New Prints by Sue de Gennaro

Sue is a Melbourne-based illustrator who has illustrated ten picture books.

Her most recent The Pros and Cons of being a Frog, written by Sue, was published in 2012.

Sue has a degree in film and trained as an aerialist/ performance artist, but says that she has always found her fingers searching for a pencil! 

Sue de Gennaro on Books Illustrated's website. 

Look! The art of Australian Picture Books Today

Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery - 27 February to 21 April, 2013
This is  the last venue of the two year touring of this wonderful exhibition toured by the State Library of Victoria.
Don't miss the free opening celebration on Saturday March 2, and the variety of other activities, sessions and workshops, being run throughout the exhibition.

Click here to download the program of events!

Alison Lester's Kids' Antarctic Art

Kids' Antarctic Art exhibition, curated by Books Illustrated, is being shown at the Newcastle Region Library from 17 January to 23 February, 2013


In late January, Alison Lester had an inspiring day at the Big Draw Newcastle, with 400 kids coming through the foyer to take part in her Antarctic mural. Activities were also going on in the Lovett Gallery inspired by her Kids Antarctic Art exhibition, see the beautiful watercolour illustrations above.

If you'd like to hear more about the exhibition and the Big Draw listen to Alison Lester and Julie Swane from the library on ABC Newcastle Radio.

Travelling exhibitions

Exhibition in Korea: Hello! from Australia 

We are looking forward to installing the ‘Hello from Australia’ exhibition at the Korea Cultural Foundation Gallery in Seoul on February 11. Leaving tomorrow, it's going to be an exciting trip. 

This is the promotional print exhibition shown at the 2102 Bologna Book Fair. These promotional exhibitions are an initiative of Books Illustrated and the Australian Publishers Association to promote a range of contemporary picture books through an exhibition of specially selected images from these books, presented as giclee digital prints. When invited to take this exhibition to Korea, we added a section onThe Lost Thing by Shaun Tan - from book to film, the DVD being screened as part of this extended exhibition.

During our visit we will  take part in workshops, talks and we'll visit Nami Island – also known in Korea as the Republic of the Imagination - more on this later!

This is the third venue for this exhibition in Korea, and with requests from some regional libraries, it looks like the tour will continue into 2013!

Five New Prints by David Miller

David has a unique illustration technique creating colourful, detailed, three dimensionl paper sculptures. This technique is beautifully captured in his range of prints from his new book Millie's Special Something by Tania Cox (Penguin Books), Lofty's Mission by Krista Bell (Hachette Livre Australia), and books written by David Rufus the Numbat (Ford Street Publishing) and Big and Me (Ford Street Publishing).  

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.

Inverloch 'Magic Beach' National Year of Reading exhibition

In November Books Illustrated curated an exhibition of Alison's work from Magic Beach at Inverloch Library to celebrate the success of National Year of Reading. In true Australian Children's Laureate style Alison took to the surf before joining the event at the Inverloch Library. There were fish n' chips, Zart Art kids workshops, and of course, Story Time with Alison. Thanks to the Inverloch Library team, Swellmamas, and the National Year of Reading for organising this event!