Join us for the opening of the CBCA's Children's Book Week 2024 with a dinner at the East Fremantle Yacht Club on Friday August 16th.
Enjoy a fabulous dinner, prizes and a legendary keynote speaker: Sally Murphy. Sally is a poet, author and educator with an inspiring passion for words, stories, cooking and cats. Ticket prices: Members = $85 Non-Members = $95 Ticket includes a welcome drink and 3 course meal. Book your ticket using the QR code or via the link below https://www.trybooking.com/CPRYN Bookings close Sunday, August 4th. In the category for Emerging Writer, Michael Thomas's debut historical fiction novel "The Map of William" received the Premier's Prize, while "Scout and the Rescue Dogs" by Dianne Wolfer won the Children's Book of the Year award. Stephen Daisley's powerful World War II novel "A Better Place" was honored with the Premier’s Prize for Book of the Year. Additionally, "Dusty Tracks" by Marly and Linda Wells secured the Daisy Utemorrah Award, and Kylie Howarth was awarded the Western Australian Writer's Fellowship for her outstanding work as a children's book author and illustrator. The Children's Book Council of Australia WA Branch hosted a hugely enjoyable Love to Read Local Event on Sunday with author/illustrators Briony Stewart and Peter Cheong. Briony and Peter interviewed each other about their journey, their process and of course their books. This presentation format encouraged questions from the audience, aged between 14 and 73. Many thanks to Paper Bird Book shop and Dymocks Subiaco for providing books for people to buy and have signed. #LoveToReadLocal #LoveToReadLocalWeek2024 Please join us for an afternoon with Briony Stewart and Peter Cheong to hear about their shortlisted books.
Light refreshments served. PD Certificate provided if requested. 2.00 for 2.30 start. This event has been enabled by Writing WA's Love to Read Local Week with the support from the Copyright Agency's Cultural Fund. Cost: CBCA WA member $7.50 and Non-member $15.00 Book via Trybooking The twenty-first year of A Night with Our Stars was another out of this world experience. The room filled with educators, librarians, creatives, and passionate children’s literature advocates as drinks and delicious canapes were served and many raffle tickets were sold. Westbooks was on hand with a fabulous selection of books from the twenty stars about to take the stage. Part one of the evening saw each three-minute presentation speed by with tales of year 9s undertaking ballet, time machines, the importance of standing in your own differences and ensuring we provide diverse characters to give everyone the chance to see themselves represented. We heard the unpublished lyrics of One Song and saw a wolf appear before our eyes. The break gave everyone a chance to get their books signed and to buy last minute raffle tickets as the winners were drawn after the break. There were fierce calls for redraws if the winners weren't there and those who won were celebrated. Part two featured another ten fabulous stars who illuminated the fun side of maths. We heard the first poem about ANWOS, a magical song with crowd participation, and a cover reveal for an upcoming sequel complete with confetti cannons. The evening concluded with the game show 'I’d like to date stamp you,' where Briony Stewart, our final presenter, accompanied by her enthusiastic stagehands, invited the audience to select their favourite among her trio of published books, culminating in another shower of confetti. Kirsty Lightfoot Vice President Congratulations to these worthy winners of our 2023 Make Your Own Story Book Awards!
Zephyr Education is the recipient of the 2023 CBCA WA Penny Hutchens Memorial Fund. This organisation, which is 100% run by volunteers, was founded in 2013 to assist children living at domestic violence shelters. Its aim is to minimize any disruption to the children’s education by providing the resources and materials needed to continue their learning journey at a new school. In May, committee members Jenny Botje, Julie Muir and Denise Robins spent an enjoyable morning choosing books to the value of $1000 to be given to Zephyr Education. We were ably assisted by Margaret Walton from Child Education Services. In July, Jenny and Denise presented these to WA Coordinator of Zephyr Education, Nicola Henderson. Added to the collection were books donated by committee members. These books were distributed between two domestic violence refuges, one of these having four separate sites. These will be used in a variety of ways, including: - Use as 'buddy bags' for children when they first arrive at the refuge in a time of crisis with very few personal possessions. They may be the first new items the children own after arriving in the refuge. - Book packs to be kept in the accommodation units to encourage the clients to bond with their young children through reading. - Addition of the books to an onsite library which children can use. In her letter of thanks, Nicola said, “On behalf of Zephyr Education, I would like to sincerely thank you for your donation of the wonderful books that we received recently. At Zephyr Education we strive to ensure that disadvantaged and vulnerable children affected by domestic violence have every opportunity to continue their education with minimal disruption. We believe that books are at the heart of education and learning, so it was an honour to be gifted these beautiful books and in turn, to be able to pass them on to some of the domestic violence refuges supported by Zephyr Education.
These families have been through so much before they finally arrive at a refuge so you can be assured that your kindness in supplying these books will be very much appreciated by the families involved. We appreciate the care and time taken to select books that are appropriate for these children.” We were delighted that Nicola was able to join us at the annual Book Week Dinner this year. In the talk she gave, she provided an insight into the work that Zephyr Education is involved in. A number of attendees interested in the organisation spoke to Nicola after her speech.
After studying librarianship, Nola worked with the Education Department and in public libraries. At this time, she first joined the Children’s Book Council of Australia WA Branch, climbing the stairs to Haddon’s Bookshop, and meeting similar minded colleagues who have become lifelong friends. Throughout her 39 years’ distinguished service, Nola was Branch Secretary for ten years, and National
Secretary for two; she worked on the Programme Committee for the CBCA National Conference held in Perth in 2002 and she judged the Eve Pownall Award for non-fiction books. Nola moved to the State Library of Western Australia (SLWA) as a Children’s Services Librarian, joining a team which curated a list of newly published books enabling public libraries to regularly select books for children from birth to 18 years with confidence. Nola’s knowledge of the best of children’s literature was shared generously with local government staff state-wide. An informal partnership between CBCA WA and State Library enabled the Bookworms Club for 6-10, year-olds to flourish. The highlight was an annual lunch where one hundred members could meet WA and interstate authors and illustrators. Nola edited the Club’s newsletter and accompanied visiting book creators on regional tours. Nola’s passion for ensuring that all children in this vast state have access to programs promoting the best in children’s literature has seen her voluntarily assist in writing successful grant applications totalling close to $900,000 over the past 15 years. Around 2003 at the State Library, Sue North and Nola worked together to scope and devise a program that would ensure that every baby born in Western Australia would receive the gift of a book and an invitation to join their local library. The multi-award-winning Better Beginnings Family Literacy Program began. Over one million families have since received a yellow bag with a booklist and other supporting resources from their community child health nurse. It’s impossible to imagine Better Beginnings without Baby Ways. At the time when Nola led its development, writing and publication, there were a mere handful of photographic books showing the diversity of Australian babies. Baby Ways continues to be a hit with families from Karratha to Kojonup, and was recently translated into Noongar for a bilingual edition. Nola’s extraordinary contributions at State Library saw her receive the James Hammond Award, and being made a Fellow of the Library Board of Western Australia in 2017. Since leaving SLWA, Nola’s skills have been in demand as a consultant leading community publishing projects in local governments throughout Perth. Booksellers, reviewers, parents and librarians continue to seek her views about Australian children’s literature through her regular contributions to the iconic Magpies magazine. Nola has also contributed to databases developed by the National Centre for Australian Children’s Literature (NCACL). Her distinguished work – paid and unpaid - bringing children and books together over many decades makes Nola Allen a worthy recipient of the Muriel Barwell Award. Gail Spiers Convenor Muriel Barwell Award for Distinguished Service to Children’s Literature
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