Review: Australia's Wild Weird Wonderful Weather

Big thanks to Magpies magazine for this sensational review of Australia's Wild Weird Wonderful Weather. It's such a joy when reviewers 'get' your work! Loved working on this book with the amazing Stephanie Owen Reeder, so very much. 

 

Hello from long ago - an update

Well, hello booklovers, 

Just wanted to say hi and send an update into the grand void. It's been a while. The last update was August, can you believe it. You know, life and all that - least of all this bonkers year. I don't really know where to start, so this post will be a little random and won't anywhere near include everything. But I'll try.

Most important news of all is that Canberra has had endless weeks of consistent rain. I can't even tell you a) how rare this is, and b) what this means to me (let alone the farmers). It's immensely happy-making for so many reasons, least of all setting us up for an easier summer, hopefully less fires, and a garden out of Eden. Our fruit trees are flourishing for the first time in too-long-to-remember. I'm spending decent tracts of time just walking outside and staring, sometimes sitting and staring. Running fingers over leaf. Sighing. It's just wonderful.

Weirdest thing of all is that I've taken to gum-chewing. I hate gum-chewing, and so do it in seclusion, but my God, I'm chumbling like a freight train (as I type!). A friend suggested it may be a way of dealing with stress, and I suppose it's better than out-of-control shopping. Oh. Wait...

So, America has a new president. That's a grand thing. I felt the Earth's axis tilt a little. That's an even better thing. Let's hope this heralds a new world energy that's exponentially more positive and less crappy.

Happy book birthday, Australia's Wild Weird Wonderful Weather!

Happy book birthday,

Australia's Wild Weird Wonderful Weather!

Stephanie Owen Reeder and I are thrilled to officially launch our breezy book into the troposphere (which is the layer where weather hangs out, just quietly) and we hope you love the book as much as we've loved putting it together.

In celebration, the NLA have created the most ASTONISHING digital classroom for the book - you can view it right here. Ideal for teachers and librarians, but for parents, too (and kids, of course!). It has a bunch of links and resources and activities - ideal for those of you homeschooling at the mo, too. 

Check out our hilarious Weather book trailer right here. And you've just got to try out the very special weather quiz Stephanie put together, to get your kids thinking hard about the weather! *Hint: all the answers are in the book. See it here.

If you just happen to need a copy of the book (who wouldn't!?) then the National Library Bookshop currently has signed copies (both Stephanie and me). If you can't get instore, I'm sure the Bookshop can organise a signed copy for you if you contact them on Facebook.  

Whatever the weather, we hope you love this book!

Australia's Wild Weird Wonderful Weather!

Stephanie Owen Reeder and I are thrilled to reveal the cover (and a trailer!) of our first book together... Australia's Wild Weird Wonderful Weather - out with the National Library of Australia this October 2020.

Did you know that, in 2009, a massive dust storm in Australia blew red dust and sand all the way to New Zealand, where it turned the glaciers pink? That, in 1899, Cyclone Mahina plucked dolphins out of the ocean in Far North Queensland and deposited them on cliff tops? That it snowed at Uluru in 1997?

In Australia’s Wild Weird Wonderful Weather, readers are introduced to the wide range of weather in Australia, with bite-size pieces of information presented alongside graphic illustrations to entice young readers. Older readers will enjoy the detailed explanations about everything weather, from
what causes certain phenomena to reading weather maps, exploring the climate of the past and preparing for the climate of the future.

With sections about Australia’s extreme weather and the effects of climate change, Australia’s Wild Weird Wonderful Weather gently introduces young readers to the challenges of a warming planet and encourages them to be mindful of impact their actions have on the environment.

A resource section and glossary of weather words at the back of the book enable a parent, teacher or older reader to satisfy the deeper interest in weather that the book is sure to stimulate.

If you're keen to pre-order Australia's Wild Weird Wonderful Weather before it gets swept up and carried off in a cyclone, just head right here.

And now for the official trailer!

 

Have weather-obsessed kids at home? Who doesn't??? Enjoy these activity pages by copying, saving and printing - or head right here for a downloadable PDF.