IT'S PUBLICATION DAY FOR 'WHERE THE MAGIC HAPPENS'

Where the Magic Happens is a heart-warming story about a young boy’s fight with brain cancer.

Co-written by Amanda Christensen and Coral Vass, illustrated by Nicky Johnston and published by the Hand in Hand Fighting Brain Cancer Foundation.

Author Amanda Christensen says: ‘Until you have sat in a doctor’s office and told that your child has brain cancer, it is hard to relate to the importance of this book...To have had this book on the day of diagnosis, would have been an enormous first step in having a very real and hard discussion about brain cancer and what his treatment journey was about to look like…If this book can help just one family feel less alone and scared of the unknown, then we have done what we set out to achieve.’

Carolyn Oldano- the Founding Director of Hand in Hand Fighting Brain Cancer says: ‘There are so few resources for children and no books like this available anywhere. Therefore, it was essential to see this book become a reality and help eliminate some of the fears these children experience…My hope for this book, along with our charity ‘Mikey the Martian’ plush toy, is to find its way into the hands of all children diagnosed with brain tumours. It is our wish to have both the book and the toy in every children’s hospital throughout Australia.’

Amanda Christensen and Carolyn Oldano Carolyn Oldano, Coral Vass and Nicky Johnston

Grandma's Treasured Shoes - As seen on TV ABC's PLAYSCHOOL

Grandma’s Treasured Shoes was read by Australian actor Andrew McFarlane on Australia’s oldest and most loved children’s television program- Playschool (Tuesday 13th April 2021)

You can watch it here: https://iview.abc.net.au/video/CH1912H012S00

WINNERS ANNOUNCED!!

Drum roll please…and the winners of The Perfectly Proper Pet Drawing Competition are...

Section 1. Arnav - 5 years old

Section 1. Aagya - 5 years old

Section 2. Eliana - 7 years old

Section 2. Ava - 6 years old

Section 3. Aatmika - 8 years old

Section 3. Amey - 9 years old

Section 3. Aksharasree - 8 years old

Section 4. Harsimran - 12 years old

Section 4. Sukhmani - 10 years old

Section 4. Cyprus - 10 years old

WIN A SIGNED COPY OF THE PERFECTLY PROPER GRAND PET PARADE

To celebrate the release of The Perfectly Proper Grand Pet Parade,

you have a chance to win a signed copy of the book!

SUBMITTING YOUR ENTRY

To submit your entry, please take a photo or scan the completed artwork and email a copy to email- petparadecompetition@gmail.com

Closing date: 22nd March 2021

Winners will be announced on Wednesday 24th March 2021

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

When you submit your entry, please include the following information:

·        Your name and age

·        Your state of residence

·        Email address (this is how we will notify the winners)

·        Parent/guardian’s signature as consent for entry into the competition

Winners will be judged on creativity and effort

There will be one winner in each school-age category:

1.            Kindergarten and Prep

2.           Year 1-2

3.           Year 3-4

4.           Year 5-6

CONDITIONS OF ENTRY

Participants and winners of the drawing competition acknowledge that their artwork and participant’s first name may be published on our social media platforms.  All participants under the age of 18 must obtain parental or guardian’s consent to enter the competition.

New book…coming soon! THE PERFECTLY PROPER GRAND PET PARADE

Lavender and her friends can't wait to bring their pets into school for the Perfectly Proper Grand Pet Parade. Everything is perfect until a troublesome two start scheming!

Available in all good bookstores March 2021

Reading out of Poverty - READ ALOUD CHALLENGE 2020 Ambassador

Reading Out Of Poverty is a wonderful non-profit organisation, which aims to promote literacy skills in early childhood and provide literacy resources and services to families with young children from low socio-economic backgrounds, including migrants, refugees, and indigenous individuals in Victoria.

I am honoured to become an Ambassador for the 2020 Read Aloud Challenge, which starts on 1st September to 21st September 2020.

I’d love you to join us, as we take on this 3-week read aloud challenge together.

There is nothing I love more than reading and writing for children, inspiring young people with a love for literature and giving all children the equal opportunity to learn. Being able to read and having equal access to literacy is fundamentally crucial to a child’s development.

This is why ROOP and I invite you and your family to go on this journey for the next 21 days.

By signing up to the READ ALOUD CHALLENGE, ROOP will ensure you receive all the educational resources you need daily to your inbox. You will receive daily reading tips, videos, eBooks, and mentoring support to motivate and inspire your family during this challenge. When you complete the read aloud challenge your family will receive a completion certificate, which you can share with friends and family via social media.

Join the READ ALOUD CHALLENGE today!

The Story Time Exhibition at the National Library of Australia

Story Time is an exhibition of Australian children’s literature from the colonial period through to the present day. “It will take you on a nostalgic tour through childhood, looking at the works of great Australian authors and illustrators”.

I was delighted when I heard Sorry Day had been included in the exhibition.

When asked to choose my favourite books from the collection of children’s literature on display in the Story Time: Australian Children’s Literature exhibition at the National Library of Australia, it was like trying to choose my favourite child. With such a rich collection on display, I decided to choose three books that I think are unique to Australia and best represent Australia in Australian children’s literature.

When we lived in Japan, we loved to take road trips from Tokyo to Kyoto, or Kyoto to Hiroshima. The Japanese thought we were crazy to drive all that way. To them, it made more sense to jump on a bullet train and be in the next city with no fuss and in no time at all. But, as all Aussies would agree, part of the fun is not the destination, but the actual journey. And on that journey, the question ‘Are we there yet?’ has become iconic.

Told from the perspective of young Grace, Are We There Yet? takes the reader on a journey around Australia from Geraldton to Darwin, Cloncurry to Cairns and Hobart to Phillip Island, as Billy consistently asks that refrain of every child: ‘Are we there yet?’

Alison Lester has cleverly written and illustrated a travel-journal, a scrapbook, a map and a children’s book all in one. I love this book because it not only celebrates Australia as a country, but what it means to be Australian.

On 26 April 1976, the first boat carrying five Vietnamese refugees arrived at Darwin Harbour. Over the next 20 years, Australia resettled more than 100,000 Vietnamese refugees, with an annual intake of up to 22,000 refugees in the 1980s, the largest number in 30 years and a level Australia has not seen since. This influx of refugees changed the face of Australia and helped shape Australia into what it is today.

The Little Refugee is the honest and heartfelt true story of Anh Do, one of Australia’s best-loved comedians, and his family’s survival against all odds as they escaped war-torn Vietnam, travelled by boat across the South China Sea and began a new life in Australia.

I absolutely love this book. Told in the first person from a child’s perspective, it gives the reader deep insight into the plight of refugees, eliciting empathy and compassion ‘for those who’ve come across the seas’to share our ‘boundless plains’.

I am delighted that one of my own books was included in the exhibition. Sorry Day, illustrated by the talented Dub Leffler of the Bigambul people, is not only an account of Australian history, it is a truth-telling.

Sorry Day tells the story of Maggie and her mother, who watch the Prime Minister give his apology to the Stolen Generations on behalf of the Australian government. At the same time, some 60 years earlier, a group of young Indigenous children play hide and seek by a creek on the fateful day they are taken from their families.

In that one powerful word, ‘sorry’, there is hope—hope that what has been would never be again. Sorry Day is the history of all of us, both Indigenous and non-Indigenous. These conversations are not easy to have, they are not comfortable to have, but they are essential to have. For it is only in acknowledging past wrongs that forgiveness is facilitated, healing can begin and reconciliation can be achieved in our nation.

The Story Time Exhibition is open at the National Library of Australia, Canberra, until February 9th 2020

Book Week 2019 - Reading is My Secret Power

This year’s Book Week was filled with lots of school visits, story-telling, writing workshops, the CBCA Book of the Year Award ceremony, a radio interview and coffee with the former Prime Minister of Australia, Mr Kevin Rudd.

This year’s Book Week theme was Reading is My Secret Power.

And so I spent the week, doing what I love- inspiring students with a love for literature.

The question I often get asked when I visit schools is- “How can I become a writer?”

And my answer is always the same…Read, Read, Read and Read some more.

The more we read, the more words we gain exposure to. The more we read, the more we learn the many different ways we can use the English language. The more we read, the more we build a massive bank of different words in our heads that we can draw from at any time.

Books can make you laugh. Books can make you cry. They can carry you into different worlds of the imagination. They can help us escape. They can cure loneliness. Books can improve our focus and concentration. Books can educate us and books are a free source of entertainment.

As well visiting schools, I was invited to meet the former Prime Minister of Australia, Mr Kevin Rudd, in Melbourne. We had a great talk about Australia's history, truth-telling, Sorry Day, the National Apology, the Stolen Generations, Constitutional Recognition and acknowledging our First Nation's People, of which I am very passionate about. I was also inspired to hear more about the wonderful work of the National Apology Foundation for Indigenous Australians.

My hope is that Book Week 2019, has inspired more children across this country to love literature just that bit more. My hope is that they are encourage to read just that bit more and my hope is children can realise the enormous power there is in books.

Books are for living, lessons and truth. And reading really can be our secret power, if we let it.

Sorry Day wins the 2019 CBCA Book of the Year Eve Pownall Award

On Friday 16th August 2019, I made my way to Federation Square in Melbourne to attend the 2019 CBCA Book of the Year Awards. Sitting amongst esteemed colleagues, I was absolutely thrilled and honoured to hear SORRY DAY won Book of the Year for the Eve Pownall Award. I was also honoured to receive a phone call from the former Prime Minister of Australia, Kevin Rudd, congratulating Dub Leffler and I on this wonderful achievement.

My acceptance speech-

What an honour it is to win this award.

Firstly, I’d like to acknowledge and thank the Children’s Book Council of Australia and the judges, for putting Sorry Day in the spotlight. I am delighted for this book. I am delighted for the recognition of the Stolen Generations of Australia and the platform this award allows for truth telling in this country.

A massive thank you to Dub Leffler, for the incredible and humble man that you are. It was absolute joy to partner with you and I am blessed to call you my friend. Thank you for being willing to illustrate this book. I know it was an emotional, and at times difficult journey for you. Thank you for your stunning illustrations, that brought this book to life and made it what it is. Without you, there would be no book.

To our amazing Publisher Susan Hall and the team at the National Library of Australia. Thank you. Thank you for having the courage to publish this book. Thank you for producing such a beautiful book. And thank you for being the best publisher to work with.

And finally thank you to my wonderful husband and my family for their constant love and their support.

Sorry Day is, in essence, an educational resource for young Australians.

In that one powerful word, SORRY, there is hope - that what has been, would never be again. These conversations are not easy to have, they are not comfortable to have, but they are essential to have. Its truth telling. It’s the history of all of us, both Indigenous and Non-indigenous.

And as we move forward as a nation, I am convinced, it is only in acknowledging past wrongs, that forgiveness is facilitated, healing can begin and reconciliation can be achieved.

I was also honoured to meet award winning picture book creator Bob Graham, who brought to life this year’s CBCA Book Week theme Reading is My Secret Power with his wonderful artwork.

Later on Friday afternoon, Dub and I went to the ABC studios in Southbank for a radio interview to talk about Sorry Day.

A week in the slums of Papua New Guinea

When I was asked to spend a week in a ‘school in the slums’ of Papua New Guinea, I had no idea of what to expect. I had been to India, Bangladesh, the Philippines, Indonesia and a number of other developing countries. I understood there would be poverty, a lack of food, a lack of education, a lack of housing and hygiene, however as I entered a province of PNG that was riddled with destitution, I didn’t expect the poverty to be so ‘in my face’.

Driving up the road just outside the city of Port Moresby, where the paved road literally stops and the dirt road and settlements begin, I saw the scattered rubbish, abandoned cars, make-shift homes, and people sitting on the streets resigned to the fact that this was their lot in life, dwelling in the endless cycle of poverty. These people and their children were the poorest of the poor.   

But as our driver, pull into the gates of the school, there was a sense of hope. The children attending this ‘school in the slums’ would otherwise have no opportunity to read, write and be educated. The Gateway Elementary School is a tranquil oasis; an outpost of hope which is releasing children from poverty through education. This school has been in operation in the slums of Port Moresby for ten years, with classes from Preschool to Grade three, and a plan to grow to Grade six in the next three years.

I spent a week with these precious children, reading stories, playing games, singing rhymes and making craft with the school’s Education Director and dear friend Trish Swenson, and together showing the students and their national teachers that learning can be fun.

Unlike Australian children, who have a sense of entitlement and are disappointed if they don’t get chosen for a game, these children in PNG are just grateful to be in a classroom. These children know where they have come from, and at the end of a school day, they know where they have to go back to. These children love their school. They don’t want to leave the grounds of this oasis. It is safe, unlike the settlements in the slums to which they must return after school each day.

I also spent time in the classrooms, observing some English lessons in which Bilum Books text books were used. I’ve been working as a freelance writer for Bilum Books Publishing this year; contributing short stories and poems. Their priority is literacy, their mission is to help raise the literacy standards in PNG and produce good quality books.  Education is key. Education is a human right that unfortunately not all children receive. But it was an absolute joy to sit in on these classes, to see these books being used, to hear these children read and to see them write.

“There is only one thing that proves to be more expensive than education in life. The lack of it. But when addressed, the results are nothing short of a miracle.” *

It was a privilege to visit PNG. It was a privilege to spend a week in the community and it was a honour to serve at this ‘school in the slums’ which is nothing short of a miracle as it helps to break the cycle of poverty one child at a time.

If you want more information and want to support, go to - https://www.childrensfund.org.au/

• Education: Key to Breaking Cycle of Poverty 01/24/2017 05:43 pm ET Updated Jan 25, 2018, Huffpost.com Gloria Bonilla-Santiago – Contributor

Malaysian Book Tour 2019

About a year ago, I was booked to go and visit a number of International Schools in Malaysia…and finally the day came to fly out. It was stifling hot the day I arrived in George Town Penang…with even the local Malaysians complaining about the heat.

But that wasn’t going to stop me from venturing out for dinner to try the local and international cuisines of the Penang Food Festival with the host teachers.

My first stop the next day, was meeting the wonderful teachers and students at St Christopher’s International Primary School. I arrived during World Book Day week. The students were encouraged to dress up as their favourite book character. Even the Principal of the school dressed up, wearing a Gangsta Granny costume from David Walliams’ book.

As I entered the school, I was greeted with walls of creative photographs of ‘Extreme Readers’. One of the things this school did to encourage reading in and outside of school, was to run a reading and photo competition. Each student was asked to take a photo of themselves reading…and the most creative photo would win. There were photos of students reading underwater, reading with turtles, reading on top of a skyscraper in China, reading while surfing in Hawaii, reading upside down and even reading on the toilet. This was such a great way to inspire students to read.

I started my day with storytelling to the Nursery and Reception students. We told stories with dress-ups, puppets and games, and I even taught them to laugh like a Kookaburra! We talked about the importance of reading and building a 'word bank' in your head with the grade 1 and 2 students. We discussed where ideas come from and workshopped ideas with the Grade 3s and 4s. We talked character development with the Grade 5s and introduced some advanced writing techniques with the grade 6 students. To conclude my two days at St Christopher’s International School, I ran a PD session for the teachers about inspiring the reluctant reader. I thoroughly enjoyed my time at this school, before I moved onto the next school to do it all over again.

I then headed north to Uplands- the Penang International School and spent another two days with the students across all the year levels, including another teacher’s PD session. Again, I was made to feel so welcome at this school by the faculty and the students. It was an honour to spend time inspiring students with a love of literature in Malaysia.

Children are the same no matter where they live or where they grow up. Children need books! We all need books. It’s been said, ‘Reading is like oxygen’.

Books are universal. They are for living, lessons and truths. Books can feed us for a lifetime and fill our souls. Books can make us want to live. They are passed between generations. They never get old. They can heal and free us.

The benefits to reading are endless. A 2018 National Literacy Trust study found that children who enjoyed reading were significantly less likely to have mental health problems.

Even Confucius said, “NO MATTER HOW BUSY YOU MAY THINK YOU ARE, YOU MUST FIND TIME FOR READING, OR SURRENDER YOURSELF TO SELF-CHOSEN IGNORANCE.”

And yet, in a world dazzled by the latest gadgets and mesmerized by the internet and video games, the humble book seems like the most ordinary thing that could be—until you learn to look closer … and closer … and closer … and you’re suddenly in a world that only you can imagine.

CBCA Book of Year Awards 2019 Short List Announcement @ SLV

On Tuesday 26th March, I was invited to attend the Victorian Branch CBCA Shortlist Announcements at the State Library of Victoria. SORRY DAY had been long listed, with a number of other Australian titles, back in February. The State Library quickly filled with anxious authors, illustrators and publishers eager to hear the outcome of this year’s CBCA shortlist.

As I sat with fellow authors and good friends, Pat Guest, Sarah Epstein, Caz Goodwin and Annie White, I was beyond delighted to see SORRY DAY shortlisted for the Eve Pownall Award.

It was also a thrill and an honour to meet the amazing team at Story Box Library. They are an amazing team and do incredible work to inspire children with a love for literature. If you haven't seen the SORRY DAY story reading they produced with Storm Boy actor, Trevor Jamieson and former Prime Minister of Australia Kevin Rudd, check it out here- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m32cvvJ0tqE

Book of the Year Awards announcement will be held at Federation Square in Melbourne on 16th August, 2019

Celebrating GRANDMA'S TREASURED SHOES in Sydney

I was met with a little drizzle as I landed in Sydney Tuesday afternoon, but that wasn’t going to dampen the book celebration at Lost in Books Fairfield later that evening.

Illustrator Christina Huynh, had done a wonderful job of setting up for the event prior to my arrival. And so we enjoyed a late Vietnamese lunch, together with her family in Cabramatta, before heading back to the bookshop for an interview with SBS News.

The air was filled with excitement as guests began arriving just before 6pm. Award winning author Susanne Gervay warmly welcomed everyone and opened the proceedings. The President of the Vietnamese Community of Australia, Paul Huy Nguyen, shared a little about the plight of the Vietnamese refugees to Australia in the early 1980s and the contributions they have made to Australia over the years.

Christina and I then took to the stage and talked about our experience of creating this book, followed by a reading and a book signing.

One of the beautiful things that has struck me about this book is the emotional response from adult Vietnamese refugees towards this book. I am overwhelmed to hear how much 'Grandma's Treasured Shoes' has touched so many. It is a story for Australian Vietnamese children to understand their heritage. It is a story for all Australian children to understand more about Australia’s history and it is a story for all people to encourage a sense of empathy as we all imagine what it is like to “walk a mile in someone else’s shoes”.

Celebrating GRANDMA'S TREASURED SHOES at the Canberra Book Launch

My flight landed early Saturday morning, ahead of a beautiful autumn’s day in Canberra. As I arrived at the National Library of Australia, plans were well underway for official book launch of ‘Grandma’s Treasured Shoes’.

‘Grandma’s Treasured Shoes’ is a celebration of those who have ‘come from across the seas, to share our boundless plains’ as our national anthem puts it.

ABC Journalist, Alex Sloan, started the proceedings with a wonderful introduction to Australia’s refugee history, along with her insight into the book and finally declaring the book officially launched.

Christina and I then shared our own personal journey of writing and illustrating this story.

As I was reflecting one day on the old saying- ‘walk a mile in someone’s shoes’, I had the idea of using actual shoes as a motif to convey a refugee’s life story and how that gave opportunity for a new beginning in Australia. And so, I was totally blown away one day, when Christina sent me a photo of an actual child’s shoe, she based her illustrations on. As an author, we can have grand ideas and use our imagination to create stories, but to actually see that there was a shoe, a treasured shoe, which brought a young child, all the way from Vietnam to Australia to start a new life, was so special.

The afternoon concluded with a book reading, craft activities for the children and a book signing.

It was a privilege to collaborate with Christina on this book. And a big shout out and thank you to my dear friend, Australian author and illustrator, Tania McCartney who orchestrated our collaboration. Not only are Christina’s illustrations stunning, but they bring an authenticity from her own family’s history and her own story, to this book.

It was an absolute honour, to create another special book with my publisher Susan and the team at the National Library of Australia.

Every person’s culture is equally worthy of celebration, respect, recognition and inclusion, and it’s only as we widen our own worldview and we seek to understand others first, that we can really champion well-rounded, open minded young people for the future and truly be understood ourselves.

*Stay tuned for the Sydney celebration of ‘Grandma’s Treasured Shoes’ in April!

GRANDMA'S TREASURED SHOES - BOOK LAUNCH

Saturday 23rd March at 2pm at the National Library of Australia.

Come along and celebrate Harmony Day - this is a free event for the whole family with an interactive book reading and plenty of craft activities for the kids.

Tuesday 2nd April at 6pm at LOST IN BOOKS -2/40 Harris St Fairfield

Come along and hear from the President of the Vietnamese Community of Australia as well as other special guests, for a book reading and official launch

The Inspiration Behind GRANDMA'S TREASURED SHOES

This collage of different refugees' shoes was the picture that initially inspired me to write GRANDMA'S TREASURED SHOES. I can only imagine that each shoe would have a different tale of danger, hardship, sacrifice and the cost of freedom to tell.

*All these photographs were taken by Michael Jensen as part of the collection of Photographs of Vietnamese Boat People, Darwin, November 1977.

At the fall of Saigon in 1975, many children and families had no choice but to escape the effects of the war. This resulted in the biggest intake of refugees in Australia’s history and an international response and forced changes to migration policies across the world. I’m sure many refugees lost their shoes on the journey or left their shoes behind on the boat at the point of rescue. However, as I tried to ‘put myself in their shoes’, I could only imagine that the ‘shoes that brought them here’ would become one of the most treasured pair of shoes ever owned.

*This are the actual shoe that inspired Christina Huynh and she based her illustrations from, as well as some artefacts that her family members brought with them on the boats from Vietnam to Australia.

GRANDMA’S TREASURED SHOES is available in stores next month.

The Anniversary of the National Apology 11years on

Check out the amazing Trevor Jamieson from ‘Storm Boy’ read SORRY DAY with such power and emotion, and hear former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd share his insights into this book and the National Apology, as we remember the anniversary of that apology 11years on today!

Thank you Story Box Library and the National Library of Australia

GRANDMA'S TREASURED SHOES....advance copies have arrived

IN STORES MARCH 2019

Dear Coral, I have been lucky enough to receive an advance copy. I took it home last night to read to my stepdaughter, and I found myself in tears by the end of it….It’s a beautiful story…I was overwhelmed imagining the experiences of not just the grandma in the book but all who make such journeys. Thank you so much for giving me that—I hope that everyone who reads it has the same rush of empathy.

Speech Pathology Australia- 2018 Book of the Year Awards

On Friday 9th November 2018, a group of Australian authors and illustrators, a few hundred students from Richmond West Primary School, as well as invited guests and staff from Speech Pathology Australia, all gathered together at the State Library of Victoria, to hear the winners announced for the 2018 Speech Pathology Australia Best Book for Language and Literacy Development.

I was thrilled to hear that SORRY DAY was awarded the Best Book for Language and Literacy Development Indigenous Children 2018, and thank Speech Pathology Australia for this honour. I also want to shout out a huge thank you to my wonderful publisher at the National Library of Australia, for believing in this book and giving Dub Leffler and I the opportunity to share this incredibly important part of Australia’s past and present, with this next generation of young Australians; for it is only in acknowledging past wrongs, that forgiveness is facilitated, healing can begin and reconciliation can be achieved.

Book Week 2018- Wrap Up!

5 Days, 8 Schools, 20 Sessions, 1,000kms, 2,000 students....and all in 1 fabulous week of championing and celebrating children's literature!

From Coburg to Croydon, Kyabram to Kew, Essendon to Eltham! I had a wonderful week of sharing books, facilitating writing workshops, watching book parades and re-enacting stories with dress-up shenanigans in many schools across Victoria.

Books are for living, lessons and truths. Books can feed us for a lifetime and fill our souls. Books can make us want to live. They are passed between generations. They never get old.

But in a world dazzled by the latest gadgets and mesmerized by the internet and video games, the humble book seems like the most ordinary thing that could be—until you learn to look closer … and closer … and closer … and all of a sudden.... you FIND YOUR TREASURE.