Libby Gleeson author and Australian Hans Christian Andersen Award nominee

IBBY Australia is proud to announce the names of the Australian nominees for the 

Hans Christian Andersen Awards 2020:

Ann James (for Illustration) and Libby Gleeson (for Writing)

Libby Gleeson - Author

You might like to begin with my previous post about Ann James - our IBBY Australia illustrator nominee for the HCA medal.

Here is the press release from IBBY Australia:

Libby Gleeson, AM began her career as a teacher and has been a full-time writer since 1990. She has written more than thirty books, taught occasional courses in creative writing, and visited many schools throughout Australia to speak about her work. She has played a dedicated advocacy role in her work with the Australian Society of Authors, Copyright Agency and West Words.

Libby Gleeson is not only one of Australia’s foremost writers of picture book texts but has also written sensitively for younger children, and important socially progressive works for young adults.

Her body of work is astoundingly diverse and she is critically esteemed as one of the very best of Australian writers of literary fiction for young people. On her picture books she has collaborated with some of the finest internationally-regarded artists such as Armin Greder, and Kate Greenaway Medal winner, Freya 2 Blackwood – both on a number of texts – and with Craig Smith, Julie Vivas and John Winch.

Her junior fiction has included two delightful series – Hannah and Cleo – and she has also written award winning stand- alone titles.

On her teenage fiction she has been vocal about the need for strong female characters and has routinely been interested in social justice issues re the plight of refugees, outsiders and the dispossessed or powerless.

She has also written three books about writing and done some writing for television programs, Bananas in Pyjamas and Magic Mountain.

Her awards include being appointed a member of the Order of Australia (AM) (2007), the Dromkeen Medal (2011), the Nan Chauncy Award for contributions to Australian children’s Literature (2015), and many book awards including 1992 Winner Prime Minister’s Multicultural Award for Big Dog (illustrated by Armin Greder), 2000 Bologna Ragazzi Award for The Great Bear (with Armin Greder), 2002 CBCA Picture Book of the Year Award for An Ordinary Day (illustrated by Armin Greder) and the 2013 Prime Minister’s Literary Award for Red (2012). Libby has been Adjunct Associate Professor, Faculty of Education and Social Work, University of Sydney since 2006. She is one of Australia’s most highly regarded writers for young people.

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Here is Libby's very first picture book illustrated by John Winch.

I adore these two books about farms and farming by Libby Gleeson. Both were short listed by our CBCA.  Banjo and Ruby Red was a CBCA Honour Book in 2014 and Shutting the Chooks in was an Honour Book in 2004.

Another theme in Libby's book is moving house and making new friends.  Amy and Louis won CBCA Picture book of the Year in 2007 and Clancy and Millie and the Very fine house was an Honour Book in 2010.

There is also the topic of a new baby in the family. Go to Sleep Jessie was the CBCA Winner Picture Book of the Year (Early Childhood) in 2015.

One of her earliest novels which I read during my first years as a teacher-librarian is Eleanor Elizabeth which was Highly Commended by the CBCA in 1985. Here is the Kirkus review. I have found a range of different covers.

Here is Libby's newest book - Published in March 2019 and illustrated by Anna Pignataro.

This is a precious book about saying goodbye. It's also about acceptance. Not just of change, but of sadness and how each of us deals with it in our unique way. Kid's Book Review

Ann James illustrator and Australian Hans Christian Andersen Award nominee

IBBY Australia is proud to announce the names of the Australian nominees for the 

Hans Christian Andersen Awards 2020: 

Ann James (for Illustration) and Libby Gleeson (for Writing)

Ann James - illustrator

Here is the Press Release from IBBY Australia:

Ann James, AM is one of Australia’s best loved and most respected picture book artists. Since publishing her first book, A Pet for Mrs Arbuckle (1981), by Gwenda Smyth, she has been highly regarded for her gloriously joyous and spontaneous artwork and has collaborated with some of Australia’s finest writers including Sonya Hartnett, Margaret Wild, Janeen Brian, Libby Hathorn, and Frances Watts.

She has co-created classic series characters such as Robin Klein’s Penny Pollard, Christine Harris’s Audrey of the Outback and Libby Gleeson’s Hannah. She also wrote and illustrated Bird and Bear (2013), and Bird and Bear and the Special Day (2016) which are bound to become enduring classics.

In 1988 Ann and her partner Ann Haddon established Books Illustrated, a gallery promoting picture books and their creators, through exhibitions in Australia and overseas. Ann helped establish the Society of Illustrators in 1988 and as a board director of the Australian Society of Authors (1996–2016), in 2003 she coordinated the www.thestylefile.com, an online showcase of Australian book illustrators. She is a founding board director of the Australian Children’s Laureate Foundation (ACLF).

In 2000, Ann James and Ann Haddon were awarded the Pixie O’Harris Award, and in 2016, the Order of Australia, AM. In 2003, Ann also received the Dromkeen Medal. Many of her over 80 books have been published internationally, and many are award winners. Bernice Knows Best by Max Dann was CBCA Junior Book of the Year, 1984, and Hannah Plus One by Libby Gleeson won the same award in 1997.

Her artwork is distinguished by a number of qualities. Always, in a very subtle way, she tells a story in pictures with a filmic continuity which invites readers to question and interpret each image. She is a truly intuitive artist. Her loosely drawn figures are capable of conveying immense emotion. They are whimsical and thoroughly delightful in their improvised poses. Her work celebrates the child’s view of the world and her images are always astutely perceptive. Ann uses watercolour, charcoal, pastels, and a variety of innovative media. She creates her deceptively simple characters with a sleight of hand – a smudge of colour, the placement of an eye, the scale of a figure, the shadows cast by light – to convey the emotion behind words on a page.

Image source: SLJ review (Elizabeth Bird) of Sadie and Ratz by Sonya Hartnett

http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2012/04/02/review-of-the-day-sadie-and-ratz-by-sonya-hartnett/

Ann’s advocacy has had a profound influence on Australia’s recognition in Asia and Europe. She has been a major force in Australian children’s publishing since the early 1980s.

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If you are in a school library see if you still have this poetry book by Robin Klein. It is an early book illustrated by Ann James and it contains such terrific poems.

You can find a list of other titles illustrated by Ann James here and you can see some of her glorious art on her Books Illustrated site. Here are some titles that might be in your school library:

One more cover.  This is the newest book (from Allen and Unwin) illustrated by Ann James due for publication in July 2019.

Shock Monday by Gillian Bradshaw illustrated by David Cox

Tuesday Treasure

This book is just perfect to share and discuss on such a day 

(Walk Safely to School Day). 

We had fun deciding what Tom and his friend could 

be saying to each other in the illustration on the cover.  

Kinderbookboard

I love the idea of using picture books to support class work especially incidental topics such as Walk Safely to School day.  Shock Monday is the perfect book (and perhaps it is the ONLY book) that teachers can use to promote discussion with younger children about the benefits of walking to school.

It is Monday. Mum declares they will all walk to school - Tom, his sister Miriam and Mum. Why? The car is not broken. Mum explains walking saves petrol, cuts down on pollution and gives everyone a chance to exercise. But this is just the start.

"Breathe the air,' commanded Mum.

Really.

What did she think we were breathing?"

Tom is not so sure. His bag is heavy and there is a small hill to climb. As the journey continues Tom meets a boy from his school called Wan Hing and the pair chat and walk together. Tom has made a new friend. Then Tom begins to notice is surroundings. He sees birds such as rozellas and cuckoo shrikes. He also sees poppies like the ones from Remembrance day. Suddenly they are at the school crossing. Time for mum to say goodbye.

"I thought, 'No no kisses.

My friends are around.'

You know how it is.

But she did.

It was Shock Monday all right!"

Shock Monday was published in 1999 and so it is out of print but I would urge school libraries to hold onto this book and share it with teachers when they focus on Walk Safely to School Day which is usually held in May in Australia. In the UK this initiative is called Living Streets. Here is a short video where you can read comments by children about the benefits of walking to school. You could also link this book with other themes such as mindfulness, starting school and days of the week.

Other books about walking and observing the world are I Went Walking by Sue Williams (for preschool), The Listening Walk (video here) and My little world by Julia Cooke.

One more book that would be fun to use for this topic is the tall tale by Jill Murphy On the Way Home. This is a book which makes an excellent writing stimulus. Here are two cover designs.

Where Dani goes happy follows by Rose Lagercrantz illustrated by Eva Eriksson

If only all early chapter books were this beautifully conceived. New York Times (on My Happy Life)

Dani is desperately missing her best friend Ella who has moved far away. Her father needs some time away so he has headed off to Rome and Dani has to stay with her grandparents. Dani has a brilliant idea. It's Ella's birthday. Dani can deliver a gift. The gift is not a thing it is Dani herself. Dani just needs to get to Northbrook. Grandma cannot take her because she has visitors coming, Grandpa cannot take her because the car is in for repair so a decision is made that Dani can go by herself on the train. Grandma phones Ella's mum Sonja and the arrangements are all set.

This is not a smooth adventure. In fact it is filled with disappointment.  The ending will make you smile but not in the way you expect.

I am late coming to this series. I may have read the first book, My happy life, but I only have a vague memory of doing this. This latest book can stand alone but I am planning to read the whole series in the right order over the coming weeks. These are very short books so it won't take me long to catch up with the first five titles and they are filled with fabulous illustrations. 

In my former school library these books were very, very popular. Huge thanks to Beachside Bookshop for giving me number six in the "My Happy Life" series.  This series is from Sweden. I love the way Gecko Press pick up on books from other countries. The translator is Julia Marshall. Rose Lagercrantz and Eva Eriksson are both previous winners of the Astrid Lindgren Prize.

There is a sadness to these stories but they are also filled with optimism. The tone and emotional themes are very different from some of the books we offer our younger readers here in Australia. Dani's mother died when she was very young. Dani's father is often sad. Life is not always a smooth journey for Dani but somehow she pushes through. In each book Dani gets a little older and perhaps a little wiser about the ways of the world.

You can read about each book by clicking each of these links to the Kirkus reviews (several of them have a Kirkus Star):

1. My Happy Life

2. My Heart is Laughing

3. When I'm Happiest

4. Life according to Dani

5. See you when I see you

6. Where Dani goes happy follows

Writing with exceptional insight and humor, author Lagercrantz develops Dani’s emotional maturity in this story, giving her a growing awareness of both life’s complexity and adult fallibility, all the while maintaining Dani’s bone-deep optimism. Kirkus