Adult Program Story by Yvonne Mes Lisa Berryman, editor with HarperCollins, shared her experience on how to create and evolve your brand as a children’s author or illustrator. Lisa explained that how you promote and position yourself on social media platforms is taken into serious consideration by publishers looking to work with a new author or illustrator. Explaining who you are and what you write succinctly and clearly is the key and starting point from where an author can establish themselves as a professional creator within the world of children’s literature. Being able to communicate what you write clearly and leaving an unambiguous impression on someone in person is another important part of promoting yourself. Lisa’s quick mind and understanding of branding was on show when clearly articulating the brand of several of the authors present on the spot. A informative and practical session that left everyone wanting more.
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Adult Program Story by Yvonne Mes Illustrators and author James Foley took us through the process of illustrating ‘My Dead Bunny’ written by Sigi Cohen. His initial research into style and character development was done by watching old horror films and pouring over old horror movie posters, researching the style, fonts and colours used. He showed his progression from rather cute dead bunnies to zombie bunnies that would give children nightmares and finally to the creation of a suitably dead bunny that was just right. James showed us the use of perspectives and point of view to create unsettling feeling in the viewer/ reader and gave examples of shape, line, colour and how these influence illustrations. James finished this session on the process of creating an unconventional picture book with an unconventional quick drawing of a dead dog. Personally, I would love to see James complete the ABC of dead animals a la Edward Gorey! School Program Story by Yvonne Mes Karen started her session with an amazing story of mystery and suspense with the children following right behind her, until ... She stopped! She left the spell-bound Year 5 and 6 students waiting to see what would happen next. Karen cleverly used this cliff-hanger of an unopened door to introduce her books. But she remembered to check in with the students later to hear what worlds they had created of their own. Karen schedules daily daydreaming as part of her work as an author, using this time to let her mind wander and let the ideas flow in. To help her visualise her setting and build her worlds, Karen draws her own maps or uses historical maps. She says: ‘Good writers are explorers and always keep adding details to their worlds’. Children asked question after question, showing their interest in world building, writing and publishing and soaked up her experience of many years as an author. School Program Story by Yvonne Mes Chris Collin is a full time author and publisher of whacky, rhyming, Australian children’s books such as Funky Chicken and Chooks in Space illustrated by Megan Kitchin. He is also an engaging presenter with a session that immerses children through story, music, and with the assistance of some amazing puppets. Throughout his session he cleverly weaves video snippets and songs. Children from prep to grade 2 went from utter concentration, when listening to the stories, to belly-laughing at a sleepy joke-telling possum and a funky chicken. Children got to dress up as the animal characters from the stories, sang songs, danced and acted. Dress-ups included giant spotty bottoms, astronauts, funky chickens and much more. Chris’ presentation was so infectious, even the grown-ups got up and danced! School Program Story by Yvonne Mes Megan Forward is an Australian illustrator and author with an extensive background in visual arts, specifically in print making. A Patch from Scratch was published in March 2016 (Penguin Random House) and Megan runs workshops for children around ideas about living sustainably in an urban setting. In November 2016 All I want for Christmas is Rain was, written by Cori Brooke and published (New Frontier), which was shortlisted for the Children’s Book Council Award 2017. During the school program Megan shared some of her childhood illustrations and stories. One of her childhood stories was even illustrated as a lift-the-flap. And later, during French classes she would add pictures to the French words making it easier to remember them. ‘All I Want for Christmas is Rain’ takes place during a drought. Megan had to find a way to create mud to paint with for the book. During the session she asked the children to help create a mud effect using some magical art materials in the form of condis crystals which turn from a vibrant purple to a muddy brown when dried. After listening to story, the children joined in a rain dance, and were able to see Megan’s original artwork for the story, her illustration process and sketches. Adult Program Story by Yvonne Mes Sandy Fussell is an accidental writer. She started out in computing, but when she was included in a writer’s group with experienced authors she got the push she needed. Once her stories became published she had to face a challenge, a fear of speaking to groups. This meant that doing author talks in schools was nerve wrecking. At the time there was a great opportunity for emerging writers who were linked with experienced writers to mentor them through the school talk experience. Sandy shared how she has developed writing workshops for children using Minecraft. Minecraft is a well-known virtual sandbox game, where children build their own world and aim to survive and thrive. Sandy uses the characters, landscape and inbuild challenges to inspire children to write their own stories. Sandy finished her session by sharing practical the practical uses of software Trello which not only assists writers organising their writing life but can also be used to plot out their stories. Sandy Fussell is a best-selling author of books and short stories for young people. The Samurai Kids series garnered an International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) award for Outstanding Books for Readers with Disabilities three CBCA Book of the Year Notables. Her picture book, Sad, the Dog, was recommended in a New York Times review, she was shortlisted by the CBCA for several other of books. |
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