A Storylines Festival near you

Storyline Family Festival Days has been going 20 years!! It all started when 33 children's authors and illustrators came together at a hui in 1993 at Joy Cowley's seaside home in the Marlborough Sounds and said, 'Why don't we have a festival celebrating New Zealand children's books'.

This year they are celebrating with SIX Storyline Family Festival Days at the following centres:

Saturday 10th August from 11-4pm at the Dunedin Central Library with: Children’s authors' Kyle Mewburn, Adele Broadbent, Mandy Hager, Rachel Stedman, Simon Pollard, and illustrator Robyn Belton, and storyteller Tanya Batt along with International guests: Isobelle Carmody and Rachel Spratt.

Sunday 11th August from 10-3pm at South Christchurch Library authors from above will fly to Christchurch and along with Rachel King, Jenny Cooper, Ben Brown, Jane Buxton, and Simon Pollard will promote their books.

Saturday 17th August, join writers and illustrators in Wellington: Philippa Werry, Ken Benn, David Elliot, Philip Webb, Ant Sang, Fifi Colston, Maria Gill, Ruth Paul, Moira Wairama, and Mona Williams at the Michael Fowler Centre from 10 – 3pm.

There are also Storyline Family Festival Days in Kaitaia at the Kaitaia Library and Te Ahu Centre from 11 – 4pm; and at the South Auckland Vodafone Events Centre from 11-3pm on Saturday 17th August for the first time!

That night (Saturday 17th August) in Auckland authors, illustrators, librarians, teachers and anyone who loves children’s books will celebrate Storylines 20th anniversary at the National Library from 6pm to 8pm. Buy your tickets here.

On Sunday 18th August join writers and illustrators in Auckland: David Hill, Sally Sutton, Mark Sommerset, Chris Gurney, Nina Rycroft, Sandra Morris, Elena de Roo, Melinda Szymanik, Leonie Agnew, Fraser Williamson, Susan Brocker, Leonie Thorpe, Apirana Taylor, and the matriarchs of children’s literature: Joy Cowley and Dame Lynley Dodd at the Aotea Centre from 10 – 3pm.

What can you expect at a Storylines Family Festival Day? You’ll meet authors and illustrators (of course) – you’ll hear them speak, see them draw, do activitieswith them, get your battered or newly bought book signed and chat to them. You can also make crafts, get your face painted, watch shows, enter competitions and win prizes, and pick-up freebies. It is incredible fun – come with your kids, parents, or by yourself! It is all FREE!

Also, on Saturday 24th August at the Ponsonby Art Station see the 'Pictures Without Words' illustration exhibition from 10-4pm. It's FREE too!

I'll be at the Christchurch, Wellington and Auckland Storylines Family Festival Days and would love to see you there! Come and say hello and get your books signed.

Entertaining Author Talks

When I first began giving author talks nearly ten years ago - I thought my goal was to inform the audience. Since observing some of New Zealand's best presenters I realised you had to take it a step further. You need to engage your audience by making them laugh, showing them something they haven't seen before, letting them get to know you more, getting the kids up and being part of the performance and wowing them with some props/visuals.

It took a while for me to include all those elements in my talks but I believe I'm getting there. My PowerPoint presentation shows inside my books, includes quizzes, and images. It helps me remember where I'm up to in my talk - so I now don't need any cue cards to remind me what I'm doing next.

I encourage selected children to participate in a role play wearing props that make the other kids laugh. Another group of children help me enact a scene with puppets.

I get kids guessing who the famous New Zealander is from their baby photograph, who the heads of government are from their caricatures, and quiz them about some of my titles and reward them with bookmarks. This encourages children to interact with my talk.

I show the kids a photo of myself when I was twelve and tell them why it is relevant to who I am as a writer. Sometimes I show pictures of my travels or home life. I link this to having a dream and if you're hard working and determined enough - you can make it happen.

The kids also see sneak previews of new books coming out. At the moment I'm showing them the digital remake of my book 'Rangitoto' and a book trailer for a picture book coming out next year.

In the early days I was very nervous when giving talks. After giving hundreds of talks I now look forward to them. I put on voices, strut my stuff, and enjoy watching kids' faces light up.

Find more information about my author talks and workshops go to: http://www.mariagill.co.nz/schoolvisits.php or email me directly: mariagill at ihug.co.nz

I look forward to meeting you one day at a school visit!

What Lies Beneath Exhibition

Eight authors and illustrators at the What Lies Beneath Exhibition Opening night share the positive, negative, and interesting behind the creation of their book.

What have I been doing in the quiet month of January? Helping organise a fantastic exhibition of children's books.  The Gala Opening Night is on Monday 4th March from 5.30 - 7.30pm.  All are invited but it is essential that you RSVP because we are limited to 100 people. You'll meet on the night: David Elliot, Fifi Colston, Lindy Fisher, Robyn Belton, Kyle Mewburn, Donovan Bixley, Heather Arnold, Melinda Szymanik, and myself! We're part of a panel and afterwards you can ask us questions about the behind-the-scenes of creating a book.

But that is not all ...

Teachers, you could bring a group of 15 students to a Speed-date-an-Author/Illustrator the next day (Tuesday 5th March from 9.30 - 2pm) at the National Library. Students will do seven workshops with: David Elliot, Fifi Colston, Lindy Fisher, Robyn Belton, and Donovan Bixley - the illustrators, Kyle Mewburn, Melinda Szymanik and Maria Gill - the authors. During the break the students/teachers/parents can peruse the exhibition and ask the authors/illustrators firsthand burning questions about the books. See the poster below for details and how to book your class. Only seven x 15 group spaces available - so be in quick! Fees apply.



Teachers can also bring their class along to the exhibition during the month of March at the National Library email: simon.vincent@dia.govt.nz and also at Takapuna Library - email: belynda.smith@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz . There is no charge but you do need to book in advance.

What I have been reading...

My favourite find in 2011/2012 would have to be the Flavia du Luce series written by Alan Bradley. An 11 year old sluce solves mysteries in a tumble-down mansion in a by-gone era. The sophisticated language and humour begs to be read aloud to whoever is in ear-shot (it is so funny you just want to share it). This series has surprisingly been marketed to adult readers. Marketing people forget there are thousands of girl readers with advanced reading ages who don't want to read about teenage angst, first sexual experiences, or language loaded with swear words. Lovers of this series (high reading age teen girls), would also like ... the Ruby Redfort series.

Recently, I read the latest Ruby Redfort 'Take your last breath' book by Lauren Child.  Lauren Child actually had Ruby Redfort as a fictional story book protagonist in one of her other books, and like all imaginative authors decided to explore that character in her own series.  The character Ruby Redfort is 13 years old; an only child of very rich parents.  In the first book she becomes a secret agent for Spectrum and prevents a heist. In this book she tries to solve a riddle from one of her ancestors - what happened to the family rubies that were captured by pirates and what is the cause of strange happenings in their harbour; seagulls flocking inland, ships going to wrong ports, fish disappearing, strange noises being reported and a Spectrum agent body washing up on the beach.

Readers will find a delicious mix of wit, secret codes, Ruby's rules on life,  truly terrible baddies that you love to hate and fear, and a strong female character.  Some adult readers might say that it is a totally unbelievable story and a 13 year old could not possibly solve such a crime and why is she left to her own devices all the time ... But get real adult readers - the story is written for10-14 year olds and it is FICTIONAL; and in made-up stories anything can happen...

See more about Ruby Redfort on her own website: http://rubyredfort.com/

Tongariro Erupts Again!

Photo of Tongariro area but not the site of recent explosion.

Tongariro erupted again on Wednesday 21st November around 1.20pm. A large plume of ash 6000m high can be seen very close to where it erupted last time on August 7th.

To find out more about it go to NZ Herald.

Last week, GNS scientists indicated that Ruapehu might erupt within the next couple of weeks or months too.  They're watching all the volcanic signs very closely.

Volcanic Visit

Albany Library Visit

Over the school holidays, I visited six Rodney libraries and talked about volcanoes with over 150 children and 50 adults. I read two picture books to children including my Rangitoto book. Children held my predator and native bird puppets while I talked about the great big clean-up of predators on Rangitoto and Motutapu Island so all the native birds can come back.

The children went off on a volcano hunt to find the different types of volcanoes (on card) hidden around the library.  They were rewarded with volcano lollies when their scavenger hunt card was complete.  I introduced the audience to my 'Eruption! Discovering New Zealand Volcanoes' book and talked about what sets non-fiction books apart from others: the fact you can start at the back, middle or anywhere you like; you can read one small text box on a page then skim and scan other pages; the illustrations tell you information too; you can find stuff easily with the contents and index pages; and there are loads of interesting things such as activities, photographs and characters. I then introduced them to a character in the book called Volcanica and asked if someone would like to be my Volcanica for the day. Once they had their sassy black wig on they were ready to help pour in the red vinegar and spoon in the baking soda to create a volcanic eruption.  Finally, it was time for the kids to make something of their own; they made a paper volcano model to take home.

If you want me to visit your school or library during a volcano study - please email me - and I'll dust off the volcanoes, puppets, and explosive equipment to come to your class.