The Little Bookroom Melbourne

 

The Little Bookroom opened its doors to the public on Friday the 13th October, 1960. Albert Ullin OAM, after studying literature and languages and working extensively in the booktrade in Australia and internationally, decided to focus his love for contemporary children’s literature and illustration into an Australian first: he would open a bookshop devoted solely to children’s books. Albert named his shop for a collection of whimsical short stories by Eleanor Farjeon who wrote on the occasion of the shop’s opening: “I am proud and happy to know you’ve chosen the title of my book for the title of your Bookshop in the City my Father first set foot in the 1850s when he emigrated to Australia as a boy of 16. The stories he told me of his arrival in Melbourne have always made it seem to be one of ‘my’ cities. Thankyou for giving me a home in it".  (Source)

On my last visit to Melbourne, I saw a noticed that books at the famous children's bookstore The Little Bookroom were heavily discounted. I couldn't take advantage of that because I had to catch my plane. Then I read that the store had closed but a new owner had been found. After some wonderful crowd funding the store is set to reopen soon. The new owner Michael Earp has asked some very famous Australian illustrators to reimagine the famous shop logo. Over twenty responded. I am sharing a selection here. The real logo will not change but I love this idea as a way to promote the store. People who have supported the crowd funding initiative will be sent one of these limited-edition cards - it is not too late.

Here is the new address: 

Little Bookroom
Woi-wurrung Country

8 Village Avenue, Brunswick East, VIC 3057

BIG NEWS

IBBY Australia are running their second Mini Masterpiece art auction later this year to raise funds so we can pay our IBBY.org international membership. 

Several of the wonderful illustrators you can see in this post who contributed to the project for The Little Bookroom have accepted our invitation too.  

You can read about our 2023 auction here. 

Our 2025 auction will run from 14 November to 28 November. 

Check out my Hans Christian Andersen post about Ann James

I am so lucky to own two pieces of art by Ann James - one from

It's Miroocool and the other from Bird and Bear

Take a look at this post to see more books by Anna Walker

Her new book is titled Between

Check out my post about The Truck Cat

IBBY Australian selected a book Freya Blackwood for the

prestigious Honour Book list in 2016 - Banjo and Ruby Red

and her fabulous book The Boy and the Elephant is now part of the 

very important Silent book collection which are books that are shared with

refugee children on the island of Lampedusa.

Check out my post about South with the Seabirds which has links to 

other fabulous books illustrated by Jess McGeachin

Here is my 2022 Meet the Illustrator post featuring Tohby Riddle. 

He has a fun new book called Cynthia is a wild dog.

My favourite book is Nobody Owns the Moon

Here is my Meet the Illustrator post for Jess Racklyeft

Here is her web page.

Be Careful, Xiao Xin! by Sher Rill Ng was the winner of the  IBBY Ena Noel Award

Sara Acton is the illustrator who created the fabulous cover for the award winning book Runt.

I was lucky enough to submit the winning bid for this piece at our 2023 IBBY Mini Masterpiece

art auction. Here is my previous post Meet the Illustrator Sara Acton. 

Robert Ingpen won the prestigious Hans Christian Andersen award in 1986.

You can use the label 'Robert Ingpen' to see the books I have shared here on this blog. 

The most recent one is Who is the World for?

You can see books illustrated by Matt Shanks here.

Read more about Gabrielle Wang here.

A new and important book by Andrew Joyner written with Beth Ferry is

Roar for Reading

 

Illustrators who contributed to this project: (Instagram link)

Allison Colpoys

Andrew Joyner @andypjoyner

Ann James @annjamesillustrator

Anna McGregor @annamcgregorau

Anna Walker @_annawalker_

Ben Wood @benwoodillustrator

Briony Stewart @briony_stewart

Daniel Gray-Barnett @dgraybarnett

Danny Snell @dannydsnell

Evie Barrow @evie_barrow

Freya Blackwood @freyablackwood

Gabriel Evans @gabrielevansart

Gabrielle Wang @gabriellewangbooks

Graeme Base @graemebase

Jess McGeachin @jessmcgeachin

Jess Racklyeft @jessesmess

Lucinda Gifford @lucindagifford

Matt Shanks @matt_shanks

Renée Treml @reneetreml

Robert Ingpen

Sara Acton @saraacton_illustration

Sher Rill Ng @sherrill.ng

Sophie Beer @sophiebeerdraws

Tohby Riddle @tohbyriddle

Masterminds by Gordon Korman

Korman is awesome. This book was not only exciting, but thought provoking as well. 

Definitely buying a copy and waiting avidly for the sequel! Ms Yingling

This town is very small. The parents either work at the plastics factory or work in the town as the teacher, doctor, mayor or as shopkeepers. The other group of men are security guards called the Surety. The kids call them Purple People Eaters.

As the story opens one of the kids named Randy convinces Eli (his father is the local doctor) to travel outside the town perimeter but as they reach the edge of town Eli becomes very unwell. Helicopters arrive and he his taken to hospital. Not long after this Randy is sent away but the reason does not sound feasible. Eli enlists the help of three other kids from the town - Malik, Tori and Hector. There is something strange about the factory which 'supposedly' makes plastic traffic cones. Who are these kids? What is really going on in that factory? Why did Eli get so sick? Surely there is something strange about the street names and even the local newspaper does not seem entirely trustworthy. Then Eli is somehow able to access the 'real' internet and so the kids begin to unravel a set of lies that will upset everything they think they know about their lives and families. 

Boy oh boy this book is a wild ride! I was totally engrossed from beginning to end following the lives of these four kids and the weird-sounding community where they live with the prophetic name of Serenity. I do need to warn you this is book one in a trilogy and the ending of book one is a cliffhanger - I plan to borrow book two from the library on my next visit. 

Blurb: Eli Frieden lives in the most perfect town in the world: Serenity, New Mexico. Everyone has a great house, with a pool. Money problems and crime are unheard of. Honesty and integrity are valued above all else. The thirty kids who live there never lie. They know it’s a short leap from that to the awful problems of other, less fortunate places. Eli has never left Serenity … until, one day, he bikes to the edge of the city limits and something so crazy and unexpected happens that it changes everything. Eli convinces his friends to help him investigate further, and it soon becomes clear that nothing is as it seems in Serenity. The clues mount to reveal a shocking discovery, linking their ideal community to some of the greatest criminal masterminds ever known.

This review has lots of plot details: This amazing book is perfectly paced, building in tension as Eli, Tory, Hector, and the other children discover the truth about their town and their lives, and as they try to figure out what they should do about the incredibly difficult situation they have been put in. The chapters alternate between the characters so that we get to see things through several different pairs of eyes, which gives us a wonderful insight into the feelings reactions of Eli and his friends. Readers will be eager to find out if children who have been living in a controlled environment all their lives will be able to truly be who they are. 

Companion book:

Eventown

Which cover do you like? I prefer the second one. This book was published in 2016 but it is still available. 

Here are the covers of books two and three:

Criminal Destiny: Follow Eli, Tori, Malik, and Amber as they try to discover the truth of their origins and carve a life for themselves in an outside world that is unfamiliar, baffling, and dangerous. But Project Osiris and its enforcers, the Purple People Eaters, are hot on their trail. They’re free for now. But for how long …? (Here is the review from Ms Yingling)

Payback: After a serious betrayal from one of their former friends, the clones of Project Osiris are on the run again. Now separated into pairs, Eli and Tori and Amber and Malik are fighting to survive in the real world. Amber and Malik track down the one person they think can help them prove the existence of Project Osiris, notorious mob boss Gus Alabaster, also known as Malik's DNA donor. But as Malik gets pulled into the criminal world-tantalized by hints of a real family-his actions put him and Amber into greater danger. Eli and Tori get sucked into even bigger conspiracies as they hunt down Project Osiris's most closely guarded secrets-who does Eli's DNA come from? With a surprising new ally and another cross-country adventure, the four will have to work together to overcome the worst parts of themselves if they are going to end Project Osiris once and for all. (Take a look at this review from Ms Yingling)

Gordon Korman writes thrilling stories that are sure to appeal to readers aged 10+. Years ago I read books from three of his trilogies - Island; Everest and Dive. Each of these have around 175 pages and are perfect for reluctant readers. Look for this one too:

The Unteachables

Promises and Other Lies by Sue Whiting

"The fire razed much of the town, destroying seventy-plus homes, five businesses, the surf club, the CWA hall and much of the caravan park, and sadly caused the tragic death of volunteer firefighter Jack Robson ... "

Publisher blurb: One year on from a devastating bushfire, the small coastal town of Wangaroo Bay is still reeling. Fletch’s family lost their home, and his best friend Immie lost her beloved dad, a volunteer firefighter. Throughout it all, Fletch and Immie have had each other … Immie’s grandparents push for the Operation Bayfire investigation to be reopened, but Fletch’s mum, dad and elder brother Cooper want to put the past behind them. And when a local, one of their own, is charged with arson, emotions flare, sides are taken and promises – and secrets – are at stake.

We live in a time when everything is fast paced. The internet has made us slaves to the skim and scan of a text probably without even realising that's what we are doing. But I have to say that approach will not work with this book. Readers aged 11+ will need patience and reading stamina to reap the rewards of this 'who done it' mystery. Sue Whiting does NOT spell everything out for her readers, and I really appreciated this. She expects her readers to work hard. You have to put the pieces together - pieces about each character and about the events of the present and past. Who is telling the truth?

Having said that about the pieces, though, I did at times wish for two things - a character list and even better I wish there was a map of this small south coast town - I do know it is fictional.

Here is an example to explain what I mean about picking up fragments of information and waiting to discover what they are (although this example is not vital to the plot). I do not live near the scene of the dreadful bushfires we had here in Australia in recent years. The bushfire in this book, set on the south coast of NSW, wipes out nearly every house. Early in the story Sue Whiting refers to pods. I had no idea what these were, but I assumed they could be or must be temporary housing. By the end of the story my ideas were confirmed and as I said this isn't an important plot point but it is an example of the way Sue Whiting expects her readers to fill in the gaps for themselves. Another example is Brown's Cows Circus School run by Fetch's mum assisted by Marie - we really don't know much about this but when Immie feels able to join in at the final festival in her cow costume and on stilts we know she is well on the way to healing some of the pain she's been feeling since the loss of her dad. 

Here is a text quote to give you a flavour of the writing in this book:

"Immie's hot. She's tired. She's grumpy. And she's late. A local? She still can't believe it, can't stop thinking about it. Every time she closed her eyes last night, a long noisy freight train loaded with question after question rattled through her brain, one alarming question pulling the next one behind it. Could it really e someone in Wangaroo Bay who started the fire? ... And why come forward now?"

The collective trauma of the town reverberates off the page, and shows how trauma, tragedy, and a desire for justice can impact a community and individuals. It also explores the lengths one person will go to so they can frame someone just to get what they want. To make sure they’re not caught. Everyone in this novel has secrets, makes promises, and lies for different reasons. They all want to protect family and friends, and slowly, things will come out. Things will explode and come to a head as the novel moves along, where the past and present start to collide through the different perspectives used in the novel to build the tension and deliver the clues to the mystery at the heart of the novel. The Book Muse

It so easily could be true which makes it even more gripping. And with the emphasis on truth-telling, relationships, community, and grief it will have a wide appeal. I particularly also enjoyed the references to climate change, and the fire prevention practices of our First Nations people. Although suggested for 10 years upwards, I would suggest it is most suitable for your more mature readers who will be better equipped to absorb the themes and concepts. Just so Stories

When you recommend this book or talk to a group of students tell them to be patient (I already mentioned this) because the action doesn't really 'heat up' (pardon the pun) until chapter 31 and page 242 but please know this is not a weakness it just means the rewards of reading this gripping story come thick and fast in the final five chapters. 

Spoiler alert: I wish I had taken more notice of this description of Marie: "with spiky purple hair, floral tattoos ... and thick bands of purple and green woven bracelets at her wrists."

I wonder if Sue Whiting ever wrote for television - this book just feels so cinematic - my brain kept flashing back to the television series Fires (2021) and YES this book is just as gripping as that was.

Character list:

• Immie Robson - it is her dad Jack who died in the fires and her mum died in a car accident many years ago. She has a special relationship with Bertie (the camel)
• Fletch - best friend to Immie
• Mary Feng and Frank Khoo - grandparents to Immie and Jack's in-laws. Immie calls them Ama and Akong.
• Aunty Bree - sister of Jack now living in a caravan behind Ama and Akong's house. Her son is crazy about dinosaurs and his name is Coby and he is five years old
• Marie Holden - new in town but a hero because she saved several houses during the fire and now she runs a podcast where she interviews the local residents
• Cooper Jones - older brother to Fletch 
• Gilmore and Penny O'Carolan parents of Fletch. Gilmore is a member of the local volunteer fire brigade. 
• Old Gus owner of Bertie the camel
• Jason Jones - father of Copper and currently in jail 

Here is a Q and A with Sue whiting about her book. I am sure Promises and Other Lies will be a 2026 CBCA notable title.

Things I enjoyed about this book:

• The alternating viewpoints between Fletch and Immie
• The flashback scenes where we read about the impact of the fire as it is happening
• The surfing scenes - Sue Whiting must be a surfer - these sure do feel very real
• The tension waiting to find the anonymous person and informer and also waiting to discover the secret Fletch has been holding onto for a whole year
• The portrayal of the people in the town - the kind ones, the suspicious ones, the angry ones and that sweet little man who owns the camel named Bertie
• The way Bertie kept escaping (this reminded me of Too Small to Fail by Morris Gleitzman)
• The tag line of Fletch and Immie "Holy moly poly. Who would have thunk it?"
  

I have listed some picture books in this blog post about bushfires and I have a Pinterest collection on this topic.

I previously talked about these books by Sue Whiting:

The Book of Chance

Tilda

Pearly and Pig and the Great Hairy Beast

Meet the illustrator Zeno Sworder

 

I am a lover of all stationery but have a particular 

soft spot for pencils.

Last week I was so lucky to meet and hear the award winning Australian illustrator Zeno Sworder. He has such a beautiful resonate speaking voice - this event was one to remember. 

You could begin with my posts about his three picture books:

• This Small Blue Dot
• My Strange Shrinking Parents
• Once I was a Giant

Here are the random things I discovered about Zeno:

He was born at home on Christmas Day!

In his home growing up there was no technology - no car, no tv etc. so Zeno did heaps of exploring outside and he used his imagination.

As a very young child he lived in Bendigo. In his street, aptly named Forest Street, there was a huge tree and Zeno spent a lot of time hanging out around this tree. Check out the last page of Once I was a Giant to see the actual tree. Later the family moved to Melbourne.

In his childhood he suffered greatly from eczema. His mother tried all sorts of remedies including sitting beside him as he slept and holding his hands so that he would not scratch his legs. As an adult he also discovered he had Amblyopia and even though I didn't know this medical term I can say I have this too. Zeno didn't get glasses until he was 30. The beautiful care by his own mother was part of the inspiration for My Strange Shrinking Parents.

In Grade Three a little girl sitting beside Zeno 'criticised' his drawing and so for the remainder of Primary school he stopped drawing altogether. Luckily, he discovered comics in high school and so he started drawing again and even submitted his work to online forums for comment (that was so brave).

As a teenager he loved to read Daredevil comics. Zeno especially loves the work of Joseph Quesada. Drawing comics has given Zeno both a freedom in his art and a brilliant skill with page layouts and book design. But he did say he is not a natural artist and after the two years spent on Once I was a Giant he is taking a break and has not picked up a pencil or brush. 

Zeno sent his first book This Small Blue Dot to over one hundred publishers. Luckily Thames and Hudson had a different vision for the books they choose publish. They continue to support his ideas. This has paid off when you look at the impressive list of awards for This Small Blue Dot and the even longer award list for My Strange Shrinking Parents.

As an author he likes to focus on emotions.

One event that inspired his book Once I was a Giant was in Melbourne in 2023 when there was a movement to stop the logging of native forests. He did a huge amount of reading about the latest science findings about trees especially communication. I talk about this here.

In my last post I asked a question about the pencil in Once I was a Giant. It is labelled AIAIA. As he sketched the pencil illustration Zeno was going to put something else, so he just put random letters (he intended to do AAAAA) with a plan to come back. But when he looked closer he liked AIAIA and then he found all the most perfect connections to this label. The sound 'ai" means love in Chinese. He discovered this also is the name of an enchanted forest island from The Odyssey which relates to the character of Circe. Throughout The Odyssey, Odysseus encounters several enchanted islands that play crucial roles in his journey and one of these is Circe’s Aiaia. Check out the final section of the Teachers Notes. 

The following paintings are hidden in the picture-book makers studio; Apollo and Daphne by Piero del Pollaiuolo, The Scream by Edvard Munch, Circe Invidiosa by John William Waterhouse, Cypresses by Vincent van Gogh and Primavera by Sandro Botticelli.

When you go back and re-read Once I was a Giant look for the moth and then explore the symbolism of this inclusion. 

With older students think about this: Animism (from Latin: anima meaning 'breath, spirit, life') is the belief that objects, places, and creatures all possess a distinct spiritual essence. Animism perceives all things—animals, plants, rocks, rivers, weather systems, human handiwork, and in some cases words—as being animated, having agency and free will.

After he spoke my friend and I wondered how Zeno could afford to work on his picture books and look after his family. I found this answer on his web page: I have worked as a window washer, journalist, English language teacher, consular officer, tribunal advocate for refugees and immigrants and a jewellery designer.

Our Sydney bookshop Kinokuniya have an exhibition of Zeno's art.

The Little Things I love? Sydney Morning Herald Saturday September 20th

I love libraries - Julia Baird

On Saturday I read this opinion piece by Julia Baird. She based her piece on a poem by the late US poet Andrea Gibson who penned a Substack filled with the things they loved. 

Julia decided to make her own list - she spent ten minutes and came up with a huge variety of "life's loves" many of which are sure to make you nod or smile. When I read her list of over 60 'loves', I immediately related many of them to favourite children's picture books - as you will know Picture Books are the "not so little" things I love. So here are some of the loves from Julia's list (she did have lots more) with my book additions:

I love the first sip of hot tea.

Luli and the Language of Tea

I love the light in people's eyes when they see something 
beautiful, a dolphin, or newborn, constellation or baby bird.

These little feet

I love the ridiculous racket cockatoos make.

I love the way children paint.

The Concrete Garden

I love grandfathers who keep lollies in their pockets ...

A hatful of Dreams

I love sunrises and sunsets.

Dawn

I love hope.

Hope

I love knitters of beanies and bears.

Sebastian lives in a hat

I love red autumn leaves.

Fletcher and the falling leaves

I love spiders that can spin webs as strong as steel from tiny frames.

Aranea A story about a spider

I love that trees talk to each other.

Apple and Magnolia

I love that bees communicate through two kinds of dance ...

Bee

I love the sound of whale song.

The Whales' Song

I love the weird, flabby ugliness of blob fish.

Blob The Ugliest animal in the World

I love newspaper letter writers

A page in the Wind

Of course, for every book I have put there are potentially so many more but as Julia suggested I only spent a few minutes thinking and these were the first titles I thought of. I was not able to share the link to the piece by Julia Baird because you need a newspaper subscription.

For my own list I love picture books; I love lighthouses; I love puffins; I love pelicans; I love to visit small islands; and of course, visiting a library or a bookshop is utterly and completely my happy place.

Puffling

I also need to mention this very special book that was written by Sophie Blackal during covid:

Things to look forward to: 52 large and small joys for today and every day

Meet the illustrator Charlotte Voake

I picked up a beautiful book illustrated by Charlotte Voake from a pile of library discards - The Very Best of Aesop's Fables retold by Margaret Clark. Reading this book made me appreciate again the wonderful art of Charlotte Voake.

Charlotte Voake (1957) is a Welsh children’s book illustrator. She studied art history at the University of London, where she started her journey as an illustrator. Charlotte resides and writes in Surrey. She has earned several accolades including the Nestlé Smarties Book Prize. Her acclaimed works, including Ginger and Pizza Kittens, reflect her lifelong passion for book illustration. Charlotte Voake asserts that her stories, much like good manners, are cultivated through perseverance and joy.

Nestlé Smarties Book Prize (Gold Award)

Here is the Bookbag review

There are three books in this series: Ginger;

Ginger Finds a Home; Ginger and the Mystery Visitor

Books written and illustrated by Charlotte Voake:

• Tom's Cat (1986)
• Mrs. Goose's Baby (1989)
• The Three Little Pigs, and Other Favorite Nursery Stories (1991)
• Mr. Davies and the Baby (1996)
• Ginger (1997)
• Here Comes the Train (1998)
• Alphabet Adventure (2000)
• Pizza Kittens (2002)
• Ginger Finds a Home (2003)
• Tweedle Dee Dee (2008)
• Ginger and the Mystery Visitor (2013)
• Melissa's Octopus and Other Unsuitable Pets (2015)
• Some Dinosaurs are Small (2020)

There is also a companion volume A Little Guide to Trees.

This is one of the newest books illustrated by Charlotte Voake published in 2024. Here is the bookseller blurb: Grey skies, foamy waves and brisk wind await Granny and Bean when they head out for their day by the sea. But they are full of only wonder and delight at all the shore has to offer. They listen for the shrieks of the seabirds as they discover treasures hidden in the sand, greet dogs as they pass, leap over logs and settle out of the wind for a cosy treat before tramping homeward again. Rendered in simple, lilting text by Newbery Medalist Karen Hesse and expressive, windswept art from acclaimed illustrator Charlotte Voake, Granny and Bean have an adventure to cherish until their next magical day at the shore.