On Remembrance Day, we always turn to The Poppy by Andrew Plant, a beautiful picture book which is a true story of of remembrance and commemoration. Inspired by 2 years of research, The Poppy is an uplifting story dedicated to the memory of our Diggers.

This is Halloween, everybody make a scene! Today we’re closing the blinds, lighting the candles and picking up a spooky or tense book or two to set the mood… as it’s finally here! Happy Halloween everyone! Enjoy the treats and spooky fare 👻🤖👾🌙🎃🍬🍭

Pictured:

• Bitsy & Zelda Stitch, Worst Witch by Nicki Greenberg
• Huggabie Falls by Adam Cece
• Polly and Buster by Sally Rippin
• 300 Minutes of Danger by Jack Heath
• I Just Ate My Friend by Heidi McKinnon
• The Naughtiest Pixie by Ailsa Wild
• Only Daughter by Anna Snoekstra
• Ting Ting the Ghosthunter by Gabrielle Wang

It was great to see so many of our authors represented at the YABBA Awards this morning at Camberwell Girls Grammar School.

These awards are special because they are voted on by Aussie kids themselves – no adults are involved! It was fantastic to see so many kids excited to see their favourite books honoured.

Congratulations to the winners:

• Picture Story Books
  Seriously, Do Not Open This Book!
  Andy Lee & Heath McKenzie

• Fiction For Younger Readers
  Bad Guys: Do-You-Think-He-Saurus?
  Aaron Blabey

• Fiction For Older Readers
  The 104-Storey Treehouse
  Andy Griffiths & Terry Denton

• Fiction for Years 7-9
  Maybe
  Morris Gleitzman

And another huge congratulations to all the shortlisted Booked Out Speakers: Jane Godwin, Anna Walker, Michael Gerard Bauer, Jacqueline Harvey, Sally Rippin, Dan McGuiness, Tim Harris, Felice Arena, Deborah Abela, Jules Faber, Anna Ciddor, Michael Wagner, Belinda Murrell, George Ivanoff, Cath Crowley, Simmone Howell, Fiona Wood, Jackie French and Claire Zorn!

Today is the day to #ThankYourTeacher as it’s #WorldTeachersDay!⁣
⁣
No booking would go ahead without some heavy duty help from teachers – so today we would like to say a very well-earned THANK YOU for all of their hard work! 🙌⁣
⁣
The majority of our working day is spent catching and chatting to teachers, so we are well aware of the highs and lows that come with the job. We extend a huge thanks to their continued championing of literacy and supporting local authors and illustrators. ⁣
⁣
Illustration courtesy of  Anna Zobel, new speaker, illustrator and teacher herself 📝📚🏫

Here at Booked Out, there’s nothing more exciting for us than seeing our authors’ hard work acknowledged. Whether that’s in the form of a fan letter or a major prize, we are proud to represent authors whose works are universally loved and enjoyed all over Australia and the world.

Today, Booked Out would like to extend a huge congratulations to Steven Herrick and Michael Gerard Bauer, who have both been the recipients of major literary awards this week.

Performance poet Steven Herrick has been making waves internationally, as he has just won The German Children’s Literature Award (Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis) for his verse novel By the River. This is a state-sponsored prize, intended to encourage the development of children’s and young adult literature. The prize is open to German-language books, and titles by foreign-language authors, as long as they have been translated into German.

The prize was announced on Friday night at the Frankfurt Book Fair, in front of an audience of 1,600 people.

It’s safe to say Steven’s fans are spread far and wide!

On the home front, today Michael Gerard Bauer has won the Prime Minister’s Literary Award for his latest Young Adult novel, The Things That Will Not Stand. The Prime Minister’s Literary Awards celebrate outstanding literary talent in Australia, and the valuable contribution Australian writing makes to the nation’s cultural and intellectual life.

Congratulations to both Steven and Michael – we can’t wait to see what you do next.

Today is the International Day of the Girl, and to celebrate we are highlighting our female speakers who have contributed to a better world for girls and women.⁣
⁣
Whether their contribution is to write stories about girls who won’t back down, or talking to girls across the country about how to be strong or brave in the face of struggle, these speakers are the champions for a better future for us all.⁣

• Bri Lee – author of Eggshell Skull
• Ally Watson – co-CEO of Code Like a Girl
• Lucinda Gifford – illustrator of Fairytales for Feisty Girls
• Lili Wilkinson – author of Pink and After The Lights Go Out
• Clementine Ford – author of Fight Like a Girl
• Lee Kofman – author of Imperfect and Split
• Ruth Clare – author of Enemy
• Alex Miles – author of Girl Geeks series
• Nicole Hayes – author and podcaster: The Outer Sanctum
• Sumaya Harare – speaks on self-love and overcoming bullying
• Sarah Ayoub – author of Hate is Such a Strong Word
• Tasneem Chopra – activist and feminist
• Samantha Gash – record breaking endurance runner

We had an excellent Monday afternoon playing Story-a-go-go with it’s clever creator Gabrielle Williams! Coming to you in 2020, Story-a-go-go uses a boardgame to help students overcome the struggle of writing a story and how to create an awesome plot.
Watch this space! ⚃

The CBCA has officially announced the 2020 Book Week theme! Get set, because next year it’s all about:⁣
⁣
🌿 Curious Creatures,⁣
Wild Minds. 🌿⁣
⁣
While the official 2020 image isn’t out, we’ve created our own little picture, featuring the legendary illustrator Quentin Blake, who certainly got our imaginations going when we were kids.⁣
⁣
In celebration of this theme, we’re highlighting some of our excellent illustrators – and the curious creatures that they have made.⁣ Click through to the linked profiles to discover our creative souls!

Who’s excited for the AFL grand final this Saturday! ⁣⁣
⁣⁣
We’re gearing up by re-reading the excellent Why I Love Footy by Michael Wagner, ill. Tom Jellett. We can’t take a picture of our office copy as it’s currently doing the rounds!⁣⁣
⁣⁣
Booked Out will be closed for the Victorian public holiday tomorrow, but we’ll be back to it as usual on Monday. ⁣⁣
⁣⁣
And finally… GO TIGES! 🐯😁💥