I am thrilled that the news has now been released that Meg McKinlay’s A Single Stone (Walker Books Australia) has won the Griffiths University Children’s Book Award in the 2015 Queensland Literary Awards. I hope it becomes a contemporary classic. Thanks for speaking to Boomerang Books Blog, Meg. […]
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By: [email protected],
on 10/14/2015
Blog: Perpetually Adolescent (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Meg McKinlay, Book Reviews - Childrens and Young Adult, Joy Lawn, Australian YA, 2015 Qld Literary Awards, A Single Stone, Book News, children's fiction, Add a tag
By: Catherine Nichols,
on 6/28/2012
Blog: The Cath in the Hat (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Meg McKinlay, Duck for a Day, Leila Rudge, chapter books, Add a tag
Waddle as fast as you can to your library or bookstore and pick up a copy of Duck for a Day, an engaging early chapter book. McKinlay, an Australian writer, covers well-trod ground--a girl wants to bring home the class pet--but she does so with great finesse and with a delightful twist--the class pet is a duck.
Abby isn't allowed to have pets--they're messy and her mom is a bit of a neat freak. Last year, however, she brought home the class rabbit and this year her mom grudgingly will let her take home Max, the duck Abby's teacher surprises the class with one day. But not just anyone gets Max as a houseguest, only those who can provide the perfect aquatic environment. As Mrs. Melvino, their teacher, says more than once, "A duck is different. A duck has demands." Meeting these demands proves almost impossible for Abby and her classmates. Add to Abby's challenges, Noah, her next door neighbor and chief rival, and you have the perfect ingredients for an engrossing read.
The book is expertly plotted and the characters well-drawn and endearing. When obstacles are put in her path, Abby doesn't whinge or whine, she sets out to overcome them. Noah, in his quest to get the duck, comes into his own, changing from a shy, withdrawn boy to a self-confident one. And Mrs. Melvino is a hoot, a teacher who puts so many roadblocks in the class quest to win Max that careful readers will begin to wonder if she has ulterior motives. Leila Rudge's cartoonish illustrations enhance the text and add many comic touches. A delightful book!
Duck for a Day
by Meg McKinlay
illustrations by Leila Rudge
Candlewick Press, 96 pages
Published: February 2012
By: Sally Murphy,
on 2/16/2012
Blog: Scribblings (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: meg mckinlay, anna branford, awards, Add a tag
By: Renee Taprell,
on 11/21/2011
Blog: Books for Little Hands (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Meg McKinlay, The Truth about Penguins, No Bears, Duck for a Day, Surface Tension, Walker Books Australia, Add a tag
Meg McKinlay is a Fremantle-based author. Her publications include picture books, illustrated chapter books, and novels for upper primary, all published by Walker Books Australia. In a past life, she was an academic, teaching subjects ranging from Australian Literature and Creative Writing to Japanese. Basically, she just enjoys pottering about with words.
When did you first know you wanted to be a writer?
What was your road to publication like?
A near miss on my very first submission (a picture book manuscript), which gave me a false sense of how the industry works ie "Write story, send it off to one publisher, who writes back with an editoria
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By: [email protected],
on 10/14/2015
Blog: Perpetually Adolescent (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Meg McKinlay, Book Reviews - Childrens and Young Adult, Joy Lawn, Australian YA, 2015 Qld Literary Awards, A Single Stone, Book News, children's fiction, Add a tag
By: Catherine Nichols,
on 6/28/2012
Blog: The Cath in the Hat (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Meg McKinlay, Duck for a Day, Leila Rudge, chapter books, Add a tag
Abby isn't allowed to have pets--they're messy and her mom is a bit of a neat freak. Last year, however, she brought home the class rabbit and this year her mom grudgingly will let her take home Max, the duck Abby's teacher surprises the class with one day. But not just anyone gets Max as a houseguest, only those who can provide the perfect aquatic environment. As Mrs. Melvino, their teacher, says more than once, "A duck is different. A duck has demands." Meeting these demands proves almost impossible for Abby and her classmates. Add to Abby's challenges, Noah, her next door neighbor and chief rival, and you have the perfect ingredients for an engrossing read.
The book is expertly plotted and the characters well-drawn and endearing. When obstacles are put in her path, Abby doesn't whinge or whine, she sets out to overcome them. Noah, in his quest to get the duck, comes into his own, changing from a shy, withdrawn boy to a self-confident one. And Mrs. Melvino is a hoot, a teacher who puts so many roadblocks in the class quest to win Max that careful readers will begin to wonder if she has ulterior motives. Leila Rudge's cartoonish illustrations enhance the text and add many comic touches. A delightful book!
Duck for a Day
by Meg McKinlay
illustrations by Leila Rudge
Candlewick Press, 96 pages
Published: February 2012
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By: Sally Murphy,
on 2/16/2012
Blog: Scribblings (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: meg mckinlay, anna branford, awards, Add a tag
Time for Meg, Anna and I to once again ruminate on a single topic across our three different blogs. If you've been hiding under a rock these past three weeks - or just simply haven't had time to check out our blogs - each week we've been each blogging on our individual blogs on the same topic, and then discussing the similarities and differences in our approaches. Today's topic is, quite
3 Comments on Recognition - and What It Means, last added: 2/18/2012
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By: Renee Taprell,
on 11/21/2011
Blog: Books for Little Hands (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Meg McKinlay, The Truth about Penguins, No Bears, Duck for a Day, Surface Tension, Walker Books Australia, Add a tag
Meg McKinlay is a Fremantle-based author. Her publications include picture books, illustrated chapter books, and novels for upper primary, all published by Walker Books Australia. In a past life, she was an academic, teaching subjects ranging from Australian Literature and Creative Writing to Japanese. Basically, she just enjoys pottering about with words.
When did you first know you wanted to be a writer?
Would it be odd to say that I'm still not sure? I started writing for children because I was reading books to my daughter and had a story idea, rather than because I had decided I wanted to be a writer. Once I had one idea, I kept getting others, and the only way to quiet 'the voices' was to write them down. I guess I'll keep writing until I run out, which doesn't look like happening any time soon! I should add that I've always been a collector of fragments, jotting down interesting sentences and observations about bits and pieces. I never really saw those as the beginnings of anything though, not parts of 'story' as such, so wasn't really thinking they might make a writer of me one day.
What was your road to publication like?
A near miss on my very first submission (a picture book manuscript), which gave me a false sense of how the industry works ie "Write story, send it off to one publisher, who writes back with an editoria
8 Comments on Interview with Award Winning Author Meg McKinlay, last added: 11/24/2011
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I love that you have a wall dedicated to all your awards and certificates, Sally. I have a folder with a few bits and pieces of this sort in it to look through if I feel myself losing confidence a little, like you say, 'it reminds me that I can do it'. <br /><br />Many, many congratulations on the well-deserved recognition your books have received!
Love that photo of you with your certificate and all those books. Pearl was the first verse novel I'd ever read. Keep writing and writing so we can keep reading and reading ...
I think we're going to need a picture of that wall, Sally. Do you have a wide-angle lens? :)<br /><br />I always find it funny when people talk about 'overnight success'. I suspect that is a very rare thing indeed. It must have been such a whirlwind for you, though, to have so much in such a short space of time after so many years of having a lower profile.<br /><br />I was actually