Corinne Fenton‘s charming children’s picture book, One Christmas Eve, will be on display again!

For the Christmas season of 2017, One Christmas Eve will take pride of place in the Myer windows in Ballarat after its very popular run in the Melbourne Myer windows in 2016.

Corrine was delighted to meet her readers young and old last Saturday, where she signed and chatted about One Christmas Eve, which follows a young girl and her Grandpa in 1968, who explore Luna Park on Christmas Eve.

Marjorie Crosby-Fairall’s gorgeous illustrations are brought to life in diorama, capturing that special Christmas feeling, with the twinkling lights of Luna Park, the luscious colours of the carousel, and the velvety brilliance of a Christmas Eve Night sky.

The Ballarat windows are on display each morning from 7.30AM, and bring Corinne’s heartwarming story to the public eye once again.

Make sure to come on down if you missed it last year!

Congratulations are in order for two of our wonderful speakers, who have taken out this award in their respective categories: Cath Crowley, author of Words in Deep Blue, and Wendy Orr, author of Dragonfly Song.

Well done, Cath and Wendy – your books will no doubt be cherished by kids and teenagers for years to come.

Jack Heath, author of over 15 acclaimed fiction titles for middle-grade and YA readers, is just about to release his first book for adults: Hangman.

Perfect for crime fans, this thrilling read tells the story of Timothy Blake, code name Hangman. He’s a genius, known for solving impossible cases – but he’s also a dangerous criminal with a dark and mysterious past. Read more about the plot on Allen & Unwin’s website.

We are super excited to sink our teeth into this new book – Hangman has been translated into French, German and Russian, and there’s already talk of a TV series…so we are expecting great things of Hangman and the sequels.

Hangman hits shelves on January 2nd, just in time to pick up a copy for your summer holiday!

Congratulations Jack, on this exciting release!

Readings have announced the top ten titles for Middle Fiction in 2017! This year has seen many talented Australian authors release books of a high calibre,  entertaining and educating young readers with gripping fictional tales. We are pleased to announce that two of our fabulous speakers have made the cut! The Fall by Tristan Bancks and The Boy and The Spy by Felice Arena have both made the top ten. To find out more head to the Readings website, where you can peruse all the wonderful selections!

Congratulations to all the authors who have made it on to the Prime Minister’s Literary Awards shortlist for 2017.

A special mention must go to all the authors we are very lucky to work with here at Booked Out:

Steven Amsterdam – The Easy Way Out

Cath Crowley – Words in Deep Blue (pictured)

Zana Fraillon – The Bone Sparrow

Glenda Millard – The Stars at Oktober Bend

Claire Zorn – One Would Think The Deep

Wendy Orr – Dragonfly Song

The winners will be announced in the coming weeks. For more information visit this link

Author Hangout is a new webisode series for kids, featuring Australia’s top children’ authors, with host Adrian Beck (who is also a top children’s author in his own right).

Check out episode 1 above with writer Tony Wilson who talks footy and shares his writing tips for kids.

Coming up in the series are Tristan Bancks, Jen Storer, Tim Harris, Sally Rippin, Felice Arena and Michael Wagner, all with their own pearls of wisdom to share.

And kids, if you want to send your questions for authors through to the show, click HERE

To help celebrate the gorgeous new book (pictured right) from author Jane Godwin and illustrator Anna Walker, this creative team are available for school visits in Melbourne for one week only: March 5 – 9, 2018.

For this special week, Anna and Jane are offering a fun and interactive journey through the books they have created, including Go Go and the Silver Shoes, their 6th book together!

They will share the process of creating stories together from initial idea to finished book, and also engage students in drawing and character-creation activities that can serve as a springboard for their own story writing.

To make an enquiry about hosting Anna and Jane in your school, please call us on 03 9824 0177 or email bookings@bookedout.com.au

The prestigious Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award nominations were announced last week – and nine Australian authors and illustrators and one Australian organisation have been nominated!

The Australian nominees are:

• Randa Abdel-Fattah
• Ursula Dubosarsky
• Mem Fox
• Morris Gleitzman
• Gus Gordon
• Robert Ingpen
• Margo Lanagan
• Kirsty Murray
• Margaret Wild
• Indigenous Literacy Foundation

In total, 263 candidates from over 60 counties worldwide were nominated for this award. The Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award is the richest international children’s and young adult literature award in the world, and carries a cash prize of five million Swedish Krona.

It is so exciting to see so many wonderful Australian creatives recognised on the world stage. Congratulations to all the nominees!

Get along to the Abbotsford Convent this coming Friday (20 October) for the opening of an exhibition of original illustrations from the picture books of Tony Wilson.

Over 15 years in the children’s book industry, Tony has written some cracker books, and have collaborated with some cracking illustrators to match. This is a celebration of these illustrators and the books they have worked on.

Featured in the exhibition are sketches and finished artwork by David Cornish, Tom Jellett, Sue DeGennaro, Jules Madden, Andrew McLean, Lucia Masciullo (illustrator of Emo the Emu, pictured), and Laura Wood.

The exhibition is at St Heliers Street Gallery, Abbotsford Convent (Abbotsford, VIC) and runs through to the 19th of November. The opening runs from 5 – 8pm on Friday 20 October at Cam’s Bar.

Kids are welcome and there is a big lawn to run around on.

Congratulations are in order for Booked Out Speaker Cath Crowley, who has taken out the coveted Gold Inky for her novel Words in Deep Blue. The Inky Awards are Australia’s national teen choice awards for young adult literature.

The winners of the Inkys were announced on Monday, 2nd of October, in a ceremony hosted by four of the Inky teen judges. Cath was overseas at the time, but you can watch her speech here.

Congratulations, Cath, we can’t wait to see what’s in store next!