Books Illustrated celebrate International Book Giving Day & Library Lovers' Day at the Lu Rees Archives...

Over the last few days we have been working at the Lu Rees Archives  preparing the final details for our Bob Graham exhibition:

 'A Bird in the Hand' 

Bob Graham: A Retrospective 

Canberra Museum and Gallery May 17 - Sept 5.

There will be a special preview viewing with Bob at the opening night of the CBCA Conference: Discovering National Treasures, Friday 16th May.

As it's International Book Giving Day we thought we'd share a few behind the scenes insights into the making of the exhibition...

Ann James selecting pieces from the archives of 'How to Heal A Broken Wing'

Nicky working on the spreadsheet of exhibition items...

Here are some sketches and photos of Buffy who went to live the UK with Bob & Carolyn and became the star of his own picture book - these & the beautiful dummy are some of the many treasures from the Lu Rees archives which feature in 'A Bird in the Hand' being curated now in Canberra to open at CMAG in mid May.

Buffy, who went to live the UK with Bob & Carolyn and became the star of his own picture book.

A beautiful dummy of 'Buffy: An Adventure Story'

Buffy!

 

Sketches of Buffy by Bob

The Lu Rees Archives is a comprehensive collection of books and other resources about authors, illustrators, publishers and their creative works. The collection includes over 25,000 books, with some 3000 of these in overseas translations in 53 languages, over 420 research files, and significant collections of authors', illustrators' and publishers' papers, manuscripts and artwork. The resources are publicly available, and visitors are welcome during opening hours.

The mission of the Archives is to enhance the appreciation of Australian children's literature by collecting, preserving and making available wide-ranging resources through programs, events and exhibitions. Lu Rees, the founding President of the ACT Branch of The Children's Book Council of Australia proposed in 1974 that there should be a collection of research files about Australian children's authors and illustrators together with a collection of their books. In 1980 this collection was deposited at the University of Canberra Library so it could be publicly available. The Archives is an incorporated body in the ACT, with a Board which includes the Management Sub-committee and the Foundation Sub-committee.

http://www.canberra.edu.au/lurees

City Library, National Year of Reading and Australian Children's Literature Alliance event

On Thursday Nov 29, (the hottest night in Melbourne for one hundred years!) The City Library hosted a wonderful event to mark the last showing of the Are We There Yet? Exhibition that has been touring Australia for this National Year of Reading. It has been a privilege for Books Illustrated to be involved in this tour. Check the NYoR website for the winners of the National competition which has been associated with this tour.

The highlight of this joint event between National Year of Reading, The Australian Children’s Literature Alliance and the City of Melbourne Library Services were talks by our Australian Children’s Laureates Alison Lester & Boori Monty Pryor. Both gave a taste of their first year in this new position, as well as  their personal projects, that they will continue to develop during 3013. You can learn more about the laureate position, projects and how to become involved on the ACLA website.

A bonus highlight for the audience was a presentation by Ann James on behalf of IBBY (International Board on Books for Young People) to Bob Graham. The presentation was a certificate of his 2012 nomination for the prestigious Hans Christian Anderson Award. This award is presented each two years to a living author and illustrator whose complete works have made a lasting contribution to children's literature.

At Home with Bob Graham

We enjoyed an 'At Home' at Books Illustrated Showroom with Bob Graham on Sunday September 30, with visitors calling in to meet Bob and offer congratulations on A Bus Called Heaven winning the Picture Book of the Year Award in this year's CBCA Awards.

2012 CBCA Book of the Year Awards

2012 CBCA Book of the Year Awards 

Congratulations to the authors, illustrators and publishers of award-winning titles for this year in the prestigious CBCA Book of the year Awards.  You can check out the list at  www.cbca.org.au and read the judge’s report in the latest edition of Reading Time (Journal of the CBCA).

A Bus Called Heaven by Bob Graham

We are delighted that A Bus called Heaven has been awarded The Picture Book of the Year.

We'd like to congratulate Bob Graham, and guessed there are many others who would like to also.
So we have invited Bob to be our guest at an Open Day at Books Illustrated on Sunday September 30.
Bob will be here to chat and sign books between 2pm & 5pm.

Bob Graham is a multi CBCA Award-winner and creator of many classic Australian picture books including Greetings from Sandy Beach, Crusher is Coming, How to Heal a Broken Wing and so many more …
 

Please visit Books Illustrated show room on Sunday September 30th and congratulate Bob in person!

Success for Australian Children's Books in Frankfurt

Source: Publishing
Perspectives

Melbourne-based children's publisher, Andrew Wilkins from Wilkins Farago, reported daily for Publishing Perspectives at this year's Frankfurt Book Fair. 

We think you'll find his article below very interesting and positive. Link through to read the full article. 

Australian Children's Books Achieve Strong Sales and International Recognition

Source: Publishing Perspectives 

Oct 13, 2011 by Andrew Wilkins

"Australian children's books consistently outsell adult fiction in the global rights market, according to trade magazine Bookseller+Publisher's annual survey of Australian rights managers, 'The Right Stuff'. 

Within the category of Australian children's books, picture book rights are the most often sold, followed by junior fiction and young adult..."