Anthony Browne Visits Australia

On Friday 23rd June, while I was at school working hard, Mrs Walter who sometimes does relief days for me, had the great pleasure of attending a talk and book signing by Anthony Browne, the English author and illustrator at the Kinokuniya Bookshop in the city.

Anthony is a slightly built man and he looks a lot like “Willy the Wimp” without the facial hair. He spoke to a large group that included about 6 school groups and many other Librarians and parents.

He opened the talk by telling the audience how he and his brother used to play “The Shape Game” when they were young. They would draw a shape and the other one would turn it into something. He drew some examples and then invited some of the children to participate. He spoke about how he studied art at University and he became a children’s illustrator a bit by accident. He then read to the children “Into The Forest” and pointed out many of the clues he had drawn in the book.

The children in the audience asked Anthony why he always drew gorillas or chimps in his books. Anthony told the children that he loved Gorilla’s because when you looked into their eyes, they were so human and gentle. He felt gorillas & chimps were so close to us in behaviour and characteristics, it makes them so interesting.

Anthony went on to tell the audience how he had lost his father when he was quite young. He said his father had taught him and his brother to play rugby, cricket and to box. He encouraged his sons to draw and his father also wrote poetry. He was a big man, physically, but a gentle, cultured man. Anthony based his “gorilla dad” character on his father in the book “Gorilla”. He also said that was his favourite book. He was an absolute delight and happily signed the many books Mrs Walter took in. He hasn’t been in Australia for almost 10 years, so she felt especially pleased she had the opportunity to hear him speak. Maybe next time he comes I will be able to see him too and go out for lunch as well!

New Sports Books

Recently we were very fortunate to have some beautiful new sports books donated to us by the Holy Cross Hurricanes Junior Rugby Club. Some of these new titles include in-line skating, skateboarding, 100 Australian Sports Stars of the 21st Century BMX Riding and Karate.

Our Sports section at Holy Cross library is one of the most popular and sought after categories. These new arrivals will be sure to entertain our sports enthusiasts.

We are so lucky to have a supportive community within our school and we appreciate this generous donation.

Children's Book Council Conference

Last month I was lucky enough to attend the Children's Book Council 7th Conference in Sydney. This was a wonderful opportunity to meet and listen to many children's authors and illustrators both from overseas and Australia. It was also great to listen to film producers, directors and Japanese anime educators.

I met illustrators such as Stephen Michael King, Leigh Hobbs and Helen Oxenbury. I also met Andy Griffiths of "Just Disgusting/Just Stupid" fame, Terry Denton, Andrew Daddo, Lisa Shanahan and Libby Gleeson.

The best part however was being interviewed live by James Valentine for his afternoon show on ABC 702!

Shortlisted Books for The Children's Council Awards

This term we are reading and engaging in activities with some of the shortlisted books for the CBC Awards. The awards will be announced in Book Week in August this year. We are using multiple intelligence activities in co-operative groups to learn more about the stories we are reading and the themes they deal with. It is extremely interesting and we like to present what we have completed at the end of each lesson to the class so that we can all spend time reflecting on what we have accomplished and what we might do if we had to do the task again. We certainly enjoy the activities which are varied.

Max the Monkey Arrives- Monday June 5th

Max the Monkey arrives on Monday June 5th at Holy Cross. Year 3 are going to show him around our school for the week and be responsible for letting others know what he has been doing.

Max has had an exciting few weeks around the schools in the Diocese and is now looking forward to some more adventures at Holy Cross.