Montessori is one of those beautiful philosophies that centre on the child.
Morris Gleitzman. Oliver Phommavanh, Aleesah Darlison and many more.
Ist May – I’ll be there Thursday sharing all my books from Gracie and Josh (Ford St) to my I AM JACK series to young adult books – Butterflies and That’s Why i Wrote This Song.
Friday the fabulous Tim McGarry and I will be in conversation about the theatrical adaptation of I AM JACK which will be performed for BOOK WEEK – 18-22nd August at Darling Quarter Theatre:-
www.monkeybaa.com.au
The kids and teachers and parents are beautiful in a rustic style school in Sydney’s South.
The Children’s Bookshop Beecroft is the bookseller.
Come along: Montessori Literature Festival Bookings – email: Deborah Browne Festival Director at – [email protected]
ph: 9526 3000
The post Everyone Welcome to Sydney’s Montessori Literature festival ~ 30 April to 2nd May! appeared first on Susanne Gervay's Blog.
The rain poured, Sydney was brooding, but the launch of Gracie and Josh was a total joy.
Paul MacDonld from The Children’s Bookshop, VARIETY the children’s charity, Meredith Costain from Ford Street Publishing and an enthusiastic crowd welcomed ‘Gracie and Josh’ into the world.
I couldn’t believe it when Jodie Wells Slowgrove and Vicki Stanton and others braved the weater to drive hours from Woollongong to this event.
People came from fare and wide:-
Sharon Rundle, Christie Lamb and one of my favourite fans – the wonderful girl Nina Lamb – came from the Central Coast.
Loved poet Beverely George , award winning illustrator Sarah Davis and Nikau – gosh I couldn’t believe that she already a teen. – also from the Central Coast.
The award winning Libby Gleeson, Sue Murray playwright from School Magazine, Rachel Greenwood editor of the CBCA magazine and so many people piled into the Children’s Bookshop.
Serena Geddes and I shared the very special journey of creating our picture book ‘Gracie and Josh’ -
where we celebrated children and families who faced illness through the joy of words and colour.
Deeply personal, ‘Gracie and Josh’ is our public testament to the resilience and courage and love of children.
We were privileged to partner with Variety the children’s charity in ‘Gracie and Josh’ – www.variety.org.au
Variety the children’s charity helps children with special needs, illness and disadvantage.
Variety also supports the families
Variety provides $1 million per month to kids’ hospitals, kids & families.
‘Gracie and Josh’ has partnered with VARIETY with the power of story.
I am very proud of this.
Launches are:-
9.45 am 1st March Children’s Bookshop 8 Hannah St Beecroft Sydney
1 p.m. 9th March Richmond Library415 Church St Richmond.
Jenny Mounfield reviews:-
‘My name is Gracie. Today, I’m a squiggly black spider.
My brother Josh helps me make my spider legs. They look like fat sausages.
Josh gives me his wooly black beanie. His favourite one has green stripes.’
Josh is going to be a famous movie-maker. Dressed in her spider costume, Gracie is starring in her brother’s first film. The only thing to mar this perfect picture of childhood is Josh’s cancer.
It isn’t often—if ever—that a picture book has the power to bring a lump to my throat. This one did it for me. Endorsed by Variety the children’s charity, Gracie and Josh is not a story about fighting a life-threatening disease; it’s a story about life and living—and milking every drop from every minute we have been given. This is a profound lesson for us all. Sadly, the world is filled with children like Gracie and Josh. Every one of them is undoubtedly a hero.
Gracie and Josh by Susanne Gervay & Serena Geddes
Ford Street Publishing; PB—5+ Price: AUD HC $26.95 PB $16.95
ISBN: HC 9781921665844 PB 9781921665851
Reviewer: Jenny Mounfield
My daughter inspired the character Gracie Spider – here she is in her spider dress-up.
www.variety.org.au
Great week sharing Ships in the Field with the wonderful teacher-librarians who travelled from the Illawarra 2 hours each way to The Children’s Bookshop Beecroft.
They had a great time perusing the bookshop, talking books with The bookshop’s Paul MacDonald and celebrating reading onThursday.
Also thankyou to the librarians and teachers of Cerdon College who invited me to launch the National Year of Reading on friday. What a great college. The girls just love books, reading and writing and expressed great views. They were wonderful.
Special hello to the JACK fans – you know who you are.
Love being an ambassador for the National Year of Reading!
How exciting to be welcomed with a huge window display at The Children’s Bookshop Beecroft of ‘Ships in the Field’, a National Year of Reading event.
Anna Pignataro the brilliant illustrator of ‘Ships in the Field’ loved speaking to authors, illustrators, teachers, librarians, kids and friends.
Anna shared her Italian-Egyptian background and how her parents were forced out of Egypt, while I shared my Hungarian refugee background – in ‘Ships in The Field’ – a story of finding home.
Fabulous authors like Wendy Blaxland, Wendy Fitzgerald, Belinda Murrell, Margaret Roc, Felicity Pulman, Isolde Martyn, tanka poet Beverley George …Maria Simpson creator of Bilby Theatre, librarians like the fantastic Claire Stuckey and friends came to celebrate ‘Ships in the Field’.
Loved it!!!!!
It was really welcoming to see ‘Always Jack’ as the window display at The Children’s Bookshop’, Beecroft in Sydney.
Paul MacDonald who coordinates all the events welcomed me. The upstairs event area was set up with drinks and muffins & more displays of ‘Always Jack’, with walls lined with illustrations from our most loved illustrators – Kim Gamble, Shaun Tan, David Legge, Jan Ormond & others.
People should drop by and have a look at the exhibition.
It was one of those lovely afternoons with a whole range of people from grandmas to toddlers engaged in story. It was warm, welcoming and I even got a few hugs from the audience. I like that.
Profits for the sales of the books are being donated to The Cancer Council that endorses ‘Always Jack.’ That’s generous of Paul MacDonald and ‘The Children’s Bookshop.
