. But we also had a great synergy and combining the best of our ideas led to both the story and illustrations evolving throughout the creative process. 

© J. Siggins & K. Hutchison, image used with permission

We certainly learned a lot as the project progressed. Our initial plan was to format the book as left page text and right page illustration. However, there was a hiccup in our early planning and the trim size did not match the first draft illustrations. Lesson here is to triple check trim size! Instead of starting over, we decided to change the layout to a two-page spread with the text set into the illustration. This presented other complications as we had to adapt the illustrations to suit different margins and create enough blank space in the artwork for the text. Knowing each other so well helped us to stay positive, pivot and adapt as required. It was not a quick process, but it was a labour of love. 

© J. Siggins & K. Hutchison, image used with permission

Applying those learnings as we develop Undercover Coco 2 will be our next challenge!

Jo Siggins

Children’s book author and professional investigator

W: https://undercovercoco.com/

FB: https://www.facebook.com/undercovercoco

Editor’s note. It is always a pleasure to discover new Tasmanian creators and get a glimpse of the behind-the-scenes processes to bring a book to publication. Head to Undercover Coco’s website for more information including stockists.

Love your Library with ‘Library’ Books

Library Lovers' Day is drawing near and so, in this timely post, we discover some gorgeous picture books that celebrate libraries – join the fun with Loretta Brazendale as she shares her favourites. Mark the day in your calendar, check out events in a library near you in February and find resources on the ALIA website.

On the 14^th of February not only do we celebrate Valentine’s Day but we celebrate the most important day! Library Lovers Day! So, it was only fitting for me to write my first blog for 2023 on all things Library and what we love about our libraries! My favourite thing about libraries are the children’s books, because these stories can really inspire the love of storytelling, reading, imagination and how children’s books can start some amazing conversations and memories for children.  

The last book in my review comes about because the first book I read in the series by this author was the best! My absolute favourite memory so far in working in a library is because of this book. I read the book in question to a class that was visiting the library and told them that it is my favourite and after I read the story I explained why. Little did I know the class also loved the story and their visits to the library so much that at their end of year school assembly I was invited to attend as their special guest and what a wonderful surprise I got! Not only was it mentioned how important their library visits were, but a prerecording was played of each student reading a page of the book I had read to them, dressed as the main character. Even the teachers and the assistance dog got involved. You will have to read to the end of the reviews to find out which book has stolen my heart! Enjoy 

Lucy’s Book by Natalie Jane Prior

This gorgeous picture book is a celebration of library books, librarians, sharing books with friends and the joy of reading and re-reading a favourite book. This story was more like the life cycle of a library book when it becomes much sought after. I loved how the library theme was strong throughout the book. The illustrations are wonderful, and I highly recommend this beautiful book. 

The Lost Library by Jess McGeachin 

A great picture book with a "library" adventure!  I also enjoyed seeing at the end of the book, Ms. Hardback, the librarian, left a note for the reader asking if they can find a dragon on each page. I love that! I would love to find a lost library and get lost in it, imagine the books you could find, I’m thinking this would make a great children’s themed event in our library! Maybe I could dress as a dragon for the event!

Our Library by Donna Rawlins 

This beautiful book could nearly be an instruction guide for library staff. When reading this story, I felt like it was telling the story of my library! The book explains that libraries are vibrant and inclusive and not a place to just sit and be quiet. Really is an amazing picture book to introduce children and families to all the wonderful things in a library. 

The Gobbledygook is Eating a Book by Justine Clarke and Arthur Baysting

Ahhh finally a book of teaching the importance of loving and looking after your books. I think every library staff member would love this book! The story has fun, silly rhymes that children would think are seriously funny. Fantastic colourful illustrations throughout. 

Now it’s no secret that Maggie Hutchings first Cockroach tale became my absolutely favourite book in 2021!! So much so that I dressed as the funny little cockroach for Book Week in 2021!! It’s my go to book to share with children that come into the library! I have already reviewed “Your Birthday was the Best!’ in a past review so it’s only fair I review the next best thing that has happened to this little Cockroach! 

Your School is the Best! by Maggie Hutchings 

I think why I love these 2 stories is because of the differing perspectives. The cockroach and his family think they are being super friendly and helpful, but the poor little guy and his family are just terrorizing a classroom of children. And again, I love the illustrations in this book, the look of horror on the children's faces are so detailed. This book is truly the best. 

Loretta Brazendale

Information Services Coordinator
Burnie Library | Libraries Tasmania 

Editor’s note: Do you have a special library moment to share or a favourite story that celebrates books and libraries? Add a comment and expand the list. I adore the notion of creating a community library celebrated in The Great Book-Swapping Machine by Emma Allen & Lisa Coutts..

Creators in Schools Workshops and More in 2023

CBCA Tasmania is pleased to announce we received permission to once again extend the Federal Government/Department for Education, Children and Young People (DECYP) grant into 2023.

In 2022 schools with an Institutional Membership were able to access fully funded Creators Workshops (35 schools and 10 Creators), participate in Book Week Shadow Judging (17 schools), receive a refund on Book Week Merchandise (18 schools), and CBCATas supported Readers’ Cup events (approx. 20 schools).

In 2023 we are pleased to offer similar experiences to Member Schools. Creator Workshops, Shadow Judging, Merchandise and Readers’ Cup will all be on offer, but schools will need to decide which one of these offers they would like to access. Details of the offers can be accessed at CBCATas Membership.

If you are an educator in non government and government schools in Tasmania, you are able to access this program via an institutional membership.

If you are a Creator resident anywhere in Tasmania, you can let CBCA Tasmania know of your availability to provide workshops. Australian Society of Authors (ASA) rates are paid and CBCA Tasmania will advertise your availability on our website and list you on our database for our schools. We connect the school to you!

Available authors are listed on the Creators page
of CBCA Tasmania website 

For further information about the Creators in Schools Workshop programme please email tas@cbca.org.au or visit our website cbcatas.org.au. 

Felicity Sly

CBCA Treasurer and North West Creators in Schools Workshops
Co-ordinator

Jolabokaflod

Our final post for 2022 comes from Maureen Mann, and she wraps up the year by introducing a wonderful tradition for Iceland. Have you heard of Jolabokaflod? Read on and be inspired to start a new tradition on Christmas eve.  

Merry Christmas 2022 everyone – or Happy Holidays for those who don’t follow Christian beliefs.

What are your family’s Christmas or holiday traditions? We all have them, even if they are not different from many others.

One of the traditions I really respect is from Iceland. It’s called Jolabokaflod (Jólabókaflóð in Icelandic), which translates as Christmas Book Flood. It’s a tradition which started in the 1930s and 1940s to encourage literacy and reading in their long dark winters and help the Icelandic book trade. It’s become such a success that Iceland is now recognised as the first country to have full literacy. The idea is to give and receive new books to and from family and friends, on December 24, and the evening is to be spent immersed in those books. And chocolate I believe! Wouldn’t it be wonderful for Australia to start a similar tradition!

So, what would you choose to give to your family? Here are some of my top picks from the year.

Jason Cockcroft’s Running with Horses is a gritty and realistic sequel to his previous We Were Wolves. Best for older readers, who will appreciate Rabbit's traumas as well as the stunning monochrome illustrations.

Old Fellow by Christopher Cheng and Liz Anelli. A gentle story about an old man and his old dog as they spend their day in their multicultural community. It’s a picture book which will be appreciated by a wide age range, not just the youngest readers.

My Deadly Boots by Hakea Hustler, Carl Merrison and Samantha Campbell. This fun story, with its colloquial language and rhythms, celebrates the confidence of finding oneself, but the reader may not need such a vibrantly colourful pair of footwear to do so.

Rita’s Revenge by Lian Tanner returns to the world of A Clue for Clara, where animals must learn to communicate with each other at the same time as solving a crime. A great fun story with subtle complexities.

Maybe: A Story About the Endless Potential in Us All by Kobi Yamada and Gabriella Barouch is a beautiful picture book about following life's journey through the good times and the harder ones and achieving one's potential. The illustrations are wonderful.

The Bookseller's Apprentice by Amelia Mellor. This is a prequel to The Grandest Bookshop in the World and is sure to delight fans of that story.

Fans of Katrina Nannestad's Travelling Bookshop series will be delighted that there was another title published this year: #3 Mim and the Anxious Artist. There's another scheduled for 2023 too -- #4 Mim and the Disastrous Dog Show. If you haven't met Mim and her wider family as they travel the world, you've got a treat in store!

For adults, I’ve enjoyed Chris Hammer’s crime thrillers this year. Try The Tilt, published 2022, or start with his first, Scrublands.

If you missed Lyndon’s blog last week, promoting the delights of e-books and audiobooks through the library, please go back and read it. He shows how easy it is for us all to join in to reading, without the expenses. Enjoy whatever books you receive – and I hope there are lots of them over the summer.

And again, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone.

Maureen Mann

Retired teacher librarian and avid reader

Editor’s note: What a wonderful idea and what great suggestions to help you find ‘the perfect book’ to give on Christmas eve. Thank you Maureen, and all of the contributors to our blog in 2022. You have kept us entertained, challenged our thinking, provided windows into the amazing work of book creators and provided a wealth of story ideas to keep us, and our children reading.

Happy Jolabokaflod and a Merry Christmas to you all.

How Libraries Tasmania Helped Me Double the Books I Read in 2022

Have you discovered audiobooks yet? Lyndon Riggall shares his discovery of the wonders of audio reading with an extensive range of books at your fingertips via your public library. 

Whenever I think of Arthur, the delightfully charming educational PBS television series based on Marc Brown’s popular book series of the same name, which recently ended after 25 seasons and 253 episodes, there is a rap song that comes immediately to mind. I’m thinking of the track featured in the episode, “Arthur’s Almost Live Not Real Music Festival”, which includes the repeated refrain, “Having fun isn’t hard when you’ve got a library card,” as the characters of the series proceed to describe all of the types of books and worlds, fiction and non-fiction, that can be found in your local library.

This maxim has become especially pronounced for me in recent months as I have discovered some of the resources that are available through the online services of Libraries Tasmania. While I have always favoured my Kindle when it comes to e-reading, and rarely read on my phone where so many other distractions are rife, I have been a huge fan of audiobooks and have often used them to fill in all of those quiet parts of life when I am walking, driving, cooking or exercising. This has always worked well, but it has by no means been particularly affordable. The library offers so many reading experiences for free that it has always seemed a shame that my life hasn’t really ever suited the audiobooks in the collection that can be found on CD… sadly, my car doesn’t even have a CD player!

I was explaining this situation to a friend one day earlier in the year, who quickly announced, “But what about Libby and BorrowBox?” Phones hastily came out of pockets to show me what they meant, while I instigated a couple of downloads and began scrolling and borrowing… within seconds I had a story calling out to me from my phone’s tinny speaker. Suddenly—I was shocked and amazed to discover—I was quite literally up to my ears in audiobooks. It was that easy.

Screen shot from Libby library

And yes, all you need is a library card. By inputting your Libraries Tasmania information into each app you can very quickly gain access to thousands of ebooks and audiobooks. The genius of these two eLibrary services is that they make reading as easy as opening Facebook or Twitter, and they are much more pleasant for your wellbeing. Just opening them now I can see Ash Barty’s Memoir My Dream Time (read by Miranda Tapsell, no less), Dostoyesvsky’s Crime and Punishment read by the actor Will Poulter, and entire sections of other titles dedicated to recommended reads from #BookTok, the Tasmanian Literary Awards and the Booker Prize longlist. For kids, I managed to dig up some Andy Griffiths and Terry Denton, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Wings of Fire, Lian Tanner, Roald Dahl, David Walliams, Ahn Do, Babysitters Club and Aaron Blabey. Between the two services you can have up to fifteen digital loans out from the library, which of course is in addition to any physical books you might have already borrowed… plenty to fill the summer holidays.  

Screen shot from BorrowBox library

Thanks to GoodReads and its tracking I can be very clear about the effect that this discovery and new habit has had on my reading life: in 2022, I have doubled the number of books that I have read from fifty-two, to what I expect will be more than a hundred by the time the new year rolls around. I am lucky, I know, that I have the kind of life where moments of quiet are available to me: an audiobook ticking away through my headphones as I drive or do the dishes. I am also a fiend that listens to books on double speed which is definitely not to everyone’s tastes and can be prone to send people fleeing from the room in horror if they happen to overhear it. Nevertheless, I suspect that most of us have little pockets of time available to us where a story could keep us company. In cases where mundanity strikes, life is better with a book. 

Of course, there are still some small bumps in the road with these two apps. Firstly, both BorrowBox and Libby continue in their persistence of ensuring that only limited “copies” of texts are available to users… which has never made sense to me as a method of operation, dragging one of the key flaws of the physical library kicking and screaming into the digital world. There is also the fact that the existence of the two different sets of books can make it hard, at times, to actually find where something is, often sending you back to the library catalogue just to get some clear answers. These minor quibbles aside, however, I think it’s fair to say that in my experience both BorrowBox and Libby are not only exciting new additions to the offerings of a library in the 21^st Century, they are—quite literally—life-changing. 

It’s true. Having fun isn’
t hard when you’ve got a library card.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, it’s a beautiful day and I’ve got reading to do. 

Lyndon Riggall
Lyndon is an English teacher at Launceston College, as well as the author of the picture books Becoming Ellie and Tamar the Thief. Along with Georgie Todman, he has recently been named Co-President of the Tamar Valley Writers Festival.

Screenshot of Jennie's latest uLibrary reads

Editor’s note: I wholeheartedly agree with Lyndon as per a long-ago post from me Audiobooks – They Speak for Themselves. There is another app that broadens the scope of titles available from Libraries Tasmania. Visit https://libraries.tas.gov.au/elibrary/elibrary-books-and-audiobooks/ to find out about uLibrary and other apps discussed today. For our readers from further afield than Tasmania, I urge you to investigate the public library ebook and audiobook offerings in your own location.

Writing and Illustrating a Graphic Novel Memoir for Children

Alyssa Bermudez provides a fascinating insight into the creation of a graphic novel as she harnesses this medium to also explore a significant time as a teenager living in New York in September 2001.

© Alyssa Bermudez

I always knew I wanted to create something special from my childhood diaries, and over the course of almost ten years, I turned them into a graphic novel called Big Apple Diaries. It all started while taking a comics class in 2012 as a student in New York City, where I was born and lived my whole life at that point. When I moved from New York City to Tasmania in 2015 I realized how important the New Yorker side of my story was. There is something about seeing it from a distance that made it clearer to me. 

I used my diary entries and experiences to retell the story of my childhood in New York City around the September 11 attacks in 2001. These entries were so important for creating this book because I could capture the mindset of a young teen instead of relying solely on the memory of it. Of course, memoir-style writing can be triggering, so I don’t think it would have been possible for me to write about that part of my life without enough time and space between the experience and now. 

© Alyssa Bermudez

Big Apple Diaries is my first ever long-form graphic novel so it was definitely a learning curve for me. I’ve illustrated many picture books, but the jump from 32 pages to almost 300 was a lot to think about!

All of the writing had to be finished first, and that is something that often surprises people. The storyline is the most important part of any book. I started with very simple drafts and didn’t worry about the spelling or specific wording yet. I made sure to create story arcs within my “real story.” Once that draft made sense, I went back over it and carefully rewrote it several times. 

A very important part of the graphic novel process that makes it different from other writing is that I had to choose which parts of the story would be told in words and which parts would be told in pictures. I used different colours in my Word document to make this easier for me. Everything I wrote in black was the words of the story, and everything I wrote in blue was for the pictures. One of the best parts of the graphic novel medium is capturing emotion and subtleties through imagery. Sometimes big feelings don’t need to be named on the page, and a simple expression can speak for itself.

© Alyssa Bermudez

Once all of that was ready to go, I roughly laid out the text and created simple sketches to determine the layouts, pacing, and timing. Next came editorial feedback from the publishing team, adjustments, and sample art. Once all of the stars aligned and everyone agreed it was ready to go, I returned to page one again. This part was the most fun for me because all of that difficult problem-solving with layouts and writing was done, so I could just enjoy the process of making the artwork!

© Alyssa Bermudez

I underestimated how emotional it would be to create the images to go with something so deeply personal. It was wonderful exploring the visuals of New York City from that time and recreating the relationships with my parents and friends.

It was very meaningful to put together a story that took place twenty years ago and can still be relatable to readers today and in the future. I’ve enjoyed sharing this book with students here in Tasmania and virtually in the US. Even though Tasmania and New York City couldn’t be any further apart, the feelings that come with growing up bring everyone together.

Alyssa Bermudez
Children’s author and commercial illustrator
W: http://www.alyssabermudezart.com/
FB: https://www.facebook.com/alyssabermudezart
T: @bermudezbahama 

From the blog: New on the Shelf this Christmas

Many thanks to Bronwyn from the Hobart Bookshop for this tantalising and far reaching list of new titles to engage young readers. It is great to see what is hot off the press to guide Christmas choices and reading diets over the Summer.

The end of the year is a busy time in the book business.  There are more books being released at this time of year than any other and while our already crowded shelves may be suffering under the strain it is lovely to see new future classics waiting to be taken into the homes of book lovers.

© The Hobart Bookshop

There are a wide range of themes and characters reflecting the world around us in the new offerings.  Some give us a chance to see life from another perspective, others remind us of what is important in our own daily lives, and some give us a feeling of contentment that is worth a great deal.

The new middle fiction novel by well known author Craig Silvey Runt is a highlight.  It includes themes of facing adversity, connection with family and community all set in an identifiable Australian context.  Craig visited us in the bookshop and recorded a Book Chat video discussing his new book: 

CBCA favourite Katrina Nannestad’s new book is another beautiful hardcover Waiting for the Storks navigates the experience of a Polish child taken from her home in the Second World War and given to a German family to raise.  Nannestad takes sensitive subject matter and treats it carefully to produce a historically accurate and powerful story with messages that are no less significant today than they were at the end of the War.

In a change of pace, Richard Ayoade’s The Book that No One Wanted to Read manages to combine two traits which don’t always go hand in hand; a book that is both funny and clever.  Written from the perspective of the book itself it is very much worth reading and encourages a love for books which we all like to see developed in younger readers.

Zeno Sworder has given us a delicate and beautifully illustrated picture book story My Strange Shrinking Parents which, while being unusual and original, centres on the love between parents and their child.

The 20^th anniversary of the classic by Jackie French Diary of a Wombat has been celebrated by the release of the new accompanying story Diary of a Rescued Wombat: The Untold Story. With the same Diary of a Wombat style that is known and loved, the new edition details the almost true story of where it all began.

For non-fiction the well-known author Yuval Harari, who is most famous for his book Sapiens which details the history of humankind and civilisation, has now produced a children’s book.  The first volume in the Unstoppable Us series, How Humans Took Over the World is an engaging book that provides a full colour illustration of the rise of the human race, despite not being the fastest or strongest species on the planet.

The vast array of stories on offer, are a reflection of the growing diversity of voices at work.  Helping to provide all children with identifiable and engaging stories to draw them into a love of books.

Bronwyn Chalke 

The Hobart Bookshop 

W: https://www.hobartbookshop.com.au/

FB: https://www.facebook.com/HobartBookshop/ 

T: https://twitter.com/HobartBookshop 

Editor’s note: Wow! It is going to be hard to choose which of these to take up first; after I finish Runt! I am currently listening to this absolutely delightful story for primary aged readers. There are so many clever and memorable passages exploring rural hardship and family bonds that Silvey nails – his comparison between dogs and cats being an absolute hoot! And so very true!