Tony Wilson’s The Cow Tripped Over the Moon was one of 2016’s best seller’s, now it has been nominated as the book Australia will collectively devour in the 2017 National Simultaneous Story Time!

An annual incentive to encourage children and young adults to immerse themselves in the joy of reading, the event is celebrating its 17th year. On the 24th of May 2017 over 500 000 children will be reading the book. The Cow Tripped Over the Moon was dedicated to Tony’s third child, Jack, who lives with cerebral palsy.

A very well deserved achievement, Congratulations Tony, what an important event! Find out how to get on board with the National Simultaneous Story Time here.

Congratulations are in order for our talented author, Glenda Millard. Her captivating novel, The Stars at Oktober Bend, has been long listed by the UK Literary Association’s Book Awards.

These awards are unique, as they are the only ones entirely judged by teachers themselves. The titles chosen are not only engaging reads for young people, but are also fantastic classroom resources. The Stars at Oktober Bend, a heartfelt tale about love and resilience, is as beautifully written as it is uplifting.

Glenda is one of our most multi-talented speakers. She writes everything from picture books, to novels for young adults. The Stars at Oktober Bend was also shortlisted by the Queensland Premier’s Literary Awards earlier this year, so it is clearly loved by students and teachers both overseas and at home.

Congratulations again Glenda, for your success in Australia and abroad!

A big congratulations are in order for our talented author, Randa Abdel-Fattah. Her entertaining and eye-opening book, Does My Head Look Big In This?, was this week among four Australian novels to receive adaptation funding from Screen NSW. This is a well-deserved book-to-film project and an important step in understanding and promoting multiculturalism in Australia.

Well done, Randa!

Author George Ivanoff took a brief break from fleeing his alien foes to thank those who voted for him in this year’s Kids Own Australian Literature Awards.

Watch his acceptance below:

A huge congratulations to Corinne Fenton, whose book One Christmas Eve has inspired the 2016 Myer Christmas Windows!

Be sure to keep an eye out for book signing opportunities with Corinne to be announced over the next few weeks.

This is the second year running that Corrine’s work has been featured, with Little Dog and the Christmas Wish as the theme for the 2015 display.

Pictured: Corinne Fenton with illustrator Marjory Crosby-Fairall and 7 year old Lily, whose photos were used in the illustrations and as a model for the sculptor of the character Bella.

Image credit: http://corinnefenton.com/blog.

It’s fair to say that the team at Booked Out are bona fide book lovers. You might spy us at lunchtime, walking down Brunswick St with our nose buried in a book, trying to snatch a few chapters of the many novels we have scattered about the office.

Our very own Angela reviews Cath Crowley’s latest novel, Words in Deep Blue – see below!

Readers love bookshops. To an avid bibliophile, shelves don’t simply display pretty spines and impressive cover art. A bookshop is a cave of possibilities; a place where our imaginations are called upon to build worlds and explore the lives of the unknown.

Cath Crowley’s Words in Deep Blue gives us Howling Books, a second-hand bookshop owned by the family of 18 year old, Henry Jones. The store is infamous for the Letter Library, a sort of Wailing Wall of sentimental notes left and scrawled within the pages of its books.

Rachel Sweetie was Henry’s childhood best friend. But a confession unanswered and a move to the seaside took her away until the end of high school. After her brother’s harrowing death Rachel, now older and hardened to life, is back in town.

When the sale of Howling Books starts to loom over Henry and his family, Rachel is employed to catalogue those notes left by ghosts of readers past. In the meantime, Henry is nursing a broken heart and he and Rachel find themselves becoming reacquainted with the old and new parts of each other.

Words in Deep Blue is a beautifully written YA novel by the award-winning author of Graffiti Moon and the Gracie Faltrain series. The soft words and delicate prose make for a touching exploration of grief, loss, family, friendship and love. Cath Crowley has given us a story for booklovers, indeed for lovers of any description. The novel tells us what we already know, that life can and will throw us curveballs. But if we listen to the heart, we’ll always find our way back home.

The city of Stonnington’s annual literary festival, [untitled] kicks off next week on Wednesday, 16th November! The launch will be held at the Toorak/South Yarra Library from 6:30–9:00pm, and will feature an appearance from acclaimed playwright Hannie Rayson.

There will be over 25 free events from 16–23 November, with new voices in Australian fiction as well writers at the top of their field, with a host of Booked Out writers to be featured, including:

• Hannie Rayson
• John Marsden
• Sally Warhaft
• Jane Godwin
• Elizabeth Honey
• Kate Mildenhall
• Stig Wemyss
• Nicholas Jones
• Maria Katsonis

Mark these dates in your diary – these events are sure to get you thinking, talking and reading!

Francophiles and their children gathered to hear Gus Gordon launch his new picture book, Somewhere Else at various bookshops in Melbourne last week.

At The Little Bookroom on Saturday, champagne and croissants helped launch the latest whimsical offering from Gus.

Inspired by a research trip to Paris, this book will appeal to as many adults as it will to children. It is a gentle tale of a reluctant duck called George, who doesn’t want to fly.

Illustrator Ann James read the book to Gus’ fans and officially launched it into the world.

Voila!

The Booked Out team are this week spotlighting our talented author, Ailsa Wild. The Invisible War: A Tale on Two Scales, is a graphic novel about a heroic Australian nurse in WW1.

The book follows Annie’s story as she selflessly battles death and disease on the Western Front. As fate strikes, she also contracts dysentery. A war without and a war within. The Invisible War is a science adventure featuring trillions of microbes on a journey to the center of the gut!

The book (created by Briony Barr & Gregory Crocetti) was written by Ailsa and illustrated by Ben Hutchings in collaboration with art-science collective Free Scale Network and Jeremy Barr, a microbiologist from Monash University.

Dorian Sagan (yes, son of Carl Sagan!) ecological philosopher, award winning author and science writer has written an in-depth review of The Invisible War: A Tale on Two Scales that can be found here.

Congratulations Ailsa and all the team! An amazing achievement!