What did my Book Week look like?

Book Week is always lots of fun. And always terribly hectic. This is what my Book Week looked like this year:

• One road trip to Canberra for the CBCA Book of the Year Awards announcement.
• One broken down car at Canberra airport where I stopped to pick up author Claire Saxby. Sadly, said car needed to be towed away and have a short holiday in our national capital - which meant I missed most of the award ceremony!

• One yummy CBCA ACT Book Week dinner.
• Many many hours of driving (in Pete's car) in terrible traffic and even worse weather to schools for school visits (all on the other side of Sydney to me). 
• Hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of smiling faces and enthusiastic young readers and writers. I am always blown away by the creativity, enthusiasm and passion of the kids I meet (and their teachers). 
• One trip to Melbourne for the Book Design Awards + author meetings + a visit to Melbourne Writers festival + a little book research + beautiful sunshine.



Graham Byrne and Claire Saxby
Graham won the Crichton Award for 
Big Red Kangaroo

• One radio interview with Julie Clift on ABC Broken Hill about Book Week and writing for children (while sitting on the floor in Melbourne airport - I'm all class!).

BEST MOMENTS!

• When one child brimming with excitement declared: "Oh my God, I can't believe the real Sue Whiting is really here!"
• When about two hundred children spontaneously, unexpectedly and joyously joined in with my reading of The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy, which they ALL knew off by heart. It was a little overwhelming actually and left me a little dazed - in a good way. (I think I had a bit of a rock star moment - got the feeling of what it must be like when an audience sings your lyrics back to you.)

The actual week is over - but the festivities aren't! The next couple of weeks are pretty hectic too starting with the CBCA BIG BOOK DAY OUT tomorrow at the NSW Writers' Centre.

Sugar Plum Fairying at The Children's Bookshop in Beecroft

It's kind of scary standing, book in hand, in front of a room full of under four year olds. Especially when you know that the story you are about to read is longer than your young audience is used to and the chances of holding their attention to the end are slim. So you remind yourself that, if things get too out of hand, you can aways resort to some speed reading or, if need be, bring the story to an abrupt conclusion.

But, oh, one shouldn't underestimate one's audience - no matter how young!

The kids at Storytime at The Children's Bookshop in Beecroft were awesome! They sat and watched and listened, with hardly a peep, as Sarah and I donned hats and wigs and crowns and twirled and "actioned" our way through our story. I'm not sure if they were just too terrified to move as they watched the two mad women at the front, or if they were actually enjoying the story. No matter, we made it to the end, without the need for any diversionary tactics. Yay.

Thanks so much to Paul for inviting us to The Children's Bookshop - what an amazing shop - and for Theresa for sharing her Storytime gig. (Pictured above on the left.)

Launch Pics

Well, the launch was a lot of fun! Lots of gorgeous sugar plum fairies flitting around the place. A fantastic display of candy making by the talented guys at Sticky. Heaps of clever crafty kids making sparkly wands and pictures. Stacks of enthusiastic participation in the storytelling. And gorgeous sweets to tempt everybody's tastebuds.

Thanks to all who came along - especially all my very supportive writing buddies.

A Sticky Book Celebration

Illustrator, Sarah Davis and I would like to invite all Sydneysiders to a STICKY celebration for the release of our new book: Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy.

Where: Sticky – CANDYMAKERS
10 The Rocks Centre, Kendall Lane, The Rocks NSW 2000
When: Saturday 6th June at 2.30pm

This book is packed full of magic, music, candymakers, greedy kings, wicked guards, and sugary sweets galore! It is the second book in New Frontier's Music Box series, which aims to introduce children to famous pieces of classical music. It comes with a bonus CD with the story read by Antonia Kidman!

Watch real candy being made!
Taste some of Sticky’s delicious sweets!
Hear Sarah and I read the story and watch Sarah draw!
Come dressed as a fairy, a greedy king, or a yummy sweet! (optional)

No need to RSVP -
just come and join the fun!
Proudly brought to you by:
http://www.newfrontier.com.au/
http://www.sticky.com.au/
http://www.suewhiting.com/
http://www.sarahdavisillustration.com/

Have a STICKY at this!

In my new picture book Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy, Marcus and Mary are the finest candymakers in all the land. To help make this part of the story authentic, I spent a number of sugary, calorie-rich hours at STICKY ( http://www.sticky.com.au/ ) in The Rocks. All in the name of research, of course!

If you haven't ever seen rock candy being made, it's certainly worth a visit. If you can't make it in person, catch a glimpse of the action in this YouTube clip. These guys are awesome!

Writing Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy

For me, picture books are one of the most difficult genres to write in. It looks dead easy - heck, how hard can 600 words for 4 and 5 year olds be? In my opinion: very.

One of the things I discovered after a number of years of bashing my head against the proverbial brick wall, writing dozens of flat, uninspiring picture books texts, is that I can't write picture books on demand. My picture book texts generally come to me unbidden and usually in response to something I have witnessed or experienced that has stirred me emotionally. I've also discovered that I need to leave that initial flash of inspiration to simmer in my brain for quite sometime: until the rhythms of the language and the voice of the piece, toll bell-like in my mind; until, in fact, the text is almost fully formed and begging to be written. Then, only then, can I can risk putting words down on paper.

So when the publisher at New Frontier rang and asked me if I'd like to write a picture book text for their new Music Box series, I felt very uneasy - so much so, that I nearly refused. You can't write picture books on demand, I told myself. Don't try. You'll regret it, you fool.

But the concept behind the series was intriguing: writing picture book stories inspired by great pieces of classical music and I was sorely tempted. Then when I was given The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy from the Nutcracker Ballet as my inspiration piece - a piece of music I swirled to in my ballet slippers in front of my wardrobe mirror for most of my childhood - I was more or less hooked.

So I agreed to have a think about it and at least to have a try. But heck - was I nervous, definitely out of my comfort zone!

Then thanks to cyberspace, with a couple of mouse clicks, I was able to find U-tube clips of the ballet and within minutes I was six again, spinning (recklessly) in twirling pirouettes around the lounge room and bending into deep (and clumsy/painful) pliés, and gradually an idea started to form. Ah - here's to the magic of music and the power of our childhood memories! Several brisk walks around the neighbourhood, a bit of research into the story of the ballet, a visit to Sticky (candymakers in The Rocks, Sydney) and I was ready. Ready to start, anyway, and happy that I had a story to tell ...

Here is a link to one of the many Sugar Plum Fairy U-tube clips. Enjoy.

Look what came in the post today!

Yay! Look what I got today.
An advance copy of my latest picture book, Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy. Gorgeous illustrations by the talented Sarah Davis and a CD with the story narrated by Antonia Kidman.

Happy day.