Popular children’s book The Last Viking will be read at the Nordic Heritage Museum in Seattle, Washington, this November as part of a Nordic Stories series.

Artist and author Sally Morgan shares her highlights from the inaugural Spinifex Story Writing Camp. I spent the last week of June participating in workshops at Tjuntjuntjara Remote School with three amazing people – Karen and Tina from the Indigenous Literacy Foundation (ILF) and illustrator Ann James.

Children’s publisher Cate Sutherland discusses the trials and the triumphs of publishing children’s picture books. The most common misconception about picture books is that because they are short and written for children they must be easy to write.

We asked Jenny Simpson to let some AWESOME cats out of the bag by sharing her highlights from this year’s AWESOME Festival. Warning: spoiler alert!

No matter who we are or what we do, things sometimes go wrong in life.

Giveaways

Free posters

Want to brighten up a wall in your library or classroom? Fremantle Press has a small number of free children’s books posters available for schools and libraries.

No matter what we end up doing in life, ‘what we end up doing’ is grounded in effective communication. Life is built upon relationships.

Need a last-minute Anzac Day activity? Why not get your students to create and use semaphore flags? The semaphore signalling method was used to communicate important military information, home-front anxieties and, eventually, hopes for a more peaceful world.

Drawing on fascinating archival material, and interweaving fact with fiction, in this video award-winning author Dianne Wolfer deftly recreates the story of Fay Howe, the little girl from Breaksea Island. In doing so she depicts the hardships of those left at home during WWI — waiting, wondering and hoping. 

Illustrator Sean E. Avery takes us into his studio where he created the picture books All Monkeys Love Bananas and Harold and Grace.

Alice Nelson is a novelist who won the T.A.G. Hungerford Award and was named Sydney Morning Herald Best Young Australian Novelist in 2009. Here she talks about her latest book After This: Survivors of the Holocaust speak.

The Last Viking Returns is a finalist in the 2014 Aurealis Awards. The popular children’s book, written by Norman Jorgensen and illustrated by James Foley, is one of six titles shortlisted in the Best Children’s Fiction category.

In a first for WA children’s books Ambelin Kwaymullina’s Caterpillar and Butterfly is one of two Indigenous titles turned into apps suitable for Android and iOS tablets.

Dropping In author Geoff Havel discusses why political correctness and children’s fiction shouldn’t always go hand in hand.

Lighthouse Girl and Light Horse Boy are two of the books featured in the new Remembering Gallipoli collection launched by iBooks on Friday 13 February.

News

Cate’s month

What’s been happening in the wonderful world of children’s literature at Fremantle Press with Cate Sutherland, publisher.

Dropping In by Geoff Havel is a novel for middle readers aged 10–14 with themes of friendship, bullying, living with disability, ADHD and cerebral palsy.

Harold and Grace by Sean E. Avery is a hilarious picture book for ages 3 to 8 with themes of friendship, bullying, metamorphosis and life cycles, plus wetland ecosystems.

Giveaways

New bookmarks

Bookmarks are a great way to encourage reading and we have plenty to share.

What would you do without the internet? What would your life look like? Who would you be? Brendan Ritchie discussed this and more when we spoke to him about his upcoming novel, Carousel.

A new school year is upon us. For many teenagers this means the start of their final year of study, and the lead-up to final exams.

Crashing Down by Kate McCaffrey and The Last Viking Returns by Norman Jorgensen and James Foley are on the shortlist for the 2015 West Australian Young Readers’ Book Awards.

A new iPad application featuring picture books from Fremantle Press has been launched by local company Sumo. The Quality Time app will connect families whose parents are working away from home by allowing them to download picture books and read them together in real time.

From little things big things grow! To celebrate the launch of On a Small Island we’re offering free puppet activity sheets for schools, libraries and kindergartens. Just complete the form below. While stocks last.