Yep, it’s that time of year again. When the best books published in Australia for kids and teens are judged.

Check out the shortlist below. Drop into the library to collect your free activity booklet, and place free holds on any of the shortlisted titles.

The winners of all the categories will be announced Friday 20th August.

Book of the Year - Older Readers
CHRISTOPHER, Lucy - Stolen
CLARKE, Judith - The Winds of Heaven
LARBALESTIER,   Justine - Liar
METZENTHEN, David  - Jarvis 24
MILLARD, Glenda -  A Small Free Kiss in the Dark
TANGEY, Penny - Loving Richard Feynman

Book of the Year - Younger Readers
FENSHAM, Elizabeth -  Matty Forever
HIRSCH, Odo - Darius Bell and the Glitter Pool
LESTER, Alison - Running with the Horses
MCINTOSH, Fiona - The Whisperer
MURPHY, Sally - Pearl Verses the World
STORER, Jen - Tensy Farlow and the Home for Mislaid Children

Book of the Year - Early Childhood Short
BLAND, Nick - The Wrong Book
BOOTH, Christina - Kip
DUBOSARSKY, Ursula - The Terrible Plop
BLACKWOOD, Freya - Millie and the Very Fine House
SHANAHAN, Lisa - Bear & Chook by the Sea
THOMPSON, Colin - Fearless

Book of the Year - Picture Book Short
MILLARD, Glenda - Isabella’s Garden
DANALIS, Stella - Schumann the Shoeman
HARVEY, Roland - To the Top End: Our Trip Across Australia
HOBBS, Leigh - Mr Chicken Goes to Paris
OLIVER, Narelle - Fox and Fine Feathers
ROGERS, Gregory - The Hero of Little Street

Book of the Year - Eve Pownall
CLODE, Danielle - Prehistoric Giants: The Megafauna of Australia
M is for Mates: Animals in Wartime from Ajax to Zep
MACINNIS, Peter - Australian Backyard Explorer
PATRICK, Tanya - Polar Eyes: A Journey to Antarctica
REEDER, Stephanie - Owen Lost! A True Tale from the Bush
MATTINGLEY, Christobel - Maralinga: The Anangu Story

Children’s Book Week runs from the 21st - 27th August. For more information visit the Children’s Book Week website.

The Bill Coppell Young Writers’ Award 2009 has begun. Anyone between 11 and 18yrs can enter with a poem or short story no longer than 750 words.

Go here for more info and entry form.

Deadline is 5pm, Friday 8th May.

Thanks go to the following sponsors for their generous donations of thousands of dollars worth of prizes…

Ensemble Theatre, Pen Ultimate, NSW Writer’s Centre, World Book, Britannica, Norths FITNESS, Miller St. Oval Newsagency, Joan’s Ridge Street Gallery , Northside Courier, Sydney Aquarium , Luna Park, Sandra Shilansky, Mosman Daily and North Sydney council.

Yep, it’s that time of year again. When the best books published in Australia for kids and teens are judged.

Check out the shortlist below. Drop into the library to collect your free activity booklet, and place free holds on any of the shortlisted titles.

The winners of all the categories will be announced 1pm Friday 15th August.

THE CHILDREN’S BOOK COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA AWARDS:

Book of the Year: Older Readers (NB: These books are for mature readers)
Pharaoh: the boy who conquered the Nile / Jackie French
The Ghost’s Child / Sonya Hartnett
Marty’s Shadow / John Heffernan
Love like Water / Meme McDonald
Black Water / David Metzenthen
Leaving Barrumbi / Leonie Norrington 

Book of the Year: Younger Readers

Sixth Grade Style Queen (not!) / Sherryl Clark & Elissa Christian
The Shaggy Gully Times / Jackie French & Bruce Whatley
Amelia Dee and the Peacock Lamp / Odo Hirsch
Winning the World Cup / David Metzenthen & Stephen Axelsen
The Key to Rondo / Emily Rodda
Dragon Moon / Carole Wilkinson 

Book of the Year: Early Childhood

Shhh! Little Mouse / Pamela Allen
Pearl Barley and Charlie Parsley / Aaron Blabey
Cat / Mike Dumbleton & Craig Smith
The Trouble with Dogs! / Bob Graham
The Night Garden / Elise Hurst
Lucy Goosey / Margaret Wild & Ann James 
 

Picture Book of the Year

(Some of these picture books may be for mature readers).

The Peasant Prince / Anne Spudvilas & Li Cunxin,
The Island / Armin Greder
Ziba came on a Boat / Robert Ingpen & Liz Lofthouse
You and Me: Our Place / Dee Huxley & Leonie Norrington
Requiem for a Beast / Matt Ottley
Dust / Colin Thompson & 13 other illustrators

 Eve Pownall Award for Information Books
Australia’s Deadly and Dangerous Animals / Michael Cermak
Girl Stuff: Your Full-on guide to the Teen Years / Kaz Cooke
Kokoda Track: 101 Days / Peter Macinnis
The Antarctica Book: Living in the Freezer / Mark Norman
Parsley Rabbit’s Book about Books / Frances Watts

Ned Kelly’s Jerilderie Letter / Carole Wilkinson

Children’s Book Week runs from the 16th - 22nd August. For more information visit the Children’s Book Council of Australia website.

The poster competition winners have been announced! And congratulations go to Duwun and Laniyuk Lee from Darwin for their awesome poster  titled Advanced Australia Fair?

From the NAIDOC Website:

The brothers’ artwork was judged best in a field of 100 entries from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists across Australia, including some from remote desert communities and, for the first time, the Torres Strait. The competition carries a prize of $5,000.

The winning image features the word ‘Sorry’ on a vibrant red and orange background, with an emu and kangaroo (both in ochre) in the foreground. These are surrounded by the Southern Cross, which is connected by bold, wavy black lines.

“For the background, we have used the colours of the land, the sorry is in blue representing water and a healing point,” the Lee brothers said. “The Southern Cross is in the colours of the sunset, the time when it first comes out. The lines connecting the Southern Cross represent the spirits of our ancestors that are looking down on us and keeping an eye on us…(and) the orange is power and knowledge that they have and have given.”

The emu and the kangaroo from the Australian coat of arms have been swapped left to right “to represent the switch in the Government’s attitude” with its decision to apologise to members of the Stolen Generations.

Chairperson of the National NAIDOC Committee, Aden Ridgeway, said the committee had been very pleased with the standard of entries and the fact that they had come from all parts of the country.

“I congratulate Duwun and Laniyuk Lee on winning the competition with their wonderful work. This is a prestigious award that is getting harder to win each year as an increasing number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists take the opportunity to showcase their talent,” Mr Ridgeway said.

The winning artwork will be reproduced on the 2008 NAIDOC Week poster, which will be distributed to Indigenous Coordination Centres and direct to the public across Australia over the coming weeks. To order free copies of the poster, please call 1800 050 009.

More info can be found at www.naidoc.org.au

The Bill Coppell Young Writers’ Award 2008 has begun. Anyone between 11 and 18yrs can enter with a poem or short story no longer than 750 words.

Go here for more info.

And here for a copy of the entry form and conditions of entry.

Deadline is 5pm, Friday 2nd May.

Thanks go to the following sponsors for their generous donations of thousands of dollars worth of prizes…

Joans’ Ridge Street Gallery - Alun Leach-Jones - Northside Courier - Abbey’s Bookshop - North Sydney Leagues Club - Ensemble Theatre - NSW Writers’ Centre - North Sydney Council.

Presented by Planet X…

In 1880 Margarete Seiff made a pincushion shaped like an elephant.

It was a hit with the kids and became the first stuffed toy. These days everyone’s making their own stuffed toys. And now we’re going to join in the felted revolution!

Call them plushies, or softies, or stuffies, or felties – call them whatever you like – just make them quirky and cute and weird. Softies can be of anything you like…a cupcake, a whale, a robot, a tooth, an alien, or a raw steak. 

Check out these for inspiration:

http://www.mypapercrane.com/

http://softiescentral.typepad.com/

www.shawnimals.com

http://www.herzensart.com/

Come along to our workshop, 23rd April, 2-4pm. Bookings essential. Phone 9936 8400. Strictly 10yrs and over. 

Oh, and here’s some we prepared earlier…

Munkeh!

and Squiddy!

Aah, the stencil festival is back in town. 16 - 28 October.

Looky-here for deets on workshops, film nights, exhibitions, guided tours of street art, and more.

Are you into stencilling? Look at their Young Artist Award.

They say… “The award is an initiative to support the creation of street and stencil art and to encourage young and emerging artists to work in this art-form. The annual award competition is designed to support young artists’ careers. Submitting artists are required to produce a work specific to a certain theme. In 2007 the theme is ‘Decay’. “

The school holidays are upon us again.
We’ve a few fun activities happening for kids of all ages. A multicultural performance, and various craft activities. See here for more info.
For those of you diving into the delightful waters of intense HSC study, there will be a few times when we’ll be taking over parts of the lower ground floor. So plan your study breaks around the following times:   

• Every Tuesday & Wednesday 11am-12 noon (Storytime) 
• Thursday 4th 12 -2pm (performance)
• Friday 5th 11am-12 noon (craft activity)
• Monday 8th 1-2pm (craft activity)
• Thursday 11th 11am-12 noon (craft activity)

If you’re hanging around with nothing to do in the holidays, drop in and borrow a book or computer game. We also have new headphones in our technology room as well, so why not listen to a CD or watch a DVD while you’re here.