Book Champions

2012 is the National Year of Reading in Australia and there have been loads of fun events to get involved in. However, one feature on the calendar every year is Australia’s National Book Week. It’s the longest running children’s festival in the country and recently celebrated its 67th birthday. Every year since 1945, Book Week has had a fun theme, this year it was Champions Read.

I asked two book champions from Moama some questions about their favourite book and the character they dressed up as to go to school.

Emma is five years old and in her first year at primary school.
Bailey is 10 and in Grade 5.

EMMA: The Cat in the Hat by Dr Seuss

What would you do if the cat visited you?
I would say, can you do all the juggling things for me?

Would your mum like the cat visiting your house?
No way, because Mum wouldn’t like all the mess he makes.

What is your favourite bit in the book?
When they kids met Thing 1 and Thing 2 and they “shaked” hands.

Do you think a cat can really do all that?
No, because cats don’t talk and they don’t juggle and they don’t have Thing 1 and Thing 2.

How many times have you read it?
Eight times because I have it on leap frog.

Would you recommend it to other kids? What age kids do you think would like this book?
Other kids that are 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 would like it.

What was the favourite part of the costume you wore?
The bow tie and the hat because the hat has stripes and I like bows.

If you were an animal, what animal would you be?
I would be a dinosaur because they are big and tall and they growl.

BAILEY: Specky Magee by Felice Arena and Garry Lyon

Which one is your favourite Specky Magee book?
I have only read the first book, so that it my favourite so far.

What’s your favourite sport?
AFL Football.

What position do you play in your football team. Would Specky be a good person to have on your team?
I play a mixture of full back and full forward. Yes, because he plays in the forward line and kicks a lot of goals.

Can you take marks like Specky and Screamer?
Yes, I take my best marks in the back line!

Which football team do you barrack for? Do you think it’s strange that Specky supports more than one team? If you supported more than one football team which ones would you support and why?
I barrack for Collingwood. I don’t know why Specky would support more than one team – I go for Collingwood because they are the best!

Who is your favourite character in the Specky Magee books? Robbo, Gobbo, Specky, Screamer, Johnny, Danny?
Specky, because he’s the first character I met and the one that stays in my mind.
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The Tree Climber

Although I knew that the playful pastime of tree climbing was also a serious occupation, I had never watched a professional tree climber at work, until yesterday in our backyard. Sliding out on the thinnest of twigs at the greatest of heights, Barton, our climber, displayed the nimbleness of a sailor and the derring-do of a chainsaw juggler. Leaning horizontally, and swinging upside down Barton was giving our 60 year old Elm tree a very spectacular chop. I asked if he was a good climber as a child, ‘I used to climb, I’m not sure that I was any better then the other kids. It’s just practice’.

Like so many skills in life, ‘it’s just practice’. Though this did not lessen the spectacle of Barton’s intuitive climbing skills. He placed absolute trust in his ropes and swung between limbs, chainsaw humming from waist. Perching lightly, like a cat, he stretched to tend the fingernails of third-storey branches, pruning the magnificent tree carefully into shape. Good job. Some job. Don’t try it at home.
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The Olympic spirit

When Baron Pierre de Coubertin designed the modern Olympic logo in 1914, even he could not have imagined that his creation would be so highly visible and widely recognised one hundred years on.

With the London games over, and the city lingering in the afterglow, a British committee begins to focus on developing the legacy of The Games.
Meanwhile, the IOC packs up and moves out, setting its sights firmly on the next big gig, Rio 2016.

The London games may not loom large in the childhood memories of 5-year-old Isadora, as she grows up, though it did capture her imagination. Days after the closing ceremony Isadora continued to churn out drawings of tennis players, scribbles of bicycle riders, swimmers and volleyball players. Within each drawing was her reproduction of the unmistakable mark, five interlocking rings.

This is the first symbol she has ever included as part of a drawing, and such logo recognition would surely warm the hearts of global brand consultants.

My favourite bit though, aside from the 11 fingered beach volleyball player pictured above, is that within the same drawing, this small Australian girl chose to make her volleyball player French. In doing so, she has displayed a lack of boundaries,
a non-existent nationalism, and effortlessly honoured the Olympic ideal of
shared humanity.

The guardians of the Olympic image may not appreciate such unsanctioned reproduction of their trademark, however, they might appreciate the spirit in which it was used here. The future of the Olympic ideals could be in good shape if the drawing is anything to go by, Olympic games brand recognition looks like an absolute shoe in.
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Gabriella Soraci

Twelve months ago I stumbled upon the work of Gabriella Soraci.
Recently I decided to ask the artist about her images, and the story behind one
of her little paintings in particular.

Hi Gabriella, please tell us a bit about yourself and your environment.
I live in Eugene, Oregon, it’s a small town nestled between the Cascade mountain range and the rugged Oregon coastline. The area is known for its easy-going lifestyle. I have lived here most of my life. In addition to my own studio practice
I teach painting and drawing at the University of Oregon and at Lane Community College, both in Eugene. My husband Michael is a building designer and we have
a one-year-old daughter, Francesca.

What about your art background?
It definitely reaches back to early childhood. I was always drawing, and reading.
My sister and I attended a Waldorf school where arts, crafts, and storytelling are incorporated into daily learning in all subjects. Later on in college (Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Oregon, and a Master of Fine Arts from the University of California at Davis), I approached the study of fine art in a more serious way. I have always been a huge reader, so in college the choice of what to study was between studio arts, and something else like creative writing or English. Ultimately the studio won out. There is just nothing better than the feeling you get when you are deep into the creative process. Time moves differently. Petty concerns vanish. I knew that in the studio I could combine all of my interests and continue learning for the rest of my life.

So what books did you enjoy in childhood?
I was always reading, one book after another. I loved, and still love, the
Wrinkle in Time series by Madeleine L’Engle, and many of her other books.

Painting of My Rainbow Painting (2008)

I love your little canvas, Painting of my Rainbow Painting, it appears to fuse landscape, mindscape and still life. What led you to paint it?
The year before making Painting of my Rainbow Painting, I made a dramatic change in my process, from working abstractly from the imagination to working perceptually with simple still life items. The little watercolor painting seemed like a bridge between the two. I actually love the way you describe it – fusing landscape, mindscape, and still life. I think that is something I strive for and that my most successful paintings accomplish, so thank you! I made another attempt at incorporating the Rainbow Painting two years ago. I placed the watercolor behind a jam jar, partially refracting the image through the glass. I might use it again some day, since its symbolism continues to broaden for me over time.

Jar and Rainbow on Table (2010)

Can you tell us more about the Rainbow watercolor image?
My parents met at a spiritual community called Findhorn in Northern Scotland, where I was born in 1979. A fellow community member was the artist Bob Knox, who would go on to a successful career as an illustrator and painter. The original “Rainbow Painting,” as I call it, is a small watercolor made by Bob and given to my parents as a gift after I was born. I have always had the painting with me, either in my bedroom growing up, or in my studio, and now in my daughter’s bedroom.
That magical little watercolor certainly represents something about my childhood experience, and since it has always been with me, has most likely influenced my artistic sensibility as well. As an adult, I suppose the painting also acts as a symbol, reminding me of the dreams and utopian ideals for the future that my parents, and many of their generation had in the late 1960’s and 70’s. For some, those ideals are still alive and kicking, but there is no doubt that as a culture many of those dreams have not come to pass. In that sense, the painting is bittersweet, a marker of personal and collective history.

Sometimes your subject is a cup or simple box, other times you make
mini-constructions from everyday objects the subject. Books are stacked in a triangle, or a piece of paper is taped to a window, folded maps become little sculptures.
Well, other than the personal relationship with the Rainbow Painting, I mostly use objects that are not sentimental and have come across them somewhere in a different context. I spend a lot of time moving things around, playing with possible combinations, and looking at the resulting arrangement. I’m attracted to simple geometric shapes – squares, circles, and triangles – and find myself building these shapes with different materials.

What is currently inspiring you?
I am focused on my daughter most of the time while continuing to teach, so studio time is limited. When I do get a small chunk of time I am drawing classic subjects like apples and flowers, or the view out my studio windows to get warmed up again. I have made hundreds of drawings over the years in the “down time” between my more intense painting periods. For me painting is a slow craft, but it is one I am prepared to spend a lifetime at.
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Gabriella’s website and Etsy store

Folded Map II (2008)

Black Paper in Window (2008)

 

A book critic is born

I decided to ask my Best Four-Year-Old Friend (BFYOF) for feedback on the illustrations that accompany one of our manuscripts.

F: Do you think that little character is cute?

BFYOF: Hmmm, no.

F: He’s not cuddly enough?

BFYOF: (reluctantly) He’s a little bit cuddly.

F: What would make him look more cuddly?

BFYOF: When he’s smiling and playing.

F: What about that picture?

BFYOF: That one is when he’s scared. But why’s his teeth out like that?
Maybe he’s going Aah! and Grrrr!

F: He looks a bit scared though doesn’t he?

BFYOF: Yeah. He’s in a hot air balloon

F: What about there? Does he look cute there?

BFYOF: Yeah, I already saw that picture. (she walks off)

Tough audience.

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100 Ideas

We thought of writing a story about the full range of emotions experienced in playing and watching a game of football. Fiona suggested doing a list of 100 before we started. Litemind has the idea that anyone can catch their subconscious off guard by writing down answers, solutions, or ideas about an issue or problem you wish to solve. To be most effective it’s suggested you do it in one sitting, and try not to be self conscious about an idea being good or not.

The theory goes, the first 30 ideas are a mind dump. The next phase is a challenging one, you find it hard to let go of initial thoughts, maybe you repeat them, stare into space and think it’s all a waste of time, but if you push through you can get to the interesting phase. This last phase, from idea 70-100 enters just as you think ideas have dried up, but with a head now emptied of all logical suggestions, your mind hopefully plays with looser, freeform thoughts and connections. You may even find the final ones addressing a different problem altogether.

This pattern certainly unfolded as we began tackling the football and emotions idea.
1. Muddy
2. Goal keeper bored
3. Mum watching
4. Expectant before game
5. Girls and boys

Right on queue we stalled in the middle.
50. Embarrassed
51. Anger
52. Boy alone with ball and dog
53. Kick ball into tree
54. Is this your ball?
55. Wanna play?

Then we were on a roll, even going past the 100, and here it got interesting.
101. Extra time
102. Full time
103. No time
104. Home time
105. Good time
106. This time
107. See you next time
108. Same time?

Sure enough, these last few words inspired quite a different story from the one we first imagined. Stay tuned.
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