An apology, Book Week history and an entertainment trifecta

Firstly…

I’d like to open this newsletter with a formal apology to my mother. Upon receiving my latest newsletter, where I mentioned I couldn’t remember dressing up for Book Week when I was in school, she swiftly reminded me that I had indeed dressed up for Book Week numerous times, and that she had probably facilitated this – and my sisters’ – Book Week dress-ups on almost 30 occasions (4 daughters x 7 years of primary school). Sorry, Mum, I stand corrected!

Me, in Year 1 or 2, dressing up for Book Week as Jasmine from Aladdin. (Aren’t I adorable??)

I suspect that my own children will also soon forget the various things I did for them – as their children will forget the things they did, as will their children’s children, and so on and so forth, as I suspect has been the case since the beginning of time. Still, I can with confidence now say that I DID indeed dress up for Book Week. Thank goodness my mother has a better memory than me.

Upon being reminded of dressing up as Jasmine from Aladdin in 1994 or 1995 (probably more of a reference to the Disney film than the folk tale – not exactly Book Week specific, Mum, but let’s not dwell on it), I was curious to know when the tradition of dressing up for Book Week started. While I quickly discovered CBCA Book Week had a theme since 1945, google didn’t reveal any answers on when the dress-up tradition started. So, I asked the fount of knowledge that is Jenny Stubbs, retired Teacher-Librarian and 2023 Nan Chauncy Award Recipient.

Jenny had answers to me within a few days. She consulted her considerable network of teacher-librarians and found some of the earliest Book Week dress-up memories went back to the 1960s in Tasmania, 1970s in NSW, Victoria and South Australia, and 1980s in Queensland. Some wonderful stories emerged:

“I lived in Melbourne, and recall dressing up as a peasant girl from a fairy tale in 1984 (actually just wanted to wear mum’s special shawl to school), and a witch in 1985 (Dad made a fantastic broom from real twigs). " - Karen Taylor, QLD

"As an infants and primary school student in the 70s in the Blue Mountains, I remember dressing up as Little Red Riding Hood in a red parka!" - Elisabeth Wells, NSW

And, a Book Week memory from the fount of knowledge herself:

“When I was regional library advisor I was often asked to judge the Book Week parades. It was really hard selecting winners.  I wanted to give every kid who made an effort something, even if only a bookmark. I usually selected the home made costumes, especially when the child carried the book and you could tell it meant something to them.  There was one that stood out at one of the small schools where a girl was dressed as Arrietty Pod from the book The Borrowers. I could pick her character without even referring to the book she hugged to herself because she had taken such an effort to create the look of the character.” - Jenny Stubbs, QLD

Children’s author Penny Tangey pointed me in the direction of Trove, where one of the earliest mentions of Book Week is recorded in this article in The Newcastle Sun. It describes the Newcastle Book Week character costume frolic back in 1951. (Just the phrase “character costume frolic” sounds positively delightful.)

This of course, begs the question – do you remember dressing up for Book Week? What year? What was your favourite costume? I would love to hear your stories!

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An entertainment trifecta

This month I’ve been in the fortunate position of having an entertainment trifecta: an enjoyable book, audiobook AND TV series to devour. (Freckles by Cecilia Ahern, Everyone in my Family has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson and Bodkin on Netflix.) Two out of three of these tales have been set in Ireland, so I’ve been hearing Irish accents in my dreams, and dreaming of trips to Ireland.

In one of these Irish tales, Freckles, the main character learns of the phrase ‘you’re the average of the five people you spend the most time with’, and ends up on a mission to improve her five. I found this concept interesting – wouldn’t most of us end up being the average of our colleagues? Or our families? If that’s the case for me, almost 50% of my fives are under the age of ten, and love fart jokes. Perhaps that’s why I’m a children’s author…

With only one episode of Bodkin left and a few chapters of Freckles to go, I’m now nearing the end of my perfect entertainment trifecta. Send me your recommendations! What have you been enjoying reading/watching/listening to lately? 

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Events

Aside from going down the rabbit hold of Book Week history and basking in the bliss of good TV and books, I’ve also had some great events to speak at lately. I broke out my 1900s outfit for the Brisbane Writers Festival in late May, where I presented a session on history to a group of Year 1-5s, tying in with my historical fiction novel, 11 Ruby Road. I met lots of lovely readers, writers and booksellers, and caught up with some wonderful kidlit creators.

Fun at Brisbane Writers Festival

In the next few months I’ll be appearing at:

-       Somersest Storyfest South West in St George

-       Somerset Storyfest Central Queensland in Emerald

-       Ipswich Story Arts Festival

I’d love to see you there!

I’ll also be speaking at lots of schools across South East Queensland – and some in Victoria - over Term 3. I’m fully booked for Book Week but have plenty of dates in surrounding weeks. If you know a school or library looking for an author talk, creative writing workshop or residency, get in touch!

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And finally…

Just because, here is a list of other things I’ve been enjoying this month:

• Chocolate cake in a cup: We’ve been using this super easy, microwave recipe for chocolate cake. Highly recommend adding chocolate chips to the top, before microwaving, AND a scoop of ice-cream on the top is essential. It’s kinda sweet, so we split the recipe between 2 cups.

• Young Warriors camp: I attended a parent-child camp with my daughter earlier this month and we LOVED it. Lots of quality, device-free time and reflection. Highly recommend.

• Fairy lights: With winter and shorter days rapidly approaching, a few weeks back we dropped into Ikea for a “quick trip” (ha!) to spruce up our study. Two hours, one headache and a few impulse purchases later, I was equipped with some fairy lights and a wall mirror. My desk is a much cosier space now!

Before vs after...

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And that’s all for this month! Until next time, happy reading and, more importantly, happy writing.