Hi all! Booked Out are back for 2020!

We do hope that everyone has had a safe and happy holiday break. We’ve certainly had a busy summer holiday, filled with lots of reading, reading, reading and well… more reading!

This year looks set to be one of our biggest and busiest yet. To get in early to make a booking, please contact us via phone (03 9824 0177) or email (bookings@bookedout.com.au).

As always, we wish everyone a fantastic start to 2020, and a wonderful year ahead. We look forward to hearing from you!

Just hear those sleigh bells jingling, ring tingle tingling too…!

The Christmas season is finally upon us, and we are excitedly starting to wrap up for the annual holiday break.

Booked Out will close on the 19th of December and reopen on the 13th of January 2020.

For those with bookings on the go, we will be delighted to assist you until Thursday this week, and be back on deck in mid-January in the new year. To catch booking coordinators, you can call Booked Out on 03 9824 0177 to get your final questions in!

Booked Out wish you a very relaxing and safe holiday break, full of good food, good company, and good thoughts of all the authors and illustrators visiting you in the year ahead!

Christmas gremlins have started celebrating Christmas early!

Wrecking havoc in our systems, unfortunately we are currently experiencing some technical issues with our internet today. While we are working hard to bring all of our systems back online, at this stage we are sadly delayed in accessing our emails and database.

If you have an urgent query, we are very happy to speak to you over the phone. Please call (03) 9824 0177 and ask for your booking coordinator and we will be available to give you an update on your booking or enquiry. Thank you for your understanding.

Last week we caught Bri Lee in conversation with Nkechi Anele to discuss her newest release, Beauty. ⁣
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Exploring our obsession with thinness, Bri asks how an intrinsically unattainable standard of physical ‘perfection’ has become crucial to so many. A gripping and intelligent follow up to Eggshell Skull, Beauty is powerful, honest, thought-provoking and already making the rounds at Booked Out.

BIG BOOK NEWS!

Sue deGennaro’s picture book Missing Marvin (Scholastic) has won this year’s Children’s Peace Literature Award!⁣
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Convener of the judging panel Kate Prescott described Missing Marvin as a funny and gentle picture book showing how to address bullying and conflict in a peaceful way.⁣
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Annually presented to a book that ‘encourages the peaceful resolution of conflict’ and ‘promotes peace at the global, local or interpersonal level’, Missing Marvin teaches children to learn how to tackle their problems in an accessible and engaging way.⁣
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We are over the moon for Sue – congratulations! 🦌🌻

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!⁣
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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! 🙌⁣
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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. ⁣
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Illustration courtesy of  Anna Zobel, new speaker, illustrator and teacher herself 📝📚🏫