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!

We want yours!

Best entries become posters in the library.

Surely you can do better than our effort below…

 Lolwhat? Check out what Wikipedia has to say, or icanhascheezburger (which includes a ’lolbuilder’ to make your own). 

Here’s a list of the 20 most re-read books in the UK. (From www.costabookawards.com)

What books do you re-read? Do you think the ones in this list deserve re-reading?

THE TOP 20 MOST REVISITED READS:

1. The Harry Potter Series by J.K Rowling
2. Lord of the Rings Trilogy by JRR Tolkien
3. Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen
4. The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien
5. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
6. 1984 by George Orwell
7. Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown
8. The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis
9. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
10. Catch 22 by Joseph Heller
11. Notes from a Small Island by Bill Bryson
12. To Kill a Mocking Bird by Harper Lee
13. Flowers in the Attic by Virginia Andrews
14. Black Beauty by Anna Sewell
15. Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett
16. The Bible
17. Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
18. Bridget Jones Diary by Helen Fielding
19. Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
20. Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

Heading out into the world at large?

Check out Getting Out.

This site has all the info that the authors wished they had when they were younger; such as renting a house, buying a car, safe partying and feeding yourself on a budget. And it has bucketloads of uselful phone numbers and links to other helpful and important sites.

 From the totally fabulash youth literature site ‘Inside a Dog’ comes… The Inkys!

As the Centre for Youth Literature folks say:

“3000 votes were cast by young people from Australia and internationally to decide the inaugural Inky Awards, Australia’s first teenage choice bookprize. The winners were announced at the State Library Victoria last night.” 

There are two awards: the Golden Inky for an Australian book, and theSilver Inky for an International book. 

And the winners are…

Golden Inky
Notes from the Teenage Underground, by Simmone Howell

Silver Inky

Looking for Alaska, by John Green

 Might be worth a read?

Check it out at www.nanowrimo.org

As the site says: “It’s a hands on writing adventure where everyday people from all around the world bash out a 50 000-word novel on 30 days. No judges. No entry fees. No pressure. Just a walloping deadline and a supportive overcaffeinated community to help you reach your book writing goals”.

There’s also a Young Writers Program where you get to set your own word count goals. Tell your teacher about it. Get your friends involved!

And then come along and we can write together…

Stanton is hosting weekly NaNoWriMo ‘Write Ins’ every Thursday in November, 5-8pm. BYO laptops, pens, etc. We’ll provide crisp white tables, shiny chairs and functional powerpoints. Oh and coffee, tea, hot chocolate and nibblies. For more info ph 9936 8449 or email a Youth Librarian: yasmin.greenhalgh@northsydney.nsw.gov.au

Have a look at this publication (1.86 MB pdf). Print it out and keep it on hand.

And there’s links to a guide and checklist for the parents who are hiring you from this page.

If you’ve got a babysitting gig coming up, drop into Stanton and collect a few DVDs and CDs. We’ve got stories on CD and music for all ages (yes, even for bubs). As well as picture books, you could borrow a few books on crafts, games, and puzzles to keep the kidlings entertained for 5 minutes or so.

There always a staff member on duty in the Kids and Youth Area each school day 3-5pm who can help you find some relevant goodies.

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’. “