Now this is a fun chapter book, with the promise of a great series to come!
Riz Chester knows she’s different to other kids. Why? She notices stuff. But when her keen habits of observation cause her to notice something strange about some notes of money, Riz finds herself in the middle of a counterfeit mystery. Could she help the police find who is running the counterfeit operation? Or will they ignore her because she’s just a kid?
Told from Riz’s perspective, this fast-paced chapter book keeps readers guessing. There are ten chapters, each illustrated and sprinkled through with pages from Riz’s ‘observations’ notebook. These help to engage even the most reluctant readers with the story.
I love how this story makes room for kids who see the world through different lens. Riz and her friends might seem quirky to others, but they have what it takes to work together and solve a mystery. RA Stephens has written a fun book that encourages kids to celebrate the 'weird' things about themselves that are, in reality, fantastic strengths!
With themes of inclusion, curiosity, science and, yes, even forensics, this is a great start to the Riz Chester series. Recommended.
A big thanks to Wombat Books for this review copy!

​Anchored.
Oh what a delightful book! 
Anchored tells the story of Tug and Ship’s relationship, one that must survive the distance and uncertainty of separation across many ocean miles. Like many picture books, this story is something of a parable and the points of connection are many: how do we cope when the people we love are far away from us? What keeps us brave and strong when our comfort people aren’t close by? What gives us hope and courage when things look bleak? 
In true Tidball style, this book connects with different readers in different ways. There is an emotional depth that tugs your heart and makes you want to come back for a reread (even without a small person by your side). And I think that’s one of Debra Tidball’s writing strengths.
The artwork for this picture book is done by Arielle Li and I love how she's imagined the text. Filled with clever details and satisfying warmth, Li turns the story of two industrial boats into something tender and beautiful. That’s no small feat. 
Anchored is lovely. Thoroughly recommended. 

If I’m ever visiting schools, or doing writing workshops, I do my very best to squeeze in as many tips on how to be a writer as I possibly can, because I know what it’s like to hear someone speak and wonder, wish, imagine I could do that too. (And I also remember very clearly what it was like to think I’d never be an author!). 
So I thought I'd share a few of those writing tips here, in case you know a budding young author who needs them:

Tip #1 - Don’t worry about spelling (yet)!
I love the way kids eyes widen with relief when I admit I can’t spell or, when gripped by nerves presenting in front of their teachers, I forget how to spell important words as we brainstorm ideas as a group. It’s true, I’m not a very good speller. But the thing is, when it comes to writing, spelling can come later. First, we need the ideas and the action and the adventure of story. So, I always tell kids to get out that notebook and write to your heart’s content. Worry about spelling later!​

​Tip #2 - Read, write and read some more. 
One of the best pieces of advice to give a budding author, is to encourage them to keep their nose in a book and their preferred writing equipment handy. Why? Because the best way to learn about language is to soak it in. The best way to learn about story is to ride the waves of one. And the best way to figure out how to write, is to… well… write.
Write lots of different stuff: letters to overseas cousins, letters to members of parliament, poetry (introduce them to free verse if rhyming is intimidating) and stories lots of stories. It doesn’t matter if the stories started don’t get finished. That’s totally fine. Just keep at it. The young author won’t notice their writing improve, but you will, and like I tell kids at schools, ‘You can’t practice being a brain surgeon during recess, but you can practice being a writer!’

Tip #3 - Don’t trust your first good idea. 
This one’s a little funny, because when you are brewing ideas, often the first one you get seems fantastic! Marvelous! Unstoppable, even. But more often than not, first ideas we get are borrowed and the more creative ones take a little longer to appear. So, here’s what I suggest: when you get a brilliant first idea, write it down. And then think of a second and third idea. Work on the details, using questions like, ‘What if I changed where the story was set?’ or ‘How could I make this a little more surprising?’ or ‘What would make this character unique?’ Stretch it out, turn it upside down, think of the strangest possible outcome. Somewhere between the first idea and all of this imagining will be a story you’ll love to write that will keep your readers hooked.

Happy writing!

Diamonds, by Armin Greder is a book about diamonds. Not the dazzling beauty of them, but the very real nightmare that is often the untold story of the people behind the jewels we don for special occasions. 
Like many of Greder's books, the artwork is dark and at times menacing. It tells the story of a young girl watching her mother prepare to go out, and the images that stalk into her dreams. 

This isn't a light book for bedtime reading, and certainly doesn't tie the uncomfortable bits up neatly at the end. And yet - I really appreciate it. Diamonds is a book that makes us think. It makes us question the expected and consider our own decision making. I think we all need books like this to make us pause and remember the impact our decisions and voices can make.  
Recommended for readers upper primary and beyond. 

March this year saw the release of Crossed Spaces, a young adult short story anthology published by Rhiza Edge and edited by Lynne Stringer and R.A Stephens. It is a collection of short science fiction and fantasy inspired stories by a variety of authors and my story The true written life of Ed Specolta was included. Here is an excerpt from the story...

Short stories can be a lot of fun to write. They provide you with the opportunity to explore ideas, characters and concepts in a shorter form than usual. For teachers and readers, they offer bite sized pieces of narrative to analyse, engage in and consider. Short stories open opportunities to think, discuss, imagine, critique and respond.  I guess this is why I was excited when invited to collaborate with R.A Stephens in another anthology, this one due for publication in 2022. 
​

Dust Makers will be a collection of stories for young adult readers, drawing on the theme of sustainability. We're deep in editorial mode at the moment, sorting through potential stories from a variety of amazing authors. It's really interesting being on this side of the editorial process in a publication project. It allows a chance to consider the themes that weave stories together and those that make them stand apart. On their own, short stories each have something to say. Together, there is another voice that can be heard, another comment. It's my job as part of the editorial team to draw this out. 

It's August, 2021 and Sydney is in lockdown. Again. 
BUT LOOK - it's a new book! 

August the 2nd was the official release day of my newest picture book, One Potoroo: a story of survival. This beautiful book was published by CSIRO Publishing and illustrated by Western Australian artist, Alicia Rogerson. 
The book tells the story of Australia's most endangered marsupial, the Gilbert's Potoroo and how the actions of conservationists are working to ensure the survival of this unique animal. 

The story of this book began a number of years ago when I picked up a brochure from an Australian Geographic store. 'Hey you, save our potoroo!' the brochure said. It told about a devastating bushfire that had swept through the bush leaving only seven Gilbert's Potoroo remaining in their natural habitat. I began researching the story a little more and soon learned that if it wasn't for the efforts of a dedicated team of conservationists, researchers and volunteers this unique Australian animal might have disappeared altogether. Fascinated by the story, I began to write and One Potoroo is the story that came about.

But how do you launch a book in lockdown? Although there are some wonderful plans in the background, and we're still hopeful they can go ahead, the official release day was a lot different than expected. Locked down at home, I couldn't really throw a party. Still, I wasn't going to let that dampen my excitement for the release of this book. 

So, we made the most of the day, starting with a private little book signing at home. This was photographed by my eleven year old during his break from online-school. 
I then headed out for some essential errands, and took One Potoroo with me, of course! We made sure we remained COVID Safe and checked in wherever we went. 

Back home again, we closed the lockdown school 'canteen' and shared some yummy treats. And of course no book launch would be complete without an author reading. I was thrilled to have such an attentive audience!

One Potoroo: a story of survival is available NOW from your favourite bookshop in store (where you can) or online. Signed copies can be ordered here. Welcome Potoroo! 

This Little Piggy went to market
This Little Piggy stayed home... 

Well, staying home is what a lot of us have been doing lately, this Little Piggy included. 
BUT he's been having a great time staying home all over the place.  

When I started this experiment I put out the word for families who were interested in hosting Piggy while they stayed at home. Piggy left my house in western Sydney in his travel sack, with his Travel Journal for company. He visited a few locations around greater Sydney and then headed north to Queensland. After that he hopped back in the post and has traveled all the way to Scotland!

As Piggy travels, the children and families he visits record details about his time with them. They also record their experiences of 'staying at home' as we face the pandemic, what they've enjoyed and what has been hard. I can't wait to read what's been written in his journal when he finally comes home again, but that won't be for a while yet. He's still got plenty more places to visit on his itinerary, and as the pandemic continues so does the normal of 'staying at home'. 

If you'd like to follow Piggy's adventures staying at home, be sure to 'Like' my Facebook Page where I post regular updates as I receive them. 

​As an author, I’m often asked where I get ideas for stories.  So I thought I’d share how one idea started and see if you’d like to help…

​It all began with a certain health-related crisis that landed everyone at home, doing school and uni and work from our various desks and online spaces. All my peaceful, quiet writing time was swallowed up like the slops at the bottom of a pig pail and I was left with scraps and muddy footprints (the second part quite literally). 
So, for sanity’s sake I pulled out my crocheting hook and decided to make something. And here’s what I ended up with. (You can find the pattern I used here.)

The idea was to crochet some little animals and post them to my friends as funny little gifts while we’re all stuck inside. But This Little Piggy ended up a lot larger than I expected and for a while just sat on my bookshelf (up there next to my writing craft books) waiting for me to think of who to post him to. 
And then a cute little picture of a chubby little foot popped up on my Facebook feed, playing on the traditional rhyme of ‘this little piggy went to market, and this little piggy stayed home’. I had a chuckle, clicked ‘Like’ – yes, we should all be ‘staying at home’ I thought – and kept scrolling. 

But the other night I couldn’t sleep. My idea brain was wide awake and working. It was knotting together links and connections and trying out possible stories. I got to thinking about This Little Piggy and what he’d be doing if he was ‘staying at home’ anywhere but here.
Where could he go? What could he do? Could I send This Little Piggy on a reconnaissance tour to research how other families are doing their time at home? What stories are they reading? What special things are they doing? What are the things they’ll never forget about these times stuck together in-side?
And that’s where this idea’s up to.
It’s obviously not finished yet. It’ll need a lot more work. But for me, stories start with questions. And maybe – just maybe- there’s a story here.
​A story about This Little Piggy and you and me, and all our adventures staying at home!​

​So, starting next week, I’m posting This Little Piggy off to do some research. He’ll have a comfy travel sack and his very own travel diary. I’ll pop him in the mail and we’ll see where he’ll go. Which stories will he have read to him? What games will he play? What stay-at-home feasts will he watch?
I’m curious to see where this idea of mine goes.
AND if you’d like to join in and invite This Little Piggy to visit your family, just send me a message via my contact form and I’ll see if we can include your place in his travel itinerary! (But make sure you check The Fine Print below first.)​

But I couldn't just let The Other Brother miss out on its party! Every new book deserves a celebration. Not to pat myself on the back or draw attention to myself, but because the release of a new book means the next part of a story's adventure - that part that is out in the world, without me - is about to begin!
So I had a bit of a think about how I could continue to launch this story if couldn't physically take the book to families. And that's when I came up with my Book Launch Kit idea! 

Instead of simply allowing the opportunity to celebrate slip away, I got to work. I pulled together some colouring sheets (with original artwork by The Other Brother illustrator Heidi Cooper Smith), a page FULL of fun, story related activity ideas, a craft kit all ready to go and - of course - a hardback copy of The Other Brother ready to be signed. 
And here it is: The Other Brother Book Launch Kit! 

So whether you're stuck at home with the kids waiting out isolation or lockdown, or you're keen to be involved in the fun of a Book Launch right from the comfort of your home, this might be just what you need. 
​Happy Book Launch!

(And if you do order the kit and take a photo on the couch with your book, I'd love to see it! Please share and tag #pennyjaye or #theotherbrother )