Author Interview: Maree Coote

Kids' Book Review is delighted to welcome Melbourne author and artist Maree Coote to discuss the concept behind her latest book, Alphabet City Melbourne. Maree's thoughts on creativity and belonging make me want to organise a photography outing with my children to capture the images that best represent our home town. I'm sure you'll feel the same way as you read this interview.

You have an obvious fascination with Melbourne. What is it about the city that you find so appealing?
I have vivid memories of childhood trips to town with my mother. For a 1960s bayside beach baby it was like another planet – loud, exciting, alien. Fashion was starting to swing, especially at 60s fashion headquarters like the In Shoppe and  'Merivale & Mr John'. To my young eyes, Melbourne seemed labyrinthine back then, and I loved how it was Mum's territory. It was she who was the gatekeeper of this particular big adventure, not Dad who usually was our explorer-guide in other activities. This was women's territory, and Mum knew it all.

The city seemed to be built for the women. It was a shopping world filled with courteous lift attendants, Ladies Lounges and women-only places. It was for women's business. Of course there was the throng of John Brack's worker drones, but for me a trip to town was always Mum's magical mystery tour. We explored laneways and viaducts, rooftop carnivals and basement cafeterias. We window-shopped, ate rum cakes and wondered at the rarefied goings-on inside Le Louvre at the Paris end of Collins.

The Melbourne Book focuses on the people and history of Melbourne and The Art of Melbourne on the way Melbourne has been represented in artwork. What prompted you to photograph letter formations as a way of capturing images of the city?
The idea occurred to me and so it seemed to me that the book just had to be done. Alphabet City Melbourne is a part of my new Alphabet City Project, in which I try to get people to take up noticing, which I think is a dying pastime and fast losing favour with the e-distracted young. With their indoor lifestyles, prescribed entertainments, and with their heads stuck in screens and devices. At worst they’ll get hit by a tram, at second worst they’ll miss out completely on their own time and place. This is their city, their time, their place, and their story. They should own it.

With this book, (and also with When You Go To Melbourne), I hope children will learn to discover their city in a fun way, that parents will explore with their children to find these letterforms and landmarks in-situ, and that children will learn to be alert to and inspired by their environment. I hope to encourage a sense of belonging and a sense of place in Melbourne’s tiniest minds.

Event: Upcoming Events at May Gibbs' Nutcote

 

Nutcote Christmas Carols! 
Dec 1 2013 4:30 PM - 6:30 PM

Christmas time is approaching so come and celebrate this wonderful time of year at our Nutcote Christmas carols event! Bring the family and your own picnic, or enjoy food from our BBQ and Tearoom before joining in singing Christmas carols in our beautiful Nutcote garden.

Nutcote caterpillar hedge

Get Crafty Week at Nutcote!
Come and enjoy a wonderful children’s program of art and excitement at May Gibbs’ Nutcote from the 15th – 19th of January 2014.

Wednesday 15th January 11.30am – 2.30pm: Paper craft activities: There will be lots of fun and different things to make with beautiful coloured tissue papers. Cost: $25 per child.

Thursday 16th January 11.30am – 2.30pm:  Clay Banksia Men: Make one of your own big bad Banksia Men! Cost: $25 per child.

Banksia craft at Nutcote

May’s Birthday! Friday 17th January 201411.30am – 2.30pm: Celebrate May’s 137th birthday by making & decorating Gumnut Baby fairy cakes. Cost: $25 per child.

May’s Birthday Celebrations!
Sunday 19th January 2014 all day. Come and join in all the celebrations of our famous Scotty Day at Nutcote to celebrate May’s Birthday!

For all enquiries, please email adminATmaygibbsDOTcomDOTau or visit the Nutcote website.

Harbour views at Nutcote

Review: How to Make Small Things, with Violet Mackerel

The thing about Anna Branford, other than her consummate ability to write beautiful stories, is that she's quite the craftswoman. Yes, she simply adores creating beautiful things ... and you can see just some of her handmade treasures here.

So, it's no surprise that her adorable book character, Violet Mackerel, has inherited the same handmade gene, with this absolutely delightful book for creative types.

Review: Once Tashi Met a Dragon

Tashi is back! The much-loved character who has been the star of over 32 stories, selling over one million copies in Australia and New Zealand alone, now continues his adventures in a gorgeous picture book.

Every year, the dragon is responsible for bringing the rains. But this year, the rains don't come. The creeks dry up, the rice blackens in the fields, fires spark in the forests and the earth turns to dust.

12 Curly Questions with Katherine Battersby

1. Tell us something hardly anyone knows about you.
Ooh – that is curly! Considering I’m quite a mild mannered person, it might surprise people to know that as a teenager I slapped my brother in the face … with a cake mix.

We usually got along quite well, but we were trying to bake a cake together while home alone, which was a recipe for disaster (gotta love a good cooking pun). I was likely being a bit bossy and he was annoying me and getting up in my face. I was holding the unopened cake mix in my hand. Finally I snapped. I slapped him with it. I was so shocked I’d done it that I immediately burst into tears. He was so shocked by my reaction that he burst out laughing!

2. What is your nickname?
You know, embarrassingly enough, Squish was actually one of my nicknames. There we go. I said it. Not just out loud either, but in writing. Here’s why: ever since I was a little girl I have been very cuddly. I love to snuggle and cuddle and snook up close to others. I’ve been told I’m nicely squishy when I give hugs.

3. What is your greatest fear?
Drowning. A strange fear, considering I spent most of my life on the beach. I think it came from the fact that when I was eight-years-old we moved to a house on a cliff top overlooking the ocean. I was terrified a tsunami would wipe us off the hill, and at night the sound of the waves filtered into my sleeping mind and gave me awful nightmares. But it never stopped me swimming and boating and loving the water. I only ever feared the water when I wasn’t on it.

I also have an irrational fear of cockroaches. And empty houses. And chickens (so does Squish Rabbit). It turns out I have lots of fears!

4. Describe your writing style in ten words.
Playful and quirky with a good dose of heart.

Review: Beautiful Horses

Horse lovers the world over will tell you there's no such thing as a 'non-beautiful' horse but I have to say, this striking collection of images featuring some of the world's most stunning breeds, is an extra special treat.

Subtitled Portraits of Champion Breeds (yes, equine fanatics, I can hear you whinnying in anticipation) this gorgeously-designed book begins with an introduction in celebration of the unique, defining characteristics of the many breeds.

Shout Out - Saddle Club Bindup 1 and 2

The Saddle Club stars three heroines, Stevie, Carole and Lisa, who form The Saddle Club at the Pine Hollow Stables. Each character has a distinctly different personality but all share an equal love of horses and a strong loyalty to each other. Random House have released bindup versions of the classic books, with two stories per volume.

Saddle Club Bindup 1: Horse Crazy / Horse Shy

Carole Hanson and Stevie Lake have been best friends ever since they met at Pine Hollow Stables. So when Lisa Atwood shows up for her first riding lesson dressed in fancy riding gear - acting chummy with the snobbiest girl in town - the girls aren't sure she'll fit in.

But Lisa works hard, and Carole and Stevie can't help admiring her natural riding talent. Most importantly, the three girls share a special bond that make them fast friends: their love of horses. With the formation of the Saddle Club, the girls start making plans for the long awaited Mountain Trial Overnight Camp.

A tragic accident makes Carole lose the one thing she loved most in the world and she swears to never ride again.

Random House, 9780857980632, $12.95

Saddle Club Bindup 2: Horse Sense / Horse Power

Stevie Lake, Carole Hanson, and Lisa Atwood are the best of friends and charter members of the Saddle Club. But now the Saddle Club is in trouble. It seems Carole and Stevie are too busy with other things and Lisa is getting tired of being the only one at club meetings.

Unless the threesome decides to stick together, there won't be any Saddle Club and no fun at Pine Hollow Stables. With the approaching gymkhana the girls pull together. They have waited for this event for so long!

As the day draws near, Carole introduces the other girls to her new friend Kate Devine. Carole begins to teach Kate the basics of riding, only to find out that Kate is much more experienced than she's letting on - she's a champion rider!

Could Kate become the fourth member of the Saddle Club? Plus, Stevie's brother Chad starts to ride at Pine Hollow and guess which member of the Saddle Club he has a crush on?

Random House, 9780857980649, $12.95

Guest Post: Richard Tulloch - From Page to Stage

Kids’ Book Review is delighted to welcome writer and playwright Richard Tulloch to share his insights on adapting novels for performance on the stage. Richard is well known as the writer of the Bananas in Pyjamas television series. He has recently been involved in the stage adaptations of Andy Griffiths and Terry Denton’s The 13-Storey Treehouse and Guus Kuijer’s The Book of Everything.

I like the word ‘playwright’. I like its association with other ‘wrights’ like cartwrights, wheelwrights and shipwrights. The word suggests that a ‘playwright’ is an honest, toiling tradesman. Creative writers who dream up novel, original stories are ‘novelists’.  Playwrights roll up their sleeves and do a job.

I’ve done that job often, perhaps most successfully with stage adaptations of Robin Klein’s Hating Alison Ashley and Oscar Wilde’s The Happy Prince, and more recently Guus Kuijer’s The Book of Everything and Andy Griffiths and Terry Denton’s The 13-Storey Treehouse. 

Adapting a book for the theatre feels more like a craft than an art.

If it’s a good book (and why pick a bad one?) the brilliant author has already taken care of the difficult stuff – setting, theme, characters and plot. If I’m lucky they’ve also invented powerful, economical dialogue and maybe a few jokes. Famous authors even provide a ready-made audience of fans who love their books.

So all the playwright has to do is type it out, omitting the ‘he said’s and ‘she sneered’s, and assume the story will entertain an audience for an hour or two. It ought to be a pushover. Very occasionally it is. Very often it’s not.

KBR Recommends: New Middle Fiction, October + November 2013

Ranger's Apprentice: The Royal Ranger by John Flanagan, Random House, $17.95, 9781864718195

John Flanagan makes a spectacular return to the world of Ranger's Apprentice - but what has happened since you last saw Will and his friends might shock you!

Will took an oath when he joined the Ranger Corps. Does it mean nothing to him now?

After a senseless tragedy destroys his life, Will is obsessed with punishing those responsible – even if it means leaving the Ranger Corps. His worried friends must find a way to stop him taking such a dark path.

It is Halt who suggests the solution: Will must take an apprentice. The candidate Halt has in mind surprises everyone – and it's a request Will cannot refuse.

Training a rebellious, unwilling apprentice is hard enough. But when a routine mission uncovers a shocking web of crime, Will must decide where his priorities lie – finishing his quest for revenge, or saving innocent lives?

The final book of the Ranger's Apprentice series raises the stakes higher than ever. Is Will on his last mission for the Ranger Corps?

KBR Recommends: New Junior Fiction, October + November 2013

The Christmas Surprise (Ella and Olivia) by Yvette Poshoglian and Danielle McDonald, Scholastic, $7.99, 9781742839219, ages 5 - 8

Ella and Olivia can't wait until Christmas! But will their secret plan to open their presents early ruin the Christmas surprise?

You can read more about Ella and Olivia's adventures, play games and find other fun information at the Ella and Olivia website.

KBR Recommends: New Picture Books, October + November 2013

What Do Werewolves Do When it's Not Halloween? by Heath McKensize, Scholastic, $14.99, 9781742838793, ages 3-8

But what about werewolves? Where do they go? What do they do through the year? Do they groom? Do they howl? Do they listen to jazz? Or watch movies and shed a small tear? What do werewolves do when it's not Halloween? Perhaps they're lurking where you least expect! Featuring vampires, witches, zombies, ghosts and skeletons, this is a SPOOKY and KOOKY Halloween treat for all to devour!

Review: Truly Tan - Spooked

Tan is a warm, intelligent child who is currently one of my favourite characters in children’s books. Her sense of fairness, and good a manners towards everyone even her quirky sisters, makes her an outstanding role model for young readers. Her love of adventure and ability to imagine and create always brings me laughter and enjoyment.

Between updates about her cat E who is currently penned in and all the non-stop happenings that surround the Callahan family’s life, Tan continues her diary entries.  These are full of entertaining information about the problems she is currently facing, mysteries to be solved at World Headquarters, and her thoughts on everything. Tan’s stories hold wonderful themes about family unity, friendships and challenges that children encounter on a daily basis.

Review: Smash - Trial by Fire

Can an ordinary boy gain superpowers? Ten-year-old Andrew’s favourite superhero is Defender, and daydreams of being like just like him. One day something happens that means Andrew might get his wish to be super fast, super strong, and able to fly.

When Defender falls victim to one force he can’t repel, Andrew is in the right place at the right time - or maybe it will turn out to be the wrong place at the wrong time.

Review: Inside Out & Back Again

In Australia, at least, the issue of refugees is particularly topical, so it's perhaps easy to forget that people have been fleeing conflict and seeking a safer place to live since human settlement first began. Inside Out & Back Again certainly reminded me of this and brought the refugee experience to life like no other book I've read.

Ten-year-old Hà has lived in Saigon all her life. It's a city of vibrant markets, rich tradition and close-knit family and friends. But now she and her family are forced to flee as the Vietnam War reaches into her city and tears apart her entire world.

12 Curly Questions with author/illustrator Andrew Cranna

1. Tell us something hardly anyone knows about you.
Although I loved drawing, I didn’t study art at school as I was advised I should take more serious subjects. So I taught myself how to draw while sitting up the back of Economics and Geography classes. I would study my teachers and classmates features until I could draw them perfectly. My text books became my sketch books which would infuriate my mother as she could never sell them at the end of the year. Now, whenever I get bored in a meeting or on a bus, I simply take out my sketchbook and draw.

2. What is your nickname? 
When I was 12, my schoolmates christened me with the nickname Chops because I had some whopping big red chubby cheeks. I later grew big bad sideburns and the name stuck! Now I’m sometimes called Choppa, Choppsey, Fatti Chops, Choppy Pop, Chopperoonie … it all depends on the day and which friend.

3. What is your greatest fear?
Sleeping in a bed of funnel web spiders while dreaming about being lost at sea, surrounded by a school of crazed piranha with razor sharp teeth while being sucked into a giant whirlpool
… and Brussels sprouts.
… and clowns.

Shout Out: Little Mates: Yum Yum Yoshi and Zippy Zoe

The last of the adorable Little Mates alphabet series by Susannah McFarlane and Lachlan Creagh are here. Yum Yum Yoshi and Zippy Zoe round out a fabulous collection of small-format picture books for little ones, covering the alphabet from A - Z with a cast of adorable characters, and sweetly alliterated tales.

Yoshi is a yellow-bellied glider who thinks his favourite foods are yum yum! Join Yoshi as his friends come to the rescue when suddenly everything he eats is yuck. Yikes!

Zoe is a very zippy zebra finch. Join Zoe and her friends as they zip from zero to a zillion!

The Little Mates series, $4.95 each, paperback, Scholastic, 1 November 2013, Yum Yum Yoshi 9781742837420, Zippy Zoe 9781742838847.