An exciting year ahead

Happy New Year to all!

2012 will be an exciting year for New Frontier. Our new website will be launched in the next couple of weeks and our first title for 2012 has just arrived.

Professor Fred Hollows written by Hazel Edwards is the third book in our Aussie Heroes series. It will give children an insight into the many great things Fred Hollows achieved in his lifetime and beyond.

This year is also the National Year of Reading and we hope you will join us in celebrating the joy of books throughout the year. Peter Carnavas’ title for 2012 reflects children’s passion for books. The Children Who Loved Books will be released in May.

Our new junior fiction series, Little Rockets launches in April with Katie and the Leprechaun by Kathryn England, followed by three fabulous new titles. All of them are fast paced junior fiction with coloured illustrations to entice children to pick up a book and read independently.

The Totally Twins series continues with a fourth installment celebrating the girls 11^th birthday. Persephone and Portia will be celebrating in style!

This is just a snapshot of some of our releases this year. We hope children and adults continue to find joy in our books.

Here is a little something to help you kick off 2012 – a year celebrating books.

We are celebrating Jane Austen's birthday today!

Jane Austen turns 236 today. To celebrate we are giving away a $25 voucher for our online store with every copy of Mr Darcy purchased today.


Who can forget the first lines of Pride and Prejudice, published 198 years ago:
"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife."


Happy Birthday Jane Austen!

Your most eccentric Christmas family tradition

We have a fabulous Christmas picture book for this year.

To celebrate the release of Lily’s Wish we are giving away two copies today.

We just need you to tell us your most eccentric Christmas family tradition. The more eccentric the better!

We will select winners at the end of today.

Hazel Edwards nominated for the prestigious Astrid Lindgren Award

Congratulations to Hazel Edwards who has been nominated for the prestigious Astrid Lindgren award.



184 candidates were nominated for the award including Australian authors Jackie French and Morris Gleitzman. Hazel said she was ‘extremely honoured’ to be nominated.


Hazel is the author of Flight of the Bumblebee and Sir Edward ‘Weary’ Dunlop.

Peter Carnavas is about to embark on a blog tour to celebrate the release of Little Treasures

The Little Treasures have arrived and look spectacular.

Four of Peter Carnavas’ special books have been reduced in size and now come with an envelope for easy postage. Instead of sending a card you can now send a very special book.

Each one of the books has a special message to impart:

Jessica’s Box –Self Worth

Sarah’s Heavy Heart – Love

The Important Things – Family

Last Tree in the City – Environment

Peter is about to embark on a blog tour to celebrate the release of the Little Treasures. He would be thrilled to pop over and visit your blog. Here are a few options:

• ·      An interview. Peter will happily answer any of your questions.
• ·      Blog post. Peter will write a guest blog just for your site.
• ·      Competition. A pack of four Little Treasures could be given away free on your site.

Do drop us a line if you are interested in having Peter as a guest on your blog. 

ONCE UPON A TIME, IT WAS BOOK WEEK

ONCE UPON A TIME, IT WAS BOOK WEEK

Aleesah Darlison, author of the Totally Twins series, shares her story with children from her home town.

The Music Box series continues to impress

Our awesome Music Box series continues to impress.
Deb Abela reviews the latest book in the series - The Sorcerer's Apprentice written by Tom Skinner & illustrated by Annie White.

Deborah Abela - Sorcerer's Apprentice by New Frontier Publishing

Special books

The Important Things is a special book by Peter Carnavas.

Christopher has lost his father (we are not told how or why). Carnavas highlights the need for a child to be given the time and space to grieve in their own way.

The Important Things is a beautifully perceptive book.

John McIntyre from The Children's Bookshop captures the essence of The Important Things. He also chats about a couple of other fabulous books. It's worth lsitening to.

New Frontier congratulates Peter Carnavas

New Frontier congratulates Peter Carnavas on the shortlisting of The Important Things for the Speech Pathology Book of the Year Award 2011.

Last Tree in the City has also been shortlisted for the Environment Award for Children's Literature.
A big week for Peter Carnavas!

Celebrating Dame Nellie Melba's 150th Birthday

The first great Australian diva, Dame Nellie Melba, celebrates her 150th birthday today.

Born Helen Porter Mitchell, she changed her name to reflect her Melbourne heritage. In 1887 Melba made her operatic debut. She went on to sing in all the great opera houses of Europe.

During World War I Melba worked tirelessly for the war effort organising fundraising concerts across America.

Dame Nellie Melba is one of our great Aussie heroes.

Aussie Heroes: Dame Nellie Melba is written as a narrative for children 7+. There are coloured illustrations throughout the book reflecting Melba’s glamorous, colourful life. It is also available as an ebook from Booki.sh. Here is a sneak peek.



A book by Booki.sh

Hazel Edwards shares a poignant moment in her writing career

As an author you never know how far your book will travel. Nor possible effects it may have on others’ lives. Occasionally there’s special moment, when a reader contacts you. Or even a potential reader.

I had one of those significant moments this week. It was about relating to a hero, who was a relative.Fact evokes different responses from fiction.

Poignant e-mails arrive about fictional picture books and YA novels with which readers empathise. Parents write to me about the psychological importance of the ‘Guess What, There’s a Hippopotamus on the Hospital Roof Eating Cake’ picture book in helping a child patient adjust to hospital. Or about ‘f2m;the boy within’, the YA novel which has evoked genuine responses of relief because of the subject matter of transitioning gender has been portrayed in an approachable way in fiction.

‘But ‘Weary’ in the factual New Frontier Aussie Heroes series has been evoking responses from the ‘parent’ and ‘grandparent’ wanting to share a ‘hero’ with their young ones who are caught up with ‘celebs’ and in need of heroic, historic role models.

With a factual book, chances are that others knew the subject. And the readers have their stories to share too. I’ve had a few calls from those who knew ‘Weary’ or ‘Fred Hollows’ and each time, I wait to see if I got a fact wrong. But usually, it’s overwhelming praise from the reader, that the subject has been acknowledged in an accessible way for younger readers. And for the opportunity to provide historic ‘heroes’ who have actually done something for others rather than just been fashionably photographed as a ‘celeb.’ e.g. superficial socializing in front of camera.

I had a poignant moment today when Weary's former secretary Valda Street contacted me to get an autographed copy of my 'Weary' book for Sir Edward’s grandson Edward with whom she retains frequent contact.

A charming lady, who has close contact with the grandson, 'who is just like Weary' and regards him as his hero , but whose father Alexander is hospitalised with dementia. We shared anecdotes.

It's conversations like this which make the writing worthwhile.(I did notice she always called him Sir Edward, not ‘Weary’.)

I told her about being asked to speak about 'Heroes' and Weary to teenage Sudanese and Somali males at the Coptic Christian school and she said the grandson is hungry for stories of his grandfather and also wants to be a surgeon and is interested in the peacefulness of Buddhism.

Valda said Weary forgave, but never forgot his POW experiences. Agreed about the flaws such as road rage but also said at the time you don’t realise you are working for a hero. A 'big' man . And now his medical and rugby charities continue this compassion.
I've posted an autographed copy today.

Further resources for the Sir Edward 'Weary' Dunlop book are available on Hazel Edwards' website.

A True Person - a valuable insight for children today

There has been a great deal of visual footage in the press recently and many questions have been asked in our home regarding the Christmas Island Detention Centre.

I reached for a book we published back in 2007 to give our children more insight into the lives of refugees.

A True Person is written by Gabiann Marin and illustrated by Jacqui Grantford. It took a couple of years to complete this project and during this time the ending of the book was changed to reflect the current situation at the time. After much public outcry, in late 2005, child refugees were moved into more suitable community detention.

Initially Mwalo (an African man) left the detention centre, but by the time the book was almost ready for press the ending was changed and Zallah (a young girl) and her mother left the detention centre for community detention. Mwalo stayed behind.

A True Person is a moving story which highlights the bond between Mother and Daughter in times of adversity.

Zallah and her mother have escaped their war torn country and are looking for safety in Australia. Instead of freedom they find themselves in a detention centre. Zallah struggles with the reason for this punishment. For Zallah there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

This is a gentle tale that gives children a glimpse of life as a refugee.
The book has also just been made available on CD through Gecko Educational.

From Hippos to Histories

Best known for There's a Hippopotamus on Our Roof Eating Cake, which was recently translated into Chinese, Hazel writes across media, for adults & children.
Sir Edward‘Weary’ Dunlop in the New Frontier Aussie Heroes series is her latest print & ebook.
An ambassador for literature and for literacy, Hazel is involved with the 2012 National Year of Reading. She holds webinars ,mentors and is on the Australian Society of Authors’ committee.


Hazel, you are well known for your children’s picture books, especially the well known and much loved classic There’s A Hippo On Our Roof Eating Cake.
Your latest book is a non-fiction book for primary school children entitled Sir Edward ‘Weary’ Dunlop.
How different is it to write a ‘history’ book for young children as opposed to a storybook?
The first challenge in writing a junior history is to find anecdotes (mini stories) and a viewpoint likely to interest a reader of that age.
The next challenge is what to leave out.

In writing about one person, you need to read widely about the challenges of their period of history, especially if you weren’t living then. Next you need to read all the detailed adult biographies available on them, and their contemporaries.

There is as much work in writing history for young readers as there is in writing for adults. The skill is in how to shape the facts of the setting and the person in a way which makes sense to a young reader who may not know much about that time or place or even that man (or woman).Or be unfamiliar with certain abbreviations like POW (prisoner of war).

I did have some research help on ‘Weary’ because he’s a man about whom there are many stories, by people who knew him personally and are still alive.

Each type of book has different challenges, whether history for children, adult non- fiction or writing fantasy- based picture books. And then there’s scripting too. It’s a bit like a smorgasbord of food. Sometimes you feel like savouries, other times your taste is for something sweet or spicy. I enjoy having a balanced diet of varied tastes of ideas in different formats.

The proportion of time spent on research is considerable for a history book, because the facts must be accurate. I’ve recently discovered the term ‘fact-checker’which is difficult to say, but vital to have.

Have you written any other books in this genre?
‘Antarctic Close up’ in the National Museum ‘Making Tracks’ series, about the telescope from Mawson’s Antarctic expedition was for a similar age group. That story is ‘faction’ as it has a little dramatic licence in including a10 year old boy in the polar ice. But it is based on the real John Collinson Close (hence the title) who was on Mawson’s expedition. It’s called ‘memorabilia’ when you write a story around an object. That book was commissioned by the Museum, as were others in the museum memorabilia series, and the real telescope can be viewed there.

My Writing A Non-Boring Family History book is used in workshops, when often adults are shaping stories for the children in their families as well.


Is it harder to write fact than fiction for children?
More research is required. But in some novels, which are works of fiction, getting the facts to make the settings believable, takes an equal time e.g. the outback setting with feral pigs and chopper flying in my Outback Feral YA novel. Or the Antarctic iceberg, expeditioner and wildlife facts of picture book ‘Antarctic Dad’. Facts provide you with a time or place framework, but you need to creatively craft a story within that. I enjoy the challenge of improvising against a factual setting. Some of my stories are ‘faction’ which use a factual setting but a made-up character. I do not call these a history.

Other times, I’ve scripted plays using facts, where the characters have names like FIRE or WATER or BORE and act accordingly.

Some factual writing is about how things work e.g. the writer has to understand that process, before they write it more simply for the child reader.

An example would be writing about some of Weary’s homemade surgical or medical equipment in the POW camps.


How did you get involved in writing Sir Edward 'Weary’ Dunlop?
By invitation from New Frontier I had already written Flight of the Bumblebee picture book linked with the classical music of Rimsky Korsakov.

The ‘Aussie Heroes’ concept, where the emphasis was on community contributions rather than only sport, interested me.


Did you know much about ‘Weary’ and what type of research was necessary?
I’d read Weary’s biography earlier, and knew of his medical connections plus I’d travelled in Asia where the POW camps had been. My husband was familiar with Weary’s rugby skills.
A researcher Gail Arkins offered her help, as her medical family had known Weary, plus she checked the military facts. Once I mentioned I was researching Weary, people who had worked with him, or whose family members he had operated on, told me stories.

Although I did some Internet research, I also read many books about Weary, and some about other camp doctors.

We visited the ‘Weary’ statues, and researched the symbolism of the steps representing those who worked on the railway and in the camps.


How do you define the word ‘Hero’ and why how important is it to inspire children with such role models?
A hero is one who inspires by example.

It is very important to distinguish between a ‘celeb’ famous only for being in the media and a person who has done something significant to help others.

A hero may solve a problem for a community, discover a cure or invent a gadget.
But a hero is not perfect and may have weaknesses.

We all need role models, to inspire us, to try beyond the day-to-day.

A footballer who plays skilfully, but misbehaves in public, is not a good role model.
Easy to read histories of inspiring Australians can provide facts about ‘real’ lives, not fictional super- heroes., although there is a place for fantasy too.


What was the most fascinating fact you discovered in the writing of the book?
Weary’s resourcefulness in ‘making-do’ possibly came from his farm childhood.
Risk-taking can pay off, if you are stoic about accepting the consequences when things go wrong.

I was also fascinated that so many people felt they ‘owned’ Weary via their stories.

What other Australian ‘heroes’ do you think we should be introducing our children to?
Let’s rename all the boring ‘Station and Railways’ streets, Australia-wide , with the researched names of ‘heroic’ locals who have solved problems.

Female scientists, pioneers like Granny Smith (Apples), inventors, business people who have found new ways of making things, explorers of the country or of the mind.



New Frontier Publishing’s series Aussie Heroes now has two titles available and a third on the way, Fred Hollows. How important is this series in terms of supporting the national history curriculum? What do you think of the curriculum as it stands at present?
Once students find out about ‘historic’ people and the challenges they faced, they get inspired. The problem is the lack of historic material in accessible formats for junior readers or viewers. The stories need to be dramatically told, not just in chronological order. The stories need to be in print and e-books as well as TV documentaries or multi-media.

Maybe using the Aussie Heroes series for modelling of students’ own research and writing/scripting of a local ‘hero’ could be a start. Write about local State Emergency Services workers, ambulance officers, political activists, artists in new media, interpreters, un-sung heroes who quietly do their jobs or volunteer?

Reading history is not just about dead people. It’s about WHY someone might have acted that way in those circumstances. That’s the mystery of history.

Sir Edward 'Weary' Dunlop
Written by Hazel Edwards
Illustrated (colour) by Pat Reynolds
Released: 1st March 2011
128pp
Age 9+

A touch of optimism

Treat yourself this weekend. Amble into your local friendly bookstore, flick through the printed pages of a few good books and find yourself a gem. It will be there, waiting, just for you.

The media is full of the doom and gloom surrounding the Book Industry, but somewhere, if you listen carefully, you will find a positive message.

The lovely Susanne Gervay is organising the 6th Children’s and YA Literature Festival in June. I have been asked to speak and while the sessions are still being put together the broad topic is New Work - New Direction. There is your positive message. The industry is changing, but new opportunities are also arising.

Books will still be around and most especially children’s books. So, this weekend celebrate the book. Lose yourself in a world of words and fuel your imagination.

The book is going nowhere. It’s here to stay. Happy Reading!

The pompous Mr Darcy is even more adorable!

Mr Darcy has been transformed.
Do you like his new look?

This delightful picture book will be in bookstores later this year.
Can you tell us the name of the illustrator?
If you think you know reply to this through Twitter. The first person to get it right will be sent a previous picture book by this illustrator.

Love is in the air

Love is in the air...

Valentine’s Day is coming up - a day to celebrate with those we love and to show them how much they mean to us.


Here are a few ideas for fathers and daughters, mothers and sons, husbands and wives, boyfriends and girlfriends.

Samuel's Kisses

Samuel is a happy little boy, keen to share his joy with all those around him.

As Samuel sits in the shopping trolley he blows kisses to shoppers spreading fun, happiness and a generous number of kisses.

This is a gorgeous story for mothers and sons to read together. It will make your heart soar.

Sarah’s Heavy Heart

 

“Sarah knew the heavy heart would always be hers to carry. She just wished it wasn’t so heavy.”

A magical story about a little girl's search for friendship and love.

Forget roses, let your beloved's heart get carried away with this special book.

Particularly special for fathers and daughters, boyfriends, girlfriends and husband and wives.

Chocolates and roses are so passe! Books are best. The love of your life can keep a book forever.

Join the revolution!

Peter Carnavas has been touring the country encouraging kids to plant trees. Many kids have been inspired by Peter's talks and workshops. They have been coming up with all sorts of interesting places to plant trees and sending the pictures to Peter. You can see some of them here.

Michael, a year 2 student, attempted his own Christmas Tree based on Peter's Last Tree in the City.
We love it so much we just wanted to share it with you.

What do you think?
We think it's brilliant!
So kids, keep sending Peter your illustrations and they will go up on his blog for all to see.

Happy 25th Birthday Samantha

Happy 25th Birthday Samantha Seagull's Sandals.
This beautiful commemorative edition of Samantha Seagull's Sandals will be launched on:
Friday 10th December at 9.45am
at
The Children's Bookshop
Hannah St
Beecroft
Gordon Winch will read his picture book at 9.45. It will be followed by a celebration at 10.30 with cake!
So, come along for the party as we applaud this iconic Australian picture book.

We feel like dancing

It’s almost Christmas – yes it is and we feel like dancing.

As The Nutcracker opens at the Sydney Opera House tomorrow night we thought our delightful picture book Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy was worth mentioning.

The Nutcracker is a much loved ballet by Tchiakovsky. It is traditionally performed at Christmas time – the giant Christmas Tree which is usually on the stage certainly portrays a Christmas theme.

Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy is a favourite part of the ballet for most children. Sue Whiting and Sarah Davis have created a stunning picture book based on the music from The Nutcracker. It includes a CD narrated by Antonia Kidman with the well known music playing in the background.

We recommend it. Go on – go out and buy it from your friendly bookseller.
You can dance your way through the festive season with toddler in tow.

Peter Carnavas in Sydney

Peter Carnavas will be visiting Sydney next week to celebrate the launch of his latest picture book, Last Tree in the City.


Peter will be signing books, reading his books and showing off his illustration prowess at the following events:


Thursday 25th November
Kinokuniya, Level 2 The Galleries Victoria, 500 George St, Sydney @ 10.30am


Friday 26th November
The Children's Bookshop, Beecroft @ 9.45am
Further details here..


The tour will finish with
Kids Book Swap at Froestville Library @ 3.30pm