A Happy Hoppy Launch: Squish Rabbit

Wendy Orr � the Well Read Rabbit || Katherine Battersby

I met the lovely and talented Katherine Battersby at the Brisbane Writers Festival last month, and bought her brand new first book Squish Rabbit for my 2 & 6 year old neighbours. It's passed the test of being a constant bedtime read ever since, so I was very excited when Katherine asked me if I would launch the book into the  Melbourne market, at the Little Book Room at 11:00 on Saturday 5th November.

The link above will take you to Katherine's blog to learn a little more about this deceptively simple, original and very appealing picture book. Better yet, come and join us to see for yourself!

Children's fears, real and imaginary

On a school visit yesterday, I read The Princess and her Panther to the youngest group before talking about the power of our imaginations and how we can combat our own imaginary fears. 

One girl volunteers the perfect lead in, saying that sometimes her toys throw shadows that make her afraid in the night.

We discuss on what the real things were that the girls were afraid in the story: the snakes on the roof of the tent are leaves, the witch is an owl, the monster’s a frog...  the wolf is the puppy next door. 

'But the dog might really bite you,' says one boy.

I talk about dog safety: Never pat a dog without asking the owner's permission, etc. 'But most dogs are good, and if the owner says you can pat it, it should be okay.'

'But if it's a pit bull it still might bite you,' says another boy.

I agree that some dogs are vicious; we have to be careful. 'But we can see in the picture this is a friendly dog that lives next door.'

'The dog next door to my aunt came in to her yard and killed her dog,' says a girl. I can do nothing but sympathise, say that's a very sad story, and decide that's enough dog stories for one session. 

The truth is that we can't dispel all children's fears, because some fears are valid and essential for safety. Children do need to know how to behave around dogs, and how to recognise a vicious or nervous dog that may snap. The child whose aunt's pet was killed will never forget the horror of that story. 

But in general, I can't help wondering if we're overburdening very young children with fears of every aspect of life.  We worry about them falling off swings or failing at music lessons, limiting the development of resilience, and yet often encourage them to worry about world disasters, present and future. 

  

I don't have any answers. I'm just wondering. 

iPads, iPods, Playaways & old fashioned books: What I'm reading and How

I had some sort of stomach flu last week, and was a bit shocked to find that I didn't even feel well enough to read for a couple of days. I started listening to an audiobook, and finally had two days when I still didn't feel well enough to write, but could truly enjoy reading what someone else had written! So, combined with what I'd already been reading and wasn't in the mood for while recuperating, I realised that I had quite a variety of books on the go, in quite a variety of different media.

On the iPod: Some Sing and Some Cry, by  Ntozake Shange and her sister Ifa Bayeza, narrated by Robin Miles - and what a magnificent voice she has to read, and sing, this wonderful novel. It's a multigenerational saga, which makes it very long as an audio book, but totally engrossing. 


On the iPad: A Confederacy of Dunces, by John Kennedy. My daughter rates this as one of the best books she's ever read, so it seemed an appropriate choice as my first ebook, since she gave me the iPad. I started it at the Brisbane Writers Festival, and enjoyed reading it on solitary breakfasts; less convenient as we had visitors for a month on my return. The book is very funny, wry and sad, but I think it will take me a bit longer to feel completely the same about reading on screen as on paper. 


In hard copy (normal!) books: Wise Children by Angela Carter, a great 20 c op shop find and fun, engaging read
Time Bites by Doris Lessing - a collection of essays, wise, wonderful and excellent for dipping into in odd moments and between novels


Du Coté de Chez Swann - I'm loving this, but it needs full concentration, good light, and a French dictionary on standby


The Proust Project - a selection of essays by 28 writers on their experience with Proust. Since it's in English, I read a selection as a bit of a reward in between sections of actual Proust


And on a Playaway for Book Club - I've just finished listening to the Naked Buddha. If you haven't seen a playaway, they're an individual mp3 player for one book, so ideal for libraries as they can't be pirated. I greatly approve them, although this one seemed to be faulty and kept fast forwarding when I tried to rewind after falling asleep listening....
(I've returned this to the library, so the photo is of the Playaway for Peeling the Onion.) 

A Book and a Hug reviews The Princess & her Panther

A Book and a Hug - The Princess and the Panther

Lovely review! It's always a good feeling when a reviewer understands what you're aiming at in a book (and better yet, likes the way you've done it.)

Ah, the adventure of putting up a tent and camping out overnight in your own backyard. You spend the day getting everything set up and then night comes and it gets awfully dark! ..... The joy of playing house and dressing up and letting your imagination take you afar is celebrated in this gorgeously illustrated story and the fear of the night plays second fiddle and is quickly vanquished

And I could hardly argue with her closing statement: "We could use a few more like this one to inspire the young imaginations around us."

For the full review at abookandahug.com: A Book and a Hug - The Princess and the Panther