These were some of the questions which were answered by Australian children’s author, Lisa Shanahan, as she spoke at the NSW Australian School Library Association conference this weekend at the King’s School.

The focus of her session, ‘On knitting a vision: picture book collaboration’, was the way in which author and illustrator were both intensely involved in the birth of a picture book. Following this analogy through, Lisa likened a good collaboration to a good marriage, where both partners are involved in bringing their offspring into the world, and dedicating different time and talents to the resulting ‘child’. She even spoke of 2 births for the book - the first being when the writer has finished (the first edited draft at least), the second when the artist has completed their interpretation of the text of the book.

Lisa described the source of her first inspirations (a child’s comment, a snippet of conversation in her head) and how she develops the story by asking why? how? and what if? Much of her writing is triggered by dialogue, and relying on her aural instincts to develop her stories. With an inner recognition - a tingle, she allows a story to evolve.

With reference to books such ‘Bear and Chook’ and ‘Daddy’s Having a Horse’, Lisa then spoke of the partnership, and how a good illustrator contributes to a book. She believes that illustrator, Emma Quay, helped widen the perspective of ‘Daddy’s having a horse’ with her interpretation of the reaction of Lachlan and his sister to the imminent birth of a baby in their family. Clever additions to the pages as the story progressed, display Lachlan’s inner world realistically,  and also give a true picture of family life once the baby arrives. 

Very often, the visual story extends from the text - lending further meaning to the story, (as with Caitlin’s development of love for her baby brother, after initial indifference and disappointment). Wordless comments are also possible with the illustrator’s interpreation giving great impact, even to the end pages.

The relationship between author and illustrator appears unique, and when combining great talents like Lisa Shanahan and Emma Quay or Wayne Harris, both parties can sometimes be in for a surprise. It can also be valuable to to be open to changing parts of the story - especially after trialling books with young friends and family. Thus, there is professional sharing from both sides as the story reaches its birth. And aren’t we glad when the parents are as talented as Lisa, Emma and Wayne?

Have you ever wondered how a picture book develops? Have a careful look at some of Lisa’s books and try considering the parts (text & illustrations) in isolation? Then comment on the whole.

NB Visit Inside a Dog and you can read/listen to a chapter of Lisa’ novel for young adults, ‘My Big Birkett’.

Visuwords is a great online tool which helps you to not only understand the meaning of a word, but to see the relationships between words. As mentioned by Judy O’Connell (Hey Jude), it is a great visual tool which will have immense appeal to many - and for many different reasons.

Being easy to use and fun to play with, it should prove wonderful for anyone facing a writer’s block. Students might also like to use it to collect ideas for a brainstorm at the beginning of an activity e.g. defining the term ‘journey’ for HSC English Area of Study.

And developing writers could use it to broaden their vocabulary - much quicker than compiling a long list of words to use instead of ‘walk’! Even hobby or sports fans could use it to review the areas to cover when discussing their favourite. Try typing in ‘cricket’!

Many thanks for the alert, Judy!

Try it out and let others know how you have used it.

Beowulf, an old English poem dating from the tenth century AD

Even Alvin and the Chipmunks began life in a different form – as a comic strip!

For some people, seeing the movie often spoils, or challenges, the images they held from their reading of a novel (did you really visualise Harry Potter in the image of Daniel Radcliffe?). Others watch the movie with the intent of picking up mistakes, critiquing missing parts, or trying to see if their personal images match those of the film-maker. And others simply reflect on the different aspects of each media, and what they can each bring to a tale.

What were your impressions of the latest release of Books-to-Film in the holidays? Were you satisfied? Challenged? Annoyed? Or do you simply hate to see the movie after reading the book? Or are you drawn to the book after seeing a good movie?

It’s hard isn’t it - taking those first few steps after making a decision to do something? But with perserverance, you begin to see improvements (I’m still waiting, but it’s only a few days since the exercise started…) Have you ever thought about your ‘Reading fitness’?

An article in the Sydney Morning Herald ties in a little bit here, The never-ending story: reading in the holidays, SMH , December 30, 2007, encouraged students (and parents) to keep up the reading habit in the holidays, after a study in the States discovered a drop in students’ reading skills after a long holiday break.

Reading is a bit like that, isn’t it? Leave your text books alone during a holiday break, and some of the technical terms may be a little foreign when school goes back. For learner readers, it may be individual words or sounds that are temporarily forgotten. Thus, researchers are suggesting that students need to keep up their reading practice, whether at infants level or within the senior school and beyond. We all need to keep up regular exercise to keep fit - and it seems reading is no different!!

What do you think? Are you a holiday reader or do outdoor activities get in the way? How could you squeeze a little more reading in your holiday time?

In today’s world another option is available on the internet. In a game form, you can test your knowledge of words, while at the same time working to end world hunger - this is the Free Rice game.

FreeRice is a sister site of the world poverty site, Poverty.com. and it has two goals:

1. To provide English vocabulary to everyone for free. 
2. To help end world hunger by providing rice to hungry people for free.

It’s worth a visit for the challenge and the chance to encourage the sponsors of the site to contribute to world hunger issues by donating free rice. (The rice is paid for by the advertisers whose names you see on the bottom of your vocabulary screen.)

WARNING: This game may make you smarter. It may improve your speaking, writing, thinking, grades, job performance, etc. Try a visit yourself, and let us know what you think - have your word skills improved? Don’t forget to check out the rice tally too.

It’s been interesting to hear her speak of the things which inspire her to write, other authors she enjoys, and perhaps a few hints as to why she writes fantasy. An insight into the activities of her daily life also make you realise how writers continue to learn from others - both reknowned writers and those of the modern age.

As you read her jottings, try to think about what influences you daily, and how that might impact on your writing journey. Is it the books you enjoyed as a cild, the tales you were told at bedtime, or the stories that have been introduced to you by significant others in your life.

Who or what have been the forming influences on you as a reader or writer?

Have you found her latest book - Maharaja’s Ghost?

What makes this book special is the way Susanne has woven the song lyrics written by Tori through the novel. They capture the tender feelings of identity confusion, the need to be heard and the desire to be loved. Survival, for several of the characters, comes through listening to, and writing, song lyrics. As the book developed, Tori’s songs are also developed by the character, Pip, and have actually been produced to be released with the book - an interesting story in itself as Susanne conveyed to the delight of the conference audience.

Many of us who are parents admired the way in which she and Tori were able to work together on such a project - well aware of the sometimes fragile emotions of the teen years. Reading the book you also appreciate and identify with the sometimes angst-ridden teen years, and the impact on family and friends.

More detail about the book (with links for a download of the songs)  is available at: http://www.sgervay.com/. So check it out and get your hands on this book/video!

If you have read it, leave a comment here, and send one also to Susanne - she loves to hear from readers and will most certainly get back to you.

You can vote via the web or SMS for both the Gold Inky (for Australian authors only) and the Silver Inky (a list which includes international authors). Check out the lists and details for voting at Inside a Dog and cast your vote!

Some would argue that the interest has actually waned as the instalments have increased in volume. Do all but the die-hards really have the interest to tackle a 700 page volume (as in HP – and the Goblet of Fire)? And who is it that now waits eagerly for the final book to be released on July 21? Young readers or their parents who remained hooked on the phenomena? Readers might like to check out a recent article in the New York Times - Potter Has Limited Effect on Reading Habits, and then comment on how Harry Potter has impacted on their interest in reading.

In an article in the Age recently, writer Chris Middendorp discussed the use of abridged versions of the classics as a way to overcome the sheer volume often found in classic literature. He spoke of how Britain’s Orion Publishing Group has republished some classic novels and was reducing their volume by as much as 40 per cent. “This is an act of cultural vandalism” he stated. See the article June 10, 2007:  The unkindest cut is Dickens minus 40%

Daniel Pennac (mentioned in the previous post), believes the reader should have the right to skip occasional sections of the text, if they fiind them too wordy, or if they are not interested in their descriptive nature. Later, he argues, the reader could always come back to revisit the missing parts. However, if a publisher has already taken out these parts, how would it be possible to revisit them?

Indeed, are they only removing the parts every reader would choose to skim over?Still others argue that at least abidged versions give the reader an introduction to an author, and they may choose to pursue the full text later on. Orion’s publisher also stated in the Age article that “We realised that life is too short to read all the books you want to and we never were going to read these ones.”

Don’t people read long books anymore? Yes they do - just ask Stephen King, J.K. Rowling, Terry Pratchett and Jodi Picoult. And it’s not just older readers who are willing to tackle them. So… Which do you feel is the right way to treat the classics (or any long book)? Do we need to cut them down to bite-sized chunks for time-poor readers? Is it better to have some exposure to Dickens, Austen, Tolstoy and Shelley in an abridged version than not at all? Can we do justice to War and Peace in 350 pages, with illustrations of course?Or must they stay true to the form in which they were first written?