2025-14: Booky-Type things.

It’s been a while since I’ve blogged and a few booky-type things have happened.

Firstly I received the lovely news that JUST A DOG will be reprinted in January 2026 with a slightly updated cover. Really pleased about that. Thank you Scholastic Australia! Good boy Mr Moe!

I’ve also had a few very enjoyable school visits.

One was to St Peter’s Lutheran Indooroopilly where I talked to all the YEAR 1s about YOU TURKEYS which they’d all read, as well as RODNEY LOSES IT! and ROBBIT the JOB-HOPPING FROG. Beautiful kids.

Great to catch up there with fab Author, Teacher-Librarian extraordinaire and Social Media star Megan Daley (Raising Readers, The Beehive).

And I got to sign lots of ROBBITS!

My second school visit was to Ambrose-Treacy College to speak to the YEAR 7 boys about their class novel DON’T CALL ME ISHMAEL. I’ve been to ATC many times over the years and the boys are always great to talk to.

The third visit was to Lourdes Hill College to talk to all the YEAR 8 girls who are also reading DON’T CALL ME ISHMAEL. Such a lovely and fun audience.

And just a reminder that brand new ‘AUSTRALIAN CLASSIC’ editions of all three ISHMAEL books are available now in all good book shops. If they’re not on the shelves just ASK and they’ll get them in! But be quick. It’s the first time in years books 2 and 3 have been available – and they’re even better than Book 1 IMHO.

The big booky thing this year is the celebration of the CBCA’s 80th Birthday. I have the honour of being the CBCA Qld Branch Ambassador for the event. (Which means I think I now have Diplomatic Immunity!).

Last Saturday the Qld Branch organised a wonderful morning of celebration at Brisbane City Hall involving around 20 Children’s and YA authors and a large group of keen young readers. It was a huge success and lots of fun.

Part of my brief speech on the day included this quote from Carl Sagan:

What an astonishing thing a book is. It’s a flat object made from a tree with flexible parts on which are imprinted lots of funny dark squiggles. But one glance at it and you’re inside the mind of another person. An author is speaking clearly and silently inside your head, directly to you. Writing is perhaps the greatest of human inventions, binding together people who never knew each other. Books break the shackles of time. A book is proof that humans are capable of working magic.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CBCA! And here’s to 80 wonderful years of supporting, promoting and championing books, reading and authors – with many more to come!