Write and read with Dale

Slow Cooker - book review

2010-01-06T02:58:46Z

Slow Cooker

By Sally Wise

If you ask me every home should have at least one crock pot or slow cooker, but some cook books I’ve seen for crock pots have been down right boring. This one is anything but. Just reading through the recipes in this book is enough to make you hungry.

The dishes in this cookbook make the mouth water with recipes for Lamb and Quince Hotpot and Middle Eastern Lamb Stew to name just a couple. It has recipes for standards like Stroganoff and Lasagne, as well as Lemon Roast Chicken or Spicy Roast Chicken made in a crock pot. And there are the old favourite Hedgehogs which are always popular with adult and child alike.

When it comes to desserts, who could resist Clafoutis made with blueberries and raspberries, Summer Fruits Cobbler and the richly beautiful Black Forest Self Saucing Pudding?

As well as myriad recipes designed to please the palate, Sally Wise gives helpful hints about using the slow cooker or slow cookers. She has several which give you some indication of how much they get used. I know other people who have several.

I liked the way she gave hints of other ingredients that could be substituted for those in the recipe

The other advantage is the recipes are not complicated, which for no fuss cooks like me is ideal. The book doesn’t have colour photos, but to me this is no disadvantage. I’d rather just have great recipes than an elaborately photographic book. If you have a crock pot or slow cooker, this book is a must. I get the feeling this book is destined to be a favourite. As weather cools down, this book will spend more time out of the cupboard being used, than in it.

*** ABC Books- HarperCollinsPublishers $24.99

Reviewed By Dale Harcombe

Australian poetry

2009-12-13T20:01:37Z

I got a surprise when I saw how long it had been since my last post. You can probably tell it’s that time of year by all the other activities happening, like shopping and present buying and Christmas parties, which means things like blogs get ignored a bit. Things are so hectic in the parcel post that our parcel delivery man was working yesterday and will be working next Sunday as well.
What I have been doing as well as writing is all the usual Christmas activities. On that note if you want too a few suggestions for sweet Christmas treats, you might want to hop over to http://food.families.com/blog/ where you’ll find some ideas.
One of the great pleasures I had this week was reviewing Andrew Lansdown’s latest collection of poetry from Wombat Books, Birds in Mind - Australian Nature poems. http://www.wombatbooks.com.au/birdsinmind.html. As anyone who knows me well will know, Andrew is one of my favourite poets. A review of this book will appear at some stage in Christian Woman magazine. However, if you’re into poetry, Birds in Mind is a great example of one of the best of our Aussie poets.
I’ve also been enjoying Staring at the Aral Sea by Christine Paice. Christine won the 2009 Josephine Ulrick prize for her poem The Ministry of Going In, http://www.textjournal.com.au/ulrick/2009/paice.pdf. That winning poem isn’t in this collection, but there are lots of other thought provoking poems. It’s very different from the poetry of Lansdown but that just shows the diversity of poetry in Australia today. Why not give someone a book of poetry for Christmas? Or treat yourself to one.
While we’re on the subject of poetry, if you're quick you can buy signed copies of my poetry collection Kaleidoscope http://www.daleharcombe.com/books.htm from me. As a Christmas special you can buy Kaleidoscope for the reduced price of $14 postage paid instead of $17.50. That’s 20% off. Interested? Pop on over to my website www.daleharcombe.com where you will find contact details to order.

Fearless -picture book review

2009-11-23T05:06:52Z

Fearless
By Colin Thomson
Illustrated by Sarah Davis
Hb $24.99
Published by ABC Books
This is a story about expectations and how what people expect when they name a child or a dog sometimes doesn’t end up to be the quite they way they imagine.
Not only isn’t Fearless brave he seemed to find ways to do everything wrong. It’s a pleasantly amusing story that will appeal to children who feel they never quite fit in and do what is expected of them. Anyone who has ever had a pup will no doubt relate to some of the experiences the book presents. Maybe for me, that was part of the problem.
Though it was certainly readable and I suspect children will enjoy it, I was disappointed in this book. Adults I fear will tire of it quickly. It’s all just too familiar. Publishers keep telling authors they want new fresh ideas or a new twist on old themes, whereas to me this story is one that has been done any number of times before.
The cover illustration of Fearless is cute and really sets the scene for the story. I loved the illustration of Fearless as a puppy with his dog collar that is far too large. The expressions on the face of the dogs are terrific, especially the one of Fearless running away from the broom. The illustrations of the family are realistic and yet they didn’t have the same life and humour as those of Fearless and the other dogs. Maybe that’s what the illustrator was aiming for since Fearless is meant to be the star of the show.
Given the selection criteria from publishers for picture books, I’m surprised this one made it through to publication and wonder if it had more to do with it being presented by a well known author. It’s worth a read, but at $24.99, I think there are better, more imaginative, picture books to buy.

A Gem in Verse

2009-11-21T04:57:25Z

Hate that Cat

by Sharon Creech
This verse novel is a gem. Not only does it realistically relate Jack’s experiences after the death of his dog Sky and his aversion to cats, it teaches a lot about poetry and the importance and influence of a good teacher. I loved the way the relationship between Jack and Miss Stretchberry was depicted. It is obvious she understands him and he knows it. As he says, ‘you understand my brain.’
Others, like Jack’s Uncle Bill, have rigid ideas about poetry, especially when it comes to rhyme and punctuation. Jack and Muss Stretchberry’s views are somewhat different. However, in the course of teaching the class, she manages to convey to Jack ways in which the techniques she exposes in the poems she presents to the class can be useful in his own poetry. Jack learns how to use onomatopoeia, alliteration, assonance and various other techniques, as he writes his own poems after the models his teacher presents. He comes up with some beauties with evocative imagery. A couple that struck me were ‘feathers in my brain’ and ‘a treasure of words.’
Along with his poetry changing throughout the verse novel the reader also sees some of Jack’s attitudes change. The whole story is told with humour and Creech has captured the voice of this young boy perfectly.
This book will be appreciated by children for its humour and story alone. But clever teachers will be able to use it easily to extend their classes in the area of poetry.
Hate that Cat was the first Sharon Creech verse novel I’ve read. It won’t be the last. In the back of the book are copies of the poems used as examples. Poets include William Carlos William, Tennyson, T.S Eliot, and others. I’d highly recommend this book for every home and school library.

Pb Allen & Unwin
Reviewed by Dale Harcombe

Book review- Dancing Backwards

2009-10-27T02:48:27Z

Dancing Backwards

Salley Vickers

A new book by Salley Vickers is an awaited event. I was looking forward to reading this one.

After the death of her second husband Ted, Violet joins a cruise ship to New York with the aim of visiting Edwin, a friend and fellow poetry enthusiast from her Cambridge university days. It was Edwin who encouraged her in her poetry and published her first poetry collection.

The story fluctuates between Violet’s time on the cruise ship and its activities to the past and her relationship with Edwin. At one stage she shares accommodation with Edwin until Bruno, a long time friend of Edwin’s, prolonged visit creates a rift in what had previously been a harmonious living argument between Vi and Edwin. Then events take a few unexpected and radical changes in the relationships between these three.

As she crosses the Atlantic Vi spends a great deal of time thinking about the past, and the loss of Edwin’s friendship, as well as her career as a poet for the security of marriage.

Violet is an interesting character. Like all Salley Vickers novels this one takes the reader inside the mind and thought processes of her characters. This book handles the subject of love and friendship with a deft touch and it gives psychological insights into the characters, and their lives. Despite that I was left feeling it wasn’t quite up that the high standard of some of her other novels. But it’s certainly still worth a read.

*** Fourth Estate- A division of HarperCollinsPublishers $27.99

Reviewed By Dale Harcombe

two early readers worth a look

2009-10-20T05:09:43Z

An Elephant & Piggie Book

Are You Ready to Play Outside?

Watch me Throw the Ball!

By Mo Willems

Early readers are an extremely difficult genre to master. It takes consummate skill and choice of word as well as an engaging story line to capture this genre perfectly. When I think of early readers my measuring standard is that of Arnold Lobel’s Frog and Toad books. Not only were they funny and the characters loveable, they were so well done they could stand myriad re-readings. With that high standard in mind I came to these two books.

Are You Ready to Play Outside?

This is a deceptively simple story. Two friends start to play and then it rains, which makes elephant sad and pig mad. But from two worms they learn to view their whole situation differently. In the end Piggie decides rain is not so bad after all. It’s actually fun. But just when the friends are enjoying the rain, it stops. The sun comes out. Once again Piggie is not happy But Gerald, the peacemaker of the two, finds a creative solution.

Watch me Throw the Ball!

Piggie finds a ball which Gerald has thrown from a distance away. Gerald is happy to share his ball and allow Piggie a turn. After a lot of instructions from Gerald about throwing the ball and how much skill and practice it takes, Piggie gets his chance to throw. The result ends up with Piggie having a different view from what really happened.

The illustrations are simplistic but cute. I love the expression on Gerald, the elephant’s, face when he looks at the raindrops on his hand and the one of Piggie sheltering under Gerald’s ear is another cute illustration in. But there are lots of other fun drawings throughout both books.

When I first read these two books I wasn’t overly enamoured, despite the glowing recommendations from the New York Times Book Review on the back, but on second reading I came to appreciate them more.

Very few book shops seem to carry early readers. Given how hard it is to find early readers and especially those of a good standard, these would be a good addition to any home or school library. While they aren’t of the same calibre as the Arnold Lobel books, they are good readers that also teach a lot about friendship and the two main characters are engaging.

book review

2009-10-13T03:13:28Z

Big Stories from Little Lunch

By Danny Katz

Illustrated by Mitch Vane

black dog books

This book is a YABBA winner which is Young Australian Best Book Award. That in itself tells you something. It tells you children like this book.

The cover shows three children, one of them rolling around on the ground laughing, which also gives you an indication of what is to come. Then we come to the first page which says,’

Mrs Gonsha has a big bum

It’s a huge bum. Her bum is so big

and wobbly, it looks like a gigantic

beanbag made out of porridge

With an opening like that you just know kids are going to enjoy this collection of stories.

There are five sections and each section contains three little lunch stories. Kids usually love anything that has to do with bums. Of course the inevitable happens. Mrs Gonsha’s big bum creates all sorts of complication, the first of which is she gets stuck on the slide. From there the situation accelerates as the children try to help her. The solution will raise more than a smile.

The Sandpit story of the possum in the sandpit is just gross enough for children, and especially boys, to love it.

In the story of Manny’s playlunch, which is just out of reach, every child and adult will relate to the Vegemite worms. The other children are nothing if not inventive in trying to help Manny retrieve his playlunch without setting foot outside the school grounds. It also shows a bit about friendship, as do some of the other stories

The last story shows clearly the problem of not hearing what someone says and the problem that results from it.

Adults may shake their heads over some of the stories and the humour and topics raised and I admit it didn't particularly appeal to me.But it’s not hard to see why the majority of children will enjoy it and laugh over it and why these stories over several years have won more than one Yabba award.

The stories are short enough to read easily and should encourage the not so keen reader to have a go at them, as will the humour. The black and white illustrations complement the text and add to the humour of the stories

Snowy review

2009-10-10T19:46:35Z

Snowy’s Christmas

Written by Sally Murphy

Illustrated by David Murphy

Random House Australia

RRP $19.95

For a child there is often nothing worse than standing out from the rest of the crowd, which is exactly Snowy’s problem. He’s different. Since nearly all children know the feeling of being left out at some stage in their lives and being teased by others, they will easily associate with Snowy, the joey. To make it worse poor Snowy bounces too high and doesn’t jump like the red joeys, which means he invariably comes last whenever the joeys have a leap-off. And don’t the other joeys let him know all about it!

He sees his face reflected in the water. Instead of a face rugged and red his is soft and white. Poor Snowy! Even his mother cannot completely comfort him though she tries.

But then Snowy meets a stranger. A stranger who makes him rethinks his attitude to his himself and show him what he can do. The stranger knows something Snowy is just perfect for. What can it be? Young readers will be keen to find out. Adult readers might have a bit of a clue. The text evokes more than a passing thought for two established Christmas songs - the idea behind Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer who didn’t fit in either till Santa chose him to lead the sleigh and the Aussie Christmas song of Six White Boomers.

This is a cute Christmas picture book with a positive message. The illustrations are expressive and the use of colour stunning. I loved the double spread of Snowy at the billabong, not only for the colour but the sadness in Snowy’s eyes. I love the fact that Santa exchanges his usual cap for a slouch hat.

It’s lovely to see an Aussie Christmas book that reflects the wildlife, colour and landscape of Australia instead of snow etc. I predict this book will sell really well and practically walk out of the shops in the lead up to Christmas.

Here's the rest of the blog tour so you can find out more.
Week One: October 4Deescribe Writing Blog www.deescribewriting.wordpress.com

Week Two: October 11Write and Read With Dale http://livejournal.com/users/orangedale/

Week three: October 18Alphabet Soup Blog www.soupblog.wordpress.com

Week Four: October 25Let’s Have Words www.letshavewords.blogspot.com

Week Five: November 1Sally Murphy’s Writing for children Blog http://sallymurphy.blogspot.com/

Week 6 November 8 Aussiereviews Blog http://aussiereviews.blogspot.com/

Week 7 November 15 Samantha Hughes’ Blog http://samantha-hughes.blogspot.com/

Week 8Robyn Opie’s Writing Children’s Books Blog http://www.robynopie.blogspot.com

Week 9Stories are Light http://sandyfussell.blogspot.com/

Week 10The Aussie Christmas Blog http://aussiechristmas.wordpress.com/

Week 11Tales I Tell http://belka37.blogspot.com

Join me Sunday

2009-10-09T06:19:52Z

Join me on Sunday 11th October when I will be posting a review of a new Australian Christmas picture book, Snowy's Christmas.
This book is by two talented Murphys; author Sally Murphy and illustrator David Murphy

All poetry

2009-10-07T22:42:11Z

I’ve been have such a great time lately dipping into several poetry books, all different and all with something to offer. Reading good poetry has the added benefit of not only enjoying it but renewing my desire to write poetry again, something I’ve neglected for a while. So here is what I’ve been reading.

Tangents Kitchen Table Poets.

This was part of the prize I won for The All Poetry competition. Three of my favourite poems from that collection are:

Nerriga Dreaming Colleen Duncan

Sea Light Irene Wilkie

The tavern Alison Thompson

But there are plenty of others.

Fiery Waters Robyn Rowland

I loved

Close

Alone Again

Between Air and Wing

The Ache

Once again there are many others I could have chosen

Little Matters Andrew Lansdown

This is one of the two new poetry chapbooks from Andrew, who is without doubt one of my favourite Aussie poets.

haiku are pebbles

a sandpapering of rain

treading the marsh

pale in my headlights

But again I could have picked myriad others from the delicate but thought provoking offerings.

These three books show the health and range of Australian Poetry

The last is a translation of Chinese Poetry

Late Poems of Lu You - The Old Man Who Does As He Pleases

New translation by Burton Watson

Shen Family Garden Two Poems

Sitting at Night, Drinking a Little

Late Spring

If you have an interest in poetry you might like to check these titles out

poetry and a rhyming picture book

2009-10-02T06:16:46Z

The Significance of Swans

By Sorina Higgins

Published 2008 by Finishing Line Press

PO Box 1626

Georgetown Kentucky 40424 USA

www.finishinglinepress.com

29 pages Pbk. $14.00

Reviewed by Dale Harcombe

I enjoyed dipping repeatedly into this collection of poems. Imagery is fresh and arresting eg sharp anger blows starflowers on my eyelashes, in Lines of Listening, sharp as sunlight from Synaesthesia, a sound of wings on sunbeams from Sunlight and I loved the

Indeterminate color hung

like shadows cast on grass

from The Myth of Memory

Some poems highlight simple things like cooking a meal as in Perfect! Others incorporate responses to paintings or myth.

Most of the poems are either free verse though there are two haiku. I loved the simplicity of Body Impressions.

My bed wears the shape

of your absence. In the dark,

I lie down in it.

In Lines on Listening, simplicity, internal rhyme and inherent imagery capture the human inability to define God.

How can I draw Your shape

on a blank white page

when my brush is dipped in and dripping

with silence?

Bramble Bush effectively uses harsher sounds that fit perfectly the bush, jagged, scratched, and dry as thatch, are just a few. These contrast with something like the sky inside my soul.

I found the rhyming poem To Try to Tell less effective than others in the collection as the rhyme schemes seemed to trivialize the subject. I preferred those where the rhyme was less intrusive. However repetition in To Try to Tell does re-enforce the feeling of helplessness.

That quibble aside, it is a delicate and insightful collection with interesting use of language -a delight to read.

The Trouble With Dragons

Debi Gliori
Bloomsbury Books

Told in rhyme this picture book has quirky artwork in vivid colours. It also has an important and timely message about saving our world.

We soon discover that the trouble with dragons is not just that they breed more dragons, but they use up all the resources and chop down the forests with disastrous results.

The use of colour is interesting from the sunset coloured page spread which opens the book to the brilliant pinks and orange as the air became hotter and hotter to the muted snow tones of the end pages. Expressions on the dragons and other animals are well captured. I loved the illustration of the dragon sheltering the other animals. It has such a feeling of unity and contentment. The artwork is detailed and expressive. Children will have fun poring over the pages, finding all sorts of surprises.

The message is timely and it is certainly a fun way to get the message across that what we each do affects our habitat. Teachers will find a great deal of fodder they can use in this picture book to reiterate lessons about the importance of recycling, the ozone layer, using natural resources, and caring for our earth. It has helpful suggestions as to how we can each do our bit.

The rhyme told with humour, rolls along and works well most of the time, but just occasionally it doesn’t scan and sounds a tad forced. Still, it’s definitely a worthy addition to any classroom or school library.

Free Books

2009-09-30T05:03:50Z

1111 Free Books

I am one of the featured authors in the booklover's 'taste of heaven' promotion.

1111 free books and CDs by more than 40 Australian authors and artists will be given away, starting at 11 am on 11/11. If you'd like to be in the draw to win a copy of one of my books,

The Goanna Island Mystery

Karaoke Kate

or Red Alert!

or another great Aussie title, log on to www.1111freebooks.com to register

on radio

2009-09-30T03:48:15Z

I’ve just come back from a radio chat with Sandra and Renata on our local radio station Bay and Basin 92.7 FM. Sandra asked me to come in and tell listeners and about my two new books. These two books have been published by Wendy Pye and distributed by Sunshine books as part of the new Sunshine Intervention Series – Literacy intervention for readers aged 9-12. You can find more details about this on the books page of my website www.daleharcombe.com.

There are plenty of resource materials that go with the books including black line masters CDs, Teaching and assessment guides, writing cards, games and ways teachers can use the books to extend students. So, all you teachers out there have a look at http://www.sunshinebooks.com.au/index.php?page=gold-silver-book-pack

I also read the poem Malachite which won second prize in the recent All Poetry competition. One of the things I have enjoyed about winning that competition was the book of poems Tangents which came along with the cheque for winning. But more about that another time. At the moment there are other writing projects I need to get to and books to review crowding the desk.

The picture book we had to have

2009-09-21T04:07:03Z

Baby Wombat’s Week

By Jackie French

Illustrated by Bruce Whatley

HarperCollinsPublishers.

Hb RRP $24.99

After the international success of Diary of a Wombat, and knowing Jackie French’s penchant for wombats, it was inevitable it would be followed by another wombat picture book.

Baby Wombat’s Week has the same deceptively sparse text and simple diary style that made Diary of a Wombat. The big difference is in the antics of baby wombat. The interactions of baby wombat with the human baby provide plenty of opportunity for fun, friendship, mischief, games and comparisons.

Baby wombat is decidedly cute and Bruce Whatley's playful drawings convey so much that many words are not even necessary. They perfectly complement and add another dimension to the text.

When Mum says their hole is too small, baby wombat thinks he has, after some trial and error, found a perfect hole. But then baby is confused when the hole suddenly disappears. So Mum and baby set out to build another hole, big hole.

Adults and small children alike, will no doubt delight in this new creation from the talented combination of Jackie French and Bruce Whatley. Those who loved Diary of a Wombat will ensure this is another runaway bestseller. Parents and grandparents will snap this up over Christmas and beyond.

A good read for adults

2009-09-13T04:00:05Z

As many of you know I love discovering new writers. Once I find a writer I like I usually go back and read whatever they’ve written. Recently I read The Monk Upstairs by Tim Farrington. It’s about a woman who marries a man who has previously spent 20 years in a monastery. It’s a quirky book and I thoroughly enjoyed it. So then I went back searching for other books by Tim Farrington.

I have to say at this point I don’t read a lot of fiction written by men. Poetry, yes. The majority of my favourite poets are male but it doesn’t follow so much in fiction, for some inexplicable reason. But those male writers I do enjoy, I’m enthusiastic about.

Anyway, I located another book by Tim Farrington called Lizzie’s War. It is set during the1960s and the Vietnam War. The two main characters are Lizzie, mother to 4 children and another on the way and her husband Mike who is overseas. As well as focusing on what is happening at home with Lizzie and the children, the reader gets pictures of what it is like in the war zone through Mike’s letters home.

Believable, complex characters and interesting story line make this a great book and one that certainly makes the reader think about war, the effects of war on families and the associated problems and decisions that go along with it. All told with a delicious sense of humour interspersed throughout. This is one for adults to enjoy.

The Whisperer- book review

2009-09-10T04:12:29Z

The Whisperer
By Fiona McIntosh
Angus&Roberston
An Imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers
paperback RRP $19.99

Griff works as part as a circus, where the owner thinks that unlike his brothers who have a contortionist act, Griff is useful only for hard labour. But then Master Tyren finds out about Griff’s secret power and everything changes. Master Tyren sees the opportunity of making a lot of money from Griff’s particular talent of hearing people’s thoughts.

Meanwhile, everything is not as it should be in the royal place. Prince Lute, heir to the throne of Drestonia, discovers his uncle Janko and brother to King Rodin is not at all what he appears to be. Janko is not just aiming at being protector of the realm but has plans to take over the throne. To do that he must kill those who stand in his way -that includes Lute.

Pilo, Lute’s bodyguard, gives Lute a magic whistle that will let him know if Lute is in danger should they get separated. But Janko has his own plans for getting Lute on his own away from Pilo and ending Lute’s life. Lute seeks to escape from Janko and uses the whistle with unexpected results. Pilo is not the only one who hears the whistle.

Griff is also plotting escape but he plans to take with him Tess, the newcomer to the circus and her magical friends which include a veercat and a gryphon. The magical creatures trust Griff who formulates a plan for them all to escape the circus and Master Tyren’s clutches. Griff hears a cry for help and has no idea who it is or where it is coming from.

This fantasy novel is one of imagination and action. It sets up an interesting premise and keeps the reader’s attention as it seeks to show how Griffs and Lute escape from their problem with the help of their human and magical allies. The writing is action filled but also beautifully descriptive eg. ‘There was none of the sun in Janko’s smile.’

This book that will appeal to children in the 10-13 age group, who will be captivated by this story and be cheering for Griff and his friends and Lute to get the better of their enemies. I’m not a huge fantasy fan but I found this an enjoyable read that maintained my interest. It’s sure to do the same with children.

Aussie Petition TODAY

2009-09-07T20:12:48Z

For all of you in the Canberra Region - Today, 8^th September) at 12 noon, Sheryl Gwyther from Saving Aussie Books will be presenting petitions carrying thousands of signatures in support of retaining PIRs to politicians: Arch Bevis, Graham Perrett and Steve Gibbons at Parliament House, Canberra (See press release attached).

SAVING AUSSIE BOOKS CAMPAIGN

PRESS RELEASE:

AUSSIE BOOK CHAMPIONS APPEAL TO CANBERRA

In a last chance show of opposition against the proposed abolition of

Restrictions against Parallel Imports on books, a group of authors,

publishers, printers and book-lovers will gather at Parliament

House, Canberra on Tuesday 8th September at 12 noon.

At this time, a Petition carrying thousands of signatures from all around

Australia will be presented to Queensland Federal MPs Graham Perrett and

Arch Bevis, and Victorian Federal MP Steve Gibbons whose electorate is

threatened by mass job losses in the book printing industry.

The Petition, organised by the SAVING AUSSIE BOOKS campaign has been

signed by Australians passionate about keeping Australian books safe from the

threat of parallel imports. Petitioners are from outside the industry too; from

parents and educators, from trades-people and professionals, from young adults

and from the elderly in nursing homes.

‘Australians have seen their grocery brand choices diminish as a result of the

so-called 'open market', and prices certainly haven't come down,’ children's

author and spokesperson for SAVING AUSSIE BOOKS, Sheryl Gwyther says.

And as Victorian State premier, John Brumby stated in the Bendigo Advertiser

(July 18), ‘Removing parallel import restrictions would cost jobs and put at risk

the cultural and economic gains made in the book industry in the past two

decades. It would be an act of economic and cultural vandalism.’

‘Books hold our Australian identity, ideas and cultural complexities,’ Ms

Gwyther says. ‘We’ll fight tooth and nail to protect them from the ravages of

market-driven forces.’

For further information on venue at Parliament House:

Maree McCaskill Australian Publishers Assoc CEO: (02) 92819788 Mob: 0418 657 453

Mr Arch Bevis Federal MP: (02) 6277 4518

Review of Alphabet Soup

2009-09-01T06:25:03Z

This was the first issue of Alphabet Soup I have seen and I think it’s great. Aimed at ‘kids who love to read,’ the magazine has plenty to interest children.

The interview with author Mark Greenwood was interesting, though being an AFL fan myself I’d have liked to have known which team he supported and think kids might have too. I couldn’t pick it up from the clues, where it was he lived. But then Geography has never been my strong suit. His advice for young writers was excellent.

I could relate to the fun poem about Brussels Sprouts and think a lot of children would too and I loved the poem about worms.

The magazine contains book reviews by the editor, Rebecca Newman, but also reviews written by children as well. There is an adaptation of the traditional tale of Jack and the Beanstalk, a fun story about gardening by Hazel Edwards and some practical tips in the non fiction article about gardens, a crossword, as well as writing trips from the Book Chook.

The poems and stories by children show a great deal of talent and a wide variety of subject matter. Being a person whose favourite colour is blue I liked What is Blue? I agree it is ‘the colour of happiness.’ The magazine contains several competition winning stories about paper aeroplanes and offers children a chance to design a cover in a new competition.

I remember when I was young we had magazines for children brought in from England. It is so great to see someone producing a home grown, quality magazine with plenty pf variety, which means there is something for everyone. It is all presented with bright colour illustrations. Some of the artwork is done by the children themselves.

If you have a child or grandchild, a subscription of 4 issues a year to Alphabet Soup would be ideal. I’m sure they’ll thank you for it.

1 year subscription is $29.80

2 year subscription is $50.00

Aussie subscribers also get the chance to go in the draw each issue to win a prize. This issue the prize is a $200 book pack from Fremantle Press. Definitely worth winning.

magazine especially for kids

2009-08-31T20:31:06Z

Today I wecome Rececca Newman to my blog. She's going to tell you about Alphabet Soup, a magazine for children that has just celebrated its first birthday. If you haven't heard of it, why not check it out or read on to find out a little more about it? And check back here later when I'll be reviewing it. But for now, over to Rebecca.

What led you to start Alphabet Soup?
I’ve always loved books. When I was about 10, a magazine called Puffinalia would arrive in my letter box four times a year. It was published by Puffin books (as part of the Puffin Club) and my brothers and I loved it. We read it cover to cover and entered all the writing competitions. At the back of my mind I’ve always thought I might produce something like it one day.

I thought my daughter would love it, but when I discovered it wasn’t around any more, I decided to start my own magazine. (That’s the short version – you’ll read a longer version when I visit Claire Saxby on 3 September!)

My ten-year-old self would be thrilled. I wanted to work at Puffinalia when I grew up, and this is about as close as I can get!

I love the name. Is there a story behind the name of the magazine?
Actually, yes. But it’s not very exciting!

I was originally planning to call it Runcible Spoon. (I just like saying ‘runcible spoon’ to myself!) But as the dream got closer to becoming a reality, it wasn’t an Australian-sounding name (Edward Lear being English, how inconvenient!) and I started listing the names of Australian animals and birds. None of them jumped out. My daughter suggested Book Sandwich, which I quite liked. But then in the middle of the night I thought of Alphabet Soup, and it got the tick of approval from friends, family and daughter, and kind of stuck! I like it because the name suggests it is something to do with children, and something to do with letters, words, and language. And who doesn’t like alphabet soup?

What age group is it aimed at?
It’s aimed at 6 to 12 year olds. Most of our subscribers are currently around 9 to 10 years old.

A magazine for young children is such a good idea. Have you ever approached the government for a grant to help produce the magazine as the literary magazines do?
I haven’t yet. In the beginning I was so busy just getting each issue ready I didn’t get to the grant paperwork piling up on my desk. But I will try for a grant now we have the first year under our belts and things are running more smoothly.

Are there any other questions you wish I'd asked?
How about – why are you taking Alphabet Soup on a blog tour? ☺

Why are you taking Alphabet Soup on a blog tour?
I’m so glad you asked!

We’ve just published issue 4 (spring 2009), which is our first birthday issue!

We had an official launch for the magazine in Kings Park (Perth Western Australia) in October 2008 and ate lots of cupcakes to celebrate. So we thought we’d bake some virtual cupcakes and go on a tour to mark our first birthday issue. It’s better than an in-person tour because the cupcakes never run out (plus, none of them end up being burnt!).

On the blog tour I’m travelling all over Australia – and I can celebrate and keep working on issue 5 at the same time! (I’ll just go and eat cupcakes over here while you sing a few rounds of Happy Birthday.)

Thanks for launching the Alphabet Soup blog tour, Dale. It’s been great to visit!

Blog tour dates:

1 September Dale Harcombe (Write and Read With Dale) http://www.livejournal.com/users/orangedale
What led Rebecca Newman to start Alphabet Soup magazine?

2 September Sally Murphy (Sally Murphy's Writing for Children Blog) http://sallymurphy.blogspot.com
What goes into ‘whipping up’ an issue of the magazine?

3 September Claire Saxby (Let's Have Words) http://www.letshavewords.blogspot.com/
Promotion and Alphabet Soup

4 September Mabel Kaplan (Tales I Tell) http://belka37.blogspot.com
Submissions, and selecting material

5 September Dee White (Teachers Writing Helper) www.teacherswritinghelper.wordpress.com
Alphabet Soup in the classroom: benefits for teachers

6 September Robyn Opie (Writing Children's Books) http://www.robynopie.blogspot.com
‘First birthday’ giveaway. Win a set of the first four issues!

7 September Sandy Fussell (Stories Are Light) www.sandyfussell.blogspot.com
Who’s on the team behind Alphabet Soup magazine?

book review Hopscotch Medusa Stone

2009-08-24T03:25:44Z

Hopscotch Medusa Stone

By Ian Trevaskis

Walker Books

RRP PB $16.95

An ancient scroll, a rhyme, a game of hopscotch and a quest are the key elements in Hopscotch Medusa Stone, an intriguing book from Ian Trevaskis and another of the great books coming out of Walker Books.

The opening plunges the reader right back into the Trojan War. It then moves back to the present, to Hannah’s move to Pelican Bay, before leading the reader to want to learn how she ended up back in the ancient time. It’s all because of Jake Peters, a boy from her school. It also raises questions about how Kostas the giant of Pelcan Bay fits into what happens.

The humour in the story works well and sounds so typical of the age group. Hannah and Jake are in year nine. According to Jake, Adam Price, the local heartthrob with the girls is ‘a legend in his own lunch box.’

It is while playing a game of Hopscotch that Jake disappears and becomes trapped in another time. Only Hannah has a clue of how to find Jake. Hannah meets the Game Lord and is required to test out and play his new game to rescue Jake. In doing so she has three different adventures based on Greek myths and even travels with Odysseus.

She also has to bring back three items from these adventures. In the course of these adventures, Hannah decides being involved in violence for real is a lot different and more scary and gruesome than just watching it on TV. She wants out of the whole situation but knows without her there is no way for Jake to return home. So she agrees to play again in an effort beat the giant Cyclops and to rescue Jake.

The story is full of action and clever in the way it integrates the mythical characters into the story. It sets up a great contrast with the present day and Pelican Bay.

At the end of the novel are some author’s notes which give further information about the ancient Greek civilization and the characters and gods of Greek Myth. This could be just the sort of book that will cause a young person to further investigate Greek Myths. After reading Hopscotch Medusa Stone, my guess is readers from 11-14 will be eagerly awaiting the next instalment Hopscotch Golden Scarab.

Two great events

2009-08-22T00:12:53Z

It’s been an eventful week in more ways than one. I want to highlight a couple of great events. Wednesday evening we went to the Watoto Children’s choir http://www.watoto.com/ at our local club who donated the venue for the choir. What a fun filled evening of singing and dancing form these young children. Just watching these young people and their energy made me feel tired. But they sounded beautiful and their enthusiasm for life was certainly infectious. You can read a little more about it here. http://marriage.families.com/blog/showing-love-of-life

Then last night we went to Poetry the Gallery. Art ,music and poetry what more could you want? A delightful evening with poets, Christine Paice, winner of the 2009 Josephine Ulrich Poetry Prize and Chris Mansell as well as poets from the Kitchen Table Poets and music from Food of Love a cappella choir. The lovely venue of the art gallery meant we were surrounded by artworks and had time to go around and look at them all.

I even found out what retro nibbles are - cocktail frankfurts, devils on horseback, pickled onion and cheese on toothpicks, sandwiches, Jatz and cheese and gherkin – in other words all the things that used to be served as nibbles at parties years ago before more exotic dips etc came into being.

There was a table of poetry books for sale by those who read. I sold a book as Irene Wilkie and the Kitchen Table Poets kindly allowed me to display a few copies of Kaleidoscope http://www.daleharcombe.com/books.htm on the table.

The organizers are to be congratulated on a successful event. I, for one, look forward to more such events.

from story to picture book

2009-08-20T21:06:41Z

Today I'm welcoming Claire Saxby to my blog and she is going to tell you a little about the art of the illustrator as well as the need for believing in your work and reworking a piece for a different market. Go to it Claire! And congatulations on the picture book publication of Sheep ,Goat and the Creaking Gate. Now tell us more about it.

What do they look like?

I originally wrote ‘Sheep, Goat and the Creaking Gate’ as a picture book story. But I also knew that as a beginning writer placing a picture book wasn’t going to be easy. So I rewrote it as a short story and it was accepted for publication in The School Magazine. I was very excited to receive my copies of the magazine (Countdown, Sept 2002) and to find my story was the first one when readers opened the magazine. Kerry Millard’s illustration of the story formed the wrap-around cover…double Wow! Her loose watercolours were beautiful.

I was happy with publication in School Magazine and put aside thoughts of Sheep, Goat being a picture book. There were many other projects to develop, other stories to write, other poems to jig and rejig. Then I found an opportunity to post the story on an US online story site. The site owner, Kevin Collier was an illustrator and would generate an illustration to accompany the story. Why not? I thought. So I reworked and submitted Sheep, Goat and it was accepted. The illustration was generated and the story posted. This time Goat was older and much larger than an almost lamb-looking Sheep.

But posting it online and working with it again, Sheep and Goat got back under my skin. I reworked the story as a picture book, cutting back the description and the length. I submitted it to Windy Hollow Books and they accepted it. Judith Rossell has done an amazing job of bringing Sheep, Goat and their world to life. The style is cartoony, Sheep and Goat are very expressive. The colours are bright and striking.

My writing, particularly for picture book, generally contains little description. I always feel that I’m looking out through the main character’s eyes so I can’t actually see what they look like. And to me, it doesn’t really matter that I don’t have an image of their appearance in my mind. I’d rather know what they’re thinking, what they’re going to do. So it’s always a fascinating discovery to see what someone else imagines from my words.

Three times this story has been imagined by an illustrator, and each illustrator has imagined it quite differently. For me this highlights one of the magic things about writing. I can write my story, but each reader (including the illustrator) brings something different to the experience and therefore reads the story slightly differently. Books are interactive, just like computers and console games! Who’d have thought?

Blog Tour stops:

Monday 17August: Dee White http://tips4youngwriters.wordpress.com

Tuesday 18 August: Rebecca Newman www.soupblog.wordpress.com

Wednesday 19 August: Mabel Kaplan: http://belka37.blogspot.com

Thursday 20 August: Sandy Fussell: http://www.sandyfussell.blogspot.com

Friday 21 August Dale: Harcombe http://orangedale.livejournal.com/

Saturday 22 August: Sally Murphy http://sallymurphy.blogspot.com

Sunday 23 August: Robyn Opie http://robynopie.blogspot.com

Monday 24 August: Sally Odgers: http://spinningearls.blogspot.com

guest blog

2009-08-20T04:55:15Z

Join my blog here tomorrow when Claire Saxby joins us for a guest blog in the middle of her tour Sheep, Goat and the Creaking Goat.

What a Great Start!

2009-08-12T04:06:08Z

What a great start to the day! Early this morning the phone rang and Irene Wilkie told me I had won 2^nd prize in the recent All Poetry Competition. It as just the pick me up needed after a tough couple of days.

I was thrilled later in the day not only to receive the cheque but also a copy of Tangents- a book of poems written by the Kitchen Table Poets. I’m looking forward to dipping into it.

I also received information about Poets at the Gallery, an event which I’d already decided to go to yesterday when I saw the poster at the Nowra Library. I’m looking forward to poetry readings by Christine Paice, winner of the Josephine Ulrick Poetry prize for 2009, Chris Mansell and the Kitchen Table poets. If you live in the Shoalhaven it’s on at Shoalhaven City Arts Centre, 12 Berry St Nowra, 6.30-9.30 on Friday August 21. The A Capella choir Food of Love will provide music and there will be drinks and retro nibbles. I confess I’m interested to find out exactly what retro nibbles are.

review of Pig City

2009-08-10T01:30:37Z

Pig City

By Louis Sachar

This is the first book by Louis Sachar I have read since Holes, which I loved. This is a very different sort of book.

The story concerns Laura Sibble, the girl who never tells a lie and wants to be the first woman president. Laura starts a special club called Pig City and invites a few select people to join her club. As each girl joins she has to agree to hand over some item as insurance so that she will never reveal secrets of the club. Each person hands over a different item of insurance. They are all inventive and would be embarrassing if they were made public.

After Gabriel somehow finds out about the club and after a mix up regarding a note passed in class, Laura decides to ask Gabriel to join. That means other boys need to be allowed to join Pig City.

Gabriel’s initiation doesn’t turn out at all as expected. From that point on chaos results as it all goes terribly wrong. Things go from bad to worse. Soon a new club called Monkey Town arrives on the scene. War erupts between the two clubs as both are determined to probe themselves the best.

Told with humour and a fast moving plot, this book also raises lots of issues about friendship and loyalty, honesty, peer pressure, the problems of practical jokes and the need to beware of the feelings of others. It’s a fun read that will appeal to children aged 9-12.

Published in 2009 in the UK by Bloomsbury Publishing, it was originally publised in USA by Scholastic Inc as Sixth Grade Secrets.