a pre-Christmas wrap-up, with news, pretty pictures, plump pillows and other stuff

Week 50: FESTIVE

It's 1.32pm on 21 December and I've just, against all better judgment, eaten two fruit mince pies for lunch and then wandered the halls for nearly an hour, unable to decide on which pile to tackle.

That sentence pretty much sums up my 2016.

It's been a strange, fragmented, bizarro year of major ups and downs, calamity and calm, and the oddest sensation of feeling either upside down, or wanting to abscond to an isolated villa in Tuscany. Granted, the latter is pretty much a permanent sensation! But more so than ever this year.

It's been such a strange and challenging 12 months--for everyone, it seems--that I'm kind of expecting to wake up and realise it was all just an upside down dream.

That truly wouldn't surprise me at all. I'd wake and I'd go 'Wow, that was a marathon dream nightmare hybrid! I'm so happy to be awake now, yes I am!'

So, as I wait to wake, and as the fruit mince pies settle onto my thighs, I'm only making one resolution for 2017... and that's to recalibrate. Earth myself, house, family, world, work. All of it. Take what's needed and chuck the rest. Cleanse. Focus. Streamline. 2016 was the carnival ride sugar rush. 2017 will the rowboat on an expansive, deep and beautiful lake. A lake bustling with Things I Love to Do.

I hope it's like that for you, too.

In the meantime--here is a pre-Chrissie update before I disappear into a Lindt box the size our car (why fight it?).

Announcing... This is Banjo Paterson!

Tomorrow, I'm officially in holiday mode, but before I go, I'm thrilled to share with you my newest books--both will be released in February 2017 (National Library Publishing).

This is Banjo Paterson is the follow-up book to This is Captain Cook, and once again features gorgeous illustrations by my dear friend Christina Booth. I'm so excited about this book--an historical picture book for very young children. There'll be a launch here in Canberra on 12 February at the National Library, so keep an eye on my events page for that.

Learn more about the book by clicking on its cover, and if you want to get in early, you can order a copy of the book right here.

Also publishing 1 February is Australian Story: An Illustrated Timeline--a revised edition which includes 2016. This book has become a resource for primary school teachers, so it's wonderful to see the book republished, and with a shiny yellow cover, too.

Learn more by clicking on the cover, and you can order a copy here.

In more exciting news, This is Captain Cook has been shortlisted in the ACT Writing and Publishing Awards! The announcement is tonight at the ACT Writers Centre Christmas Party. Shortlisted with amazing friends and colleagues Stephanie Owen Reeder and Jackie French, I'll be drinking bubbles, whatever happens!

Here's to ending the year bookishly.

More This is Captain Cook Reviews

Delighted to see more Captain Cook reviews recently--thank you to the wonderful reviewers, below, for their support. Click on the Reading Time image to see the entire review.

Our little Captain is sailing well!

Reading Time--click to read full review

Good Reading magazine

Magpies magazine

Captain Cook Book Launch Wrap-Up!

 

What a gorgeous launch at the National Library on the weekend! Held in the light-filled foyer, right outside the bookshop, we gathered to chat about the life of a formidable mariner, who sailed the seven seas not once, but three times.

Introduced by the lovely Candice Cappe {above}, I used a globe to show the kids where Cook voyaged and exactly how far it is across the Pacific Ocean! Then we got into the story--and had lots of laughs along the way.

It was such a warm audience, and these kids were so bright--every question I asked, they answered.

Review of This is Captain Cook on Buzzwords

A gorgeous review by the lovely Anastasia Gonis. Click the picture above for full review. Thanks, Buzz Words!

Review of This is Captain Cook on DeeScribe

Such a gorgeous review of This is Captain Cook from the lovely Dee White. Warms my heart. Click the image to read.

#thisiscaptaincook

Our This is Captain Cook Virtual Launch Giveaway Winners!

Thank you to everyone who entered to win a signed copy of This is Captain Cook and a stunning original artwork from the book, thanks to Christina Booth!

It was very tough choosing a winner--not only for the fact that all entries are superb, but because I know you all! So I asked a very impartial husband to choose, and he came up with our worthy winners.

Congratulations to:

The Book: Renee Price 

The Art: Rebecca Newman

We hope you absolutely love your prizes and enjoy them for many years to come1 I will be in touch with you shortly to organise your prizes.

Thank you, everyone, for launching the Captain with us!

Tania and Christina
x x


#thisiscaptaincook

We are at the end of our Virtual Tour! Christina and I would like to thank you for joining us on this voyage, as we whack the sparkling wine against the bow of our bookish ship. We hope you had as much fun as we did!

To celebrate the end of our tour, we have some prizes!

WIN! a signed copy of This is Captain Cook!

We have one signed copy to give away to one lucky reader, valued at $24.95.

If you would like to win this, just leave a comment below, headed with the word: BOOK, telling us in 50 words or less where you would like to voyage and why.

WIN! original artwork from This is Captain Cook!

The lovely Christina Booth has agreed to give away one of her beautiful original artworks from the book! She sooo lovely! Value: priceless.

If you would like to win this artwork (I wonder which one it will be!) just leave a comment below, headed with the word: ART, telling us in 50 words or less which famous Australian you'd like to see a school play on and why.

Both competitions are open to those aged 18 or over. This is a game of skill not chance. Entries close Friday 13 March at 11:56pm AESDT. The winners will be announced here on this blog on Saturday 14 March, so be sure to check back! Comps are open to anyone so long as they have an Australian postage address. Winners will receive their prize within three weeks of entering. Decisions are final.

Good luck!

With love from your intrepid voyagers, 

Tania and Christina.

x x

 Back to our Virtual Launch Schedule 

#thisiscaptaincook Book Signing

Here I am signing books!

Yes, that's me, signing YOUR books! If you want to order a discounted book and have it signed, click right here. If you'd like to try to win a copy, click here! (You could also win some original art from the book!!)

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#thisiscaptaincook Reviews So Far ...

Here are some book reviews so far, with more coming soon - hopefully! Click on each one to read.

Kids' Book Review

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Boomerang Books Blog

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My Book Corner

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Collins Booksellers, Chirnside

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Pages & Pages Bookseller Newsletter

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#thisiscaptaincook Activities for Kids

Hello, kids--so lovely to see you here! I really hope you love This is Captain Cook as much as I loved writing it and Christina loved illustrating it.

Here you will find some fun activities to download and enjoy--all about Captain Cook!

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Word Search

Right-click, save, print and enjoy!

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Colouring-In Page

Right-click to copy and print!

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Make Your Own Captain's Hat

Grab yourself a large sheet of paper or newspaper and use the diagram below to fold your own Captain's hat! Decorate or colouring it in, if you like.

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Captain Cook Quiz

nla.gov.au

Try your hand at this super dooper quiz. And yes, you may use the internet to help you!

1. Which country was James Cook born in?
2. What was the name of his wife?
3. How many children did they have?
4. What was the name of the ship Captain Cook sailed when he landed in Australia?
5. What year was it?
6. What did he name the first bay he came across?
7. Which country did Captain Cook land on shortly before discovering the east coast of Australia?
8. What did he call the east coast of Australia when he first landed?
9. Which reef was the Endeavour damaged on?
10. When The Endeavour made anchor, Cook actually wasn't the first person to set foot on Australian soil. He asked someone else if they would like to go first. Who was it?

PS: Click here to see an animated map of Captain Cook’s second voyage!

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Teachers' Notes

Tell your teacher about these fabulous teachers' notes that can be used in class! There's lots of fun ideas. Just click the poster above to see them.

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The Real Life Launch at the 

National Library, Canberra

Kids, if you are based near Canberra, don't forget to come along to the This is Captain Cook book launch at the National Library! You'll need to RSVP--details below!

Click the poster to RSVP!

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#thisiscaptaincook The Creation Process

This is Captain Cook, like all books, are created with time and, hopefully with care. Christina and I were really fortunate to be able to work closely on this book, alongside our editor and publisher, to create a seamless creation that works so very well.

Of course the first step of the creative process is in the concept. Then the writing. I did both of these things some time ago, submitting it to the National Library, who go through an acquisitions process similar to many large publishers.

Once the concept was approved and the text written, the next task was to appoint an illustrator--in this case, award-winning talent Christina Booth, who was almost as excited as me to be working on the book!

From there, Christina and I nutted out thoughts and ideas for the structure of the book, how narrative and image would flow, and how things should 'look'. We were equal partners in this process, and this made it a real joy--to be able to bounce ideas off each other and come up with new directions, whilst still retaining authenticity, was a lot of fun.

We did the entire process by email and the odd phone call. Christina would send in roughs according to how each double page spread would unfold.

Below are some of her initial roughs, with the final below them.

You can see from these roughs that slight changes occur along the way--this is due to flow and comprehension but it's often due to the need for accuracy, too.

While these images were being produced by Christina in Tassie, I spent time with my publisher, Susan Hall, and my editor, Stephanie Owen Reeder, on sharpening the text and making each word count. It's so lovely to work with professionals who bring so much more to a book than the basics required.

Once text was final and images were posted to Canberra, the scanning process began. A designer (thank you, Amy Cullen!) then set about designing and typesetting the pages with text. The font changed several times until we came up with the just the right one.

I viewed the proofs for This is Captain Cook late last August (that's me looking at them, below) and, after some intense proofing sessions, it was an exciting moment indeed when the files went off to print.

Below you'll see one of Christina's original cover ideas, too. I loved this so much, and I love the final cover, too!

Coming up - your chance to win a signed copy of the book, 

and an original artwork from the book!

 Back to our Virtual Launch Schedule 

#thisiscaptaincook Question Time

In Question Time, you, Dear Reader, have the chance to ask Christina and I a question! All you have to do is leave a comment below, asking your question, and we will respond in the comments as the day unfolds.

You might like to ask about our book creation process, our ideas, something specific about the book or even something about Captain Cook's life! Kids also welcome to ask questions.

Don't be shy! Send us your best!Just leave a comment below. Comments are moderated and need to be approved before publication, so may not appear immediately.

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#thisiscaptaincook Book 'Reading' SNEAK PEEK!

You've already met Christina and myself, and learned all about how This is Captain Cook came into existence. Now it's time to open the front cover and take a peek inside!

Okay, everyone sitting on their bottoms. Let's get started.

When we open a hard cover book, of course, the first thing we come to is one of my favourite things--the endpapers! I love endpapers!

Here are the endpapers for This is Captain Cook, gorgeously created by Christina. You can read about Christina's inspiration for the endpapers right here.

We then come to the very first pages--and here you will learn all about Miss Batts and her class. They are about to put on a school play about the life and times of Captain Cook (Elizabeth Batts was the name of Cook's real life wife!).

As the book progresses, you'll see the Captain voyaging to New Zealand (actually, he had only just been named a Captain by this stage--an honour bestowed upon him ahead of his first world voyage). On this voyage, he was tasked with a top secret mission (you must read the book to find out what it was!) and on the way to fulfill this mission, he bumped into two islands--New Zealand!

Soon after that, he discovered another, much larger land. I wonder if you can guess what it was??? When he had explored the entire coastline to the very top, he decided he'd had enough adventures for now. He had fulfilled his secret mission and so sailed home to England.

Captain Cook made two more world voyages after this first one. The second was to cross the Arctic Circle (kyboshed by a wall of ice) and the second to explore Canada, Alaska, his beloved Tahiti, and Hawaii.

Alas, this was his final voyage.

At the back of This is Captain Cook, readers are treated to a sensational peek at 'Cook's Gallery'--a line-up of beautiful images from the National Library catalogue. Included in this section is a peek at Cook's own Endeavour journal from April 1769.

Did you enjoy this peek at This is Captain Cook? We hope so! Watch for some draft images done by Christina when the book first began production--revealed a little later today.

 Back to our Virtual Launch Schedule