New Frontier Archives · Neridah McMullin

Saturday morning dawned bright and sunny and it was a beautiful day at Prahran Market.

There were children doing drawing and doing writing workshops on long white trestle tables with the assistance of Kevin Burgemeestre and Mandy Cooper. There were more little children getting their faces painted. It was a very festive atmosphere.

Proceedings kicked off with a little girl called Natasha reading out aloud her story. She took that microphone and went for it. A natural talent, I believe.

Kevin then showed the children some of his illustrations and artwork and how he goes about writing a children’s picture book. Kevin had two dioramas on display from his book ‘B for Bravo.’

Heather Gallagher read her story ‘The Plug Hole’ which the children just loved.

I then read my latest book ‘Kick it to Me!’

‘Kick it to Me!’ is published by One Day Hill www.onedayhill.com.au

They publish culturally significant Australian stories. An awesome independent publisher.

Nadine recited her picture book ‘Roar’ and there were plenty of roars in response (this is us roaring!)

Nadine also read to us her delightful story ‘Nan’s Umbrella’. She had a few tricky questions for the children afterwards, which they were able to answer with no problems at all (they were definitely listening).

Kevin and Mandy launched into their chosen story time books and the kids rolled around on the hay bales and beanbags, having a ball. Both Kevin and Mandy are master storytellers; excited little people invaded their personal space on more than one occasion. Kevin and Mandy were a big hit. Mandy also has the most beautiful singing voice; she’s missed her vocation!

Heather read a chapter from her new book ‘Ferret on the Loose’ just recently published by New Frontier. It was hilarious.

‘Ferret on the Loose’ by Heather Gallagher is a Little Rocket from New Frontier publishing. It’s for 7+ readers and is available at any good bookstore. There’s a rocket to make in the back of the book. That’s pretty cool!

All in all, it was a perfect day at Prahran Market.

(Thank you to my biggest fan, the wonderful Toby)

I felt quite sad when it was time to say goodbye to Nadine, Heather and Helen, and Kevin and Mandy. As Maurice Saxby Mentees, we have had the most amazing two weeks. But as Helen kindly reminded us, it’s not the end; it’s just the beginning of our friendship.

Nadine, Heather and I (and Laura who is overseas) are already planning our next catch up!

A big thank you must go to Helen Chamberlin for looking after us and guiding us through our work and to Pam Horsey from C.L.A.N who has done a wonderful job planning and organising everything. A big thank you must also go to N.E.E.F and to Stonnington Council.

On Friday 10^th May, I attended the Literature Alive Festival launch at the Prahran Library in funky Greville Street. It was loads of fun with Mr. Basil Varghese, the C.E.O of N.E.E.F (National Education & Employment Foundation) welcoming everyone warmly.

Basil explained the vision of NEEF is to bridge the gap between those who have and those who have not, and how the role of C.L.A.N (the Children’s Literature Australia Network) is to promote children’s literature, particularly to children with limited access to it by providing children’s literature programs to children in disadvantaged schools.

Basil outlined the Literature Alive program over the next two weeks (May 13th to May 25th) that includes a busy schedule of Author/Illustrator workshops in Libraries, exhibitions of Artwork, the ‘Reading Pictures: A panel discussion’ at Toorak/South Yarra Library and the Prahran Market event. He also introduced the mentors and the mentees of the Maurice Saxby Mentorship Program (hey, that’s us! Heather Gallagher, Nadine Cranenburg, Laura Wilson & myself).

The Mayor of Prahran, Mr. Mathew Koce, then officially launched the Literature Alive Festival.

There were two wonderful book launches:

‘Ferret on the Loose’ by Heather Gallagher, published by New Frontier. Heather told us a little bit about how she came to write ‘Ferret on the Loose’ and it was thoroughly entertaining. I spent Mother’s Day reading this book and it’s hilarious. It also touched on some more serious issues relating to bullying and ‘doing the right thing’. There are some great life lessons here. ‘Ferret on the Loose’ is part of the Little Rocket series from New Frontier Publishing and is suitable for 7+ readers. Check it out www.littlerockets.com.au

Mark Wilson also launched his wonderful new book ‘Little Dolphin’ published by Windy Hollow Books. This story is delightful and sweet and poignant and the artwork is just dreamy. I recommend ‘Little Dolphin’ as a morning read, not on a Saturday night with a glass wine (ok, Collingwood was getting flogged by Freo; I may have been a little upset to begin with). This is a gorgeous book, another masterpiece in Mark Wilson’s collection of highly acclaimed books www.windyhollowbooks.com.au

All in all, the launch was a wonderful afternoon. Everyone was warm and friendly, my mentee buddies are lovely and the mentors are open and generous with their time and knowledge. I know we are going to have an awesome two weeks.

Neridah McMullin

Tag: New Frontier

Day 12 ‘Live art in the Mart’ – LITERATURE ALIVE at Prahran Market

Launch of Literature Alive Festival 2013