Regine Abos Design has been shortlisted for her work on Karen Tayleur's Hostage in the Best-Designed Young Adult Book category.

The team at Blue Boat Design has been shortlisted for the Best-Designed Children's Non-Fiction Book for Great Aussie Inventions written by Amy Hunter and illustrated by David Rowe.

The awards will be announced on Thursday 20 May — Good Luck!

Stonnington Mayor Cr Tim Smith will be launching the book and the festival on Monday 19 April at 3pm at the Malvern Library, 1255 High St, Malvern.

They will both be appearing at the Williamstown Town Hall, 104 Ferguson Steet, Wiliamstown.

Karen Tayleur Writing for Children Workshop, Saturday 1 May, 1pm-2.30pm Budding authors, take that first step to follow your dreams. A practical hands-on session, notebooks and pens required.

Dean Jones Turning animals into Dragons, Saturday 1 May, 10-11am An illustration workshop including a demonstrative component and interactive drawing. Suitable for 10-15 year-olds.

This is a free event, run in conjunction with Robinson's Bookshop.

for enquiries please contact Nicole Lemmon, Robinson's Bookshop, (03) 9783 6488

For more information about the rest of Carole's tour, click here.]]>http://www.bdb.com.au/news/index.php?id=111http://www.bdb.com.au/news/index.php?id=1112010-03-23'...as part of the City of Stonnington's Literature Live Festival on Thursday 29 April...'Corinne Fenton will be talking about her new book Flame Stands Waiting as part of the City of Stonnington's Literature Live Festival on Thursday 29 April, from 4:30 -5:30pm.

The event is being held at the Toorak-South Yarra Branch, 340 Toorak Road (corner of Cromwell Street)

Corinne is the award-winning author of Queenie; One Elephant's Story and The Dog on the Tuckerbox.

Books will be on sale and Corinne will be signing.

Light refreshments will be served. Please RSVP to the library on 8290 8000

So if you live in Adelaide, Melbourne, Frankston, Sydney or Brisbane you will be able to catch up with her and hear all about her fantastic new YA book for readers aged 14+.

Wednesday 7 April
Frankston Library, 1:30pm, 50 Playne St Frankson (in conjunction with Robinson's Bookshop). Enquiries contact Nicole Lemmon, Robinson's Bookshop (03) 9783 6488. Free event.

Friday 16 April
Borders Adelaide, 3pm, 97 Rundle Mall. Come along dressed up in your most outrageous 1970's outfit. There will be a prize for the best-dressed. Please RSVP if you can to (08) 8223 3333. Free event.

Thursday 22 April
Readings Hawthorn, Melbourne, 6:30pm. 701 Glenferrie Rd, Hawthorn. Carole will be in conversation with her daughter (and fellow author) Lili Wilkinson. This is a free event, but please RSVP to (03) 9819 1917 or email events@readings.com.au

Friday 23 April
Wards Sagar, 5pm. Shop 21, 10 Arthur St, Eltham. RSVP to 9439 9321

Wednesday 28 April
Fitzroy Library, 4pm - 5:30pm. 128 Moor St Fitzroy. RSVP to 1300 695 427

Friday 30 April
Avid Reader Brisbane, 6 for 6:30pm. Tickets $5, RSVP to (07) 3846 3422

May
The Children's Bookshop Sydney, 6 Hannah St, Beecroft. Dates to be confirmed.]]>http://www.bdb.com.au/news/index.php?id=110http://www.bdb.com.au/news/index.php?id=1102010-03-10Carole Wilkinson talks with other authors at the State LibraryCarole Wilkinson talks with other authors on books and ideas to provoke the imagination.

They will be at the Centre for Youth Literature, State Library, on Tuesday the 25th and Wednesday the 26th of May. The Tuesday session will be for teachers, and the Wednesday is open to years 8—11.

For bookings call: 8664 7555 or email learning@slv.vic.gov.au]]>http://www.bdb.com.au/news/index.php?id=108http://www.bdb.com.au/news/index.php?id=1082010-03-09Carole Wilkinson's Dragon Tour! Carole Wilkinson’s new website is up and running, and we think it looks stunning.

She's also put a lot of work into creating the Dragon Tour, a walk through Melbourne that takes you past some of our resident dragons. Some of them you’ll recognise, but others are hidden in plain sight!

To take the tour, click here and visit Carole’s website.

For bookings call: 8664 7555, or email learning@slv.vic.gov.au

Don't miss the screening of her interview with The Shak on Wednesday, 17th February 2010, at 4pm on Channel Nine.]]>http://www.bdb.com.au/news/index.php?id=104http://www.bdb.com.au/news/index.php?id=1042009-11-11Karen Tayleur, Sue Lawson and Tony Thompson at the VATE Annual Conference, Deakin Uni, December 7-8Join Karen Tayleur on Tuesday December 8 for her illuminating talk How new media affects the teen novel.

There has been a seismic shift in communication tools in the last ten years and teenagers have embraced that change. They now communicate via text message, Facebook, Twitter and other social networking sites, and many of these have their own language. This change has had an impact on the young adult novel and in particular its characters. Karen will discuss this impact in light of her own young adult novels, Chasing Boys and Hostage.

Sue Lawson will also be presenting on Tuesday December 8 as she looks at Coming of age in Australia.

The days of ’cultural cringe‘ are over as more writers acknowledge and respect the Australian landscape and idiom and its effect on writing. Sue will discuss the influence of Australia’s unique physical and cultural landscape on fiction with a focus on the coming of age novel and examine what effect the size of this country has on the narrative flow, the impact of the country/city dichotomy and how it can be used in the novel, using her own works Allie McGregor’s True Colours, Finding Darcy and After as examples.

And then join Tony Thompson for a lively discussion about teaching Shakespeare. Tony says ”We spend a lot of time thinking about ways to get the students interested in Shakespeare’s plays but what about us? The students study Romeo and Juliet once. We might teach it ten times in as many years. How do you ’maintain the rage‘ when you realise that you have been teaching Macbeth longer than the Beatles were a band? In this workshop, I would like to introduce some writers that helped me to change the way that I taught individual plays. I would also like to discuss some alternative approaches to presenting the plays to students. And I want to hear some stories! Bring some happy ones about units that went well and the sad, bittersweet ones about the plays that got away.“

To book a session or download the programme visit the VATE website at http://www.vate.org.au/

On Wednesday it was announced that Garden of the Purple Dragon, part of the Dragonkeeper series, won the KOALA Award for Older Readers!

This much loved series is loved by readers all over the world and is available now.

To find out more about the award visit their website at http://www.koalansw.org.au/

Meet Karen Tayleur and Heath McKenzie the author and illustrator of Halloween in Christmas Hills: The Legend of Stingy Jack at the Eltham Town Festival!

Eltham Town Square on November 7 at 2.35pm for a book reading and signing!

But the fun doesn’t end there!

Design and make a spooky hat and join in the hat parade for your chance to win prizes

For all enquiries please contact

ELTHAMbookshop

970 Main Road

p: 03 9439 8700 or

e: elthambookshop@bigpond.com]]>http://www.bdb.com.au/news/index.php?id=101http://www.bdb.com.au/news/index.php?id=1012009-11-02Are you going to the SLAV 'Seeing Things Differently' conference?Dr Mark Norman will be presenting the Keynote address at the SLAV conference on Friday November 13 and Tony Thompson will be reflecting on Shakespeare’s 400th anniversary.

Dr Mark Normanis a marine biologist and a world expert on octopuses, squids and cuttlefishes (the ’cephalopods‘). He is Senior Curator of Molluscs at Museum Victoria where he undertakes marine biology research.

His children’s books, The Penguin Book: Birds in suits, The Octopus’s Garden: The Secret World Under the Sea, The Antarctica Book: Living in the Freezer, The Great Barrier Reef Book: Solar Powered, and The Shark Book: Fish with Attitude have won acclaim from the Children’s Book Council of Australia, The Australian Publisher’s Association, The Wilderness Society, and The Royal Zoological Society of NSW. They have certainly gone a long way to the achievement of his aim of getting kids to care about the planet by allowing them to see how interesting and great it is!

His keynote address takes place from 9.45am

Ever wondered why Shakespeare is still being taught today? Not sure how to get your students excited about these plays written 400 years ago? Then join Tony Thompson for a fascinating look at Shakespeare’s life and Tony’s own relationship with the plays and how you can show your students just how relevant Shakespeare is.

Tony will be presenting in Concurrent Session One at 11.15am

Do not miss your chance to hear this fascinating authors speak!

Register now for the conference at http://www.slav.schools.net.au/slav.html

Join Karen Tayleur and Heath McKenzie at The Little Bookroom, Carlton for a spooky Story time session on October 31.

Listen to this creepy pair read Halloween in Christmas Hills: The Legend of Stingy Jack.

Dress up for your chance to win prizes!

Contact The Little Bookroom on 03 9387 9837 with any enquiries.

Saturday October 31 at 10.30am

759 Nicholson Street Carlton North

Ph: 03 9387 9837

Join Karen Tayleur and Heath McKenzie at Readings Port Melbourne for some spooky fun on October 31.

Listen to kooky Karen Tayleur read Halloween in Christmas Hills: The Legend of Stingy Jack.

Help horrifying Heath McKenzie make his drawings even creepier.

Dress up for our scary parade and your chance to win prizes!

The event is free but bookings are essential

Contact Readings Port Melbourne on 9681 9255 to book.

Halloween Party with Karen Tayleur and Heath McKenzie

Saturday October 31 at 2pm

Readings Port Melbourne

253 Bay St Port Melbourne

Ph: 03 9681 9255

Congratulations to Sue who has been shortlisted for the Children's Literature Peace Award for Finding Darcy.

Darcy Abbott is forced to live with her grandmother and great-grandmother — who she calls Misery and Batty — for three months while her mother retrains in the city. Darcy is horrified by the prospect of living with these two unhappy women and worse still, no TV after 9.30pm and no internet access!

While researching a project at school she discovers a mystery surrounding the disappearance of her great-grandfather, Darcy Charles Fletcher, during World War II — and a secret that has wreaked havoc in her family for generations.

Good luck, Sue!

Congratulations to Carole who has been shortlisted in the 2009 NSW Premier's History Awards for the beautiful The Night We Made the Flag.

In their report the Judges said:

‘Carole Wilkinson’s writing, while deceptively simple, is very powerful and the illustrations by Sebastian Ciaffaglone magically convey the journey from dusk through the long tiring night to a multicoloured dawn, and the Eureka flag flying over the heads of the assembled miners.

The Night We Made the Flag highlights the role of women in the creation of the Eureka flag and, therefore, their important contribution to Australian history and iconography. More than this though, the long night’s journey into day also charts young Mary’s growth, and her willingness to surrender a much loved item for a greater cause. Thus this beautiful little book discusses deeper issues of loyalty beyond the self and of selfless labour for others, even at personal cost.’

And we couldn’t agree more!

Do you love Dragonkeeper?

Then come along and meet the author, Carole Wilkinson, at Angus and Robertson, Bourke Street, Melbourne on Saturday October 3.

Carole will be doing a reading from Dragonkeeper and then you can meet Carole and get your book signed!

Don’t miss out on your chance to meet everyone’s favourite Dragon Keeper!

Carole will be at

Angus and Robertson

360 Bourke Street

Melbourne

On Saturday October 3

From 12.30pm

All enquiries should be directed to Kristen at black dog books on 03 9419 9406 or Angus and Robertson Bourke Street on 03 9670 8861

If you are going to be at the ASLA Conference this year don’t miss out on these fabulous presentations.

>

Ben Beaton’s first novel, Mama’s Song will be published in September of this year. At ASLA, Ben will talk about the process of writing and publishing your first novel on Wednesday September 30 from 2.00 to 2.50pm

Also on Wednesday September 30 from 2.00 to 2.50pm, black dog books Publishing Director, Maryann Ballantyne will talk about the unique set of challenges that face an independent publisher as we turn stories into books.

And finally, Karen Tayleur, whose new novel Hostage is out in October will be the guest speaker on Wednesday September 30 from 3.50pm. Karen will talk about writing teenagers for teenagers in her lively presentation Keepin' it real: how to develop teens in the YA novel

Keep an eye out for the launches of both Ben’s and Karen’s books and don’t forget to visit the trade stand while you are there to see our exciting new and upcoming titles.

The Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales presents the awards each year to commend outstanding publications that contain a significant amount of information about Australia's fauna.

Two of Dr Norman's other books, Penguin Book: Birds in Suits (ISBN 9781921167300) and The Shark Book: Fish with Attitude (ISBN 9781742030128), have also featured in previous years awards.

All three books are available now. To place an order please contact Random House Customer Service on phone 1800 222 444 or fax 03 9753 3944

You have three chances to see Carole!

Once on Wednesday …

The Dragon’s Keeper

When: Wednesday September 9 12.15 - 12.55pm

Where: State Library of Queensland The Studio

And twice on Thrusday …

That Jerilderie Letter

When: Thursday September 10 10.00 - 11.00am

Where: State Library of Queensland Queensland Terrace

The Dragon’s Keeper

When: Thursday September 10 12.15 - 12.55pm

Where: State Library of Queensland The Studio

For more information or to book tickets visit the festival website at http://www.brisbanewritersfestival.com.au

To celebrate Book Week The Age is publishing All About Books a twelve page booklet for kids that features the talented Heath McKenzie!

Heath’s exuberant illustrations grace the cover and inside kids will find an illustration workshop with Heath that will help them perfect their own work.

To get your copy pick up The Age on Monday August 24.

For more information visit the website at education.theage.com.au

Join Charlotte as she talks about what it is like to ‘arrive’ on the literary scene after the publication of her first novel The Strangers of Paragor Book One: Arrival

Arrival

When: Wednesday September 9 10.45 - 11.25am

Where: State Library of Queensland Auditorium 2

Can’t make it on Wednesday? Don’t worry &mdash you can catch Charlotte again on Thursday!

Arrival

When: Thursday September 10 9.45 - 10.25am

Where: Gallery of Modern Art Cinema B

Plus you can also catch Charlotte in a panel discussion with Jack Heath and Tristan Bancks as they talk about the trials and triumphs of being a young writer.

Get a real job … the Cost of Cool

When: Wednesday September 9 1.15 - 1.55pm

Where: State Library of Queensland Auditorium 2

For more information or to book tickets visit the festival website at http://www.brisbanewritersfestival.com.au

And if you live near Ipswich make sure you come an see Charlotte at the Ipswich Festival of Childrens Literature. Charlotte is part of their weekend programme and will be chatting with Michelle Witheyman-Crumpabout being a new author on Sunday September 6.

Check the website for details http://www.learningplace.com.au

Charlotte will be at the festival for the whole weekend so if you see her running around feel free to come up and have a chat!

black dog books and Zoos South Australia invite you to the official launch of The Gorilla Book by Dr Carla Litchfield and The Little One by Kaitie Litchfield.

To be launched by Sasha Carruozzo, Conservation Ambassador

at 11.30am Sunday 23 August 2009

Immersion Longhouse, Adelaide Zoo, Frome Road

(please enter via Plane Tree Drive service gates)

as part of Book Week celebrations

The authors will be available for book signings and books will be for sale on the day.

RSVP by Monday 17 August to Loretta Vodic

On 8267 3255 or lvodic@zoossa.com.au

Come along to black dog books on Tuesday July 21 and see what we have done to Amy Hunter’s Great Aussie Inventions and how you can use it in your classroom.

black dog books has fantastic resources available for teachers including teacher&rsquos support material and a full range of well-trained authors and illustrators for school visits that we can chat about at the session as well.

After we take you through our enriched PDF of Great Aussie Inventions we would love to hear what you think of it!

After the PD session, we would love you to join us, our authors and illustrators for wine and cheese as we launch our new titles from May to August.All of the titles will be available for sale or order on the night at a 20% discount!

black dog books teachers evening

when: Tuesday July 21

5.30pm—7.30pm

where: black dog books

15 Gertrude Street Fitzroy

RSVP: by Friday July 17 to Kristen 03 9419 9406 or kisten@bdb.com.au

Congratulations to

David Demant who was shortlisted in the Primary Student Reference category for A Story of Natural Numbers

Nicolas Brash who was shorlisted in the Primary Student Reference category for So, You Want to be Prime Minister?

And Corinne Fenton and Peter Gouldthorpe who were shortlisted in the Primary Library Book category for The Dog on the Tuckerbox.

Winners are announced on August 5.

The perfect school holiday activity - Michael Wagner's Instant Plot Machine! Great for ages 8 an up this workshop gives young writers fun and easy techniques to turn almost any idea into a simple, strong story structure. Bring your story or create a new one on the day

Where: Sydenham Community Centre 7 Community Hub, Sydenham

When: Wednesday 1 July 10am –11.30am

For bookings call 03 9390 3977

This is a free event.

And one for the grown–ups

Michael will be giving a talk on Writing for Children on Saturday September 2pm–3pm at Keilor Village Library, Kennedy Street, Keilor.

For bookings call 03 9549 4670

This is a free event.

Corinne and Peter were shortlisted in the Book of the Year for Younger Children category for their gorgeous book The Dog on the Tuckerbox.

Carole was shortlisted in the Book of the Year for Older Children for Dragon Dawn the exciting prequel to the bestselling ‘Dragonkeeper&rsquo series.

Congratulations also to all of the doggies at the black dog kennel who all played a part in black dog books shortlisting for Small Publisher of the Year.

But, it doesn‘t end there! Rege was also commended for her work on Short.

Drop by and 'hi'!

Sunday 3rd May 11.30am-12.30pm. ‘The Characters You Meet’

Corinne Fenton will talk about the story behind the writing of her award-winning picture book Queenie: One Elephant's Story and the people she has met since the book was published.

She will compare that with the writing of The Dog on the Tuckerbox and how she came to write about the legend which is so close to the hearts of generations of Australians who have travelled the road between Melbourne and Sydney and stopped to visit the famous statue, five miles from Gundagai.

Sunday 3rd May 1.15pm-2.15pm. ‘Writers and Promotion’

It’s hard work writing a book. It’s hard work finding a publisher. But once the book is written and published, the rest is easy... isn’t it? Join Corinne, Claire Saxby and Glenda Millard as they discuss some of the myths and realities of book promotion and how to walk the line between promotion and showing off.

Meet Kevin Burgemeestre at Dromkeen on Sunday April 26!

Bring the kids, bring a picnic and have a fun day! Meet Kevin and other authors and illustrators and explore the beautiful grounds and take a look at the scupltures that represent some wonderful moments in children‘s literature.

Charlotte will be celebrating the release of The Strangers of Paragor Book One: The Arrival and signing copies at Journeys Bookstore on Wednesday the 8th of April at 7pm

For enquiries or to RSVP please contact:

Journeys Bookstore and Cafe

127 Trafalgar Street

Annandale

info@journeysbookstore.com

02 9552 2540

This is a free event but RSVP's are essential

Here you will be kept up to date with all of the happenings at black dog books, news about our authors and illustrators and any event news as well.

So, come along, have a visit, leave a comment and never miss anything that happens at black dog books again.

Join us at black dog books, 15 Gertrude Street Fitzroy at 5.30pm on Thursday the 26th of March as three very different authors discuss their work and how you can use it to get kids excited about history.

Ananda Braxton-Smith will be talking about her new book The Death Available now!

Judith A. Simpson will be talking about her new book In the Shadow of the Palace: The Princess of Pushkar Available now!

Tony Thompson will be talking about her new book Shakespeare: The Most famous man in London Available in May!

Then join us for a glass of champangne to celebrate the launch of our latest fabulous books. Books will be available for sale on the night at a 20% discount!

To RSVP please contact Kristen on kristen@bdb.com.au by Tuesday the 24th of March.

Regine thinks she’s so smart.

She’s been shortlisted for not one, but two, books from black dog books for the APA Design Awards.

Short: a collection of interesting short stories and other stuff from some surprising and intelligent people is shortlisted for the Best Designed Children’s Fiction award and A Story of Natural Numbers for the Best Designed Children’s Non-fiction award.

Looking for a special Christmas present? Come to The Little Bookroom on Carlton to get some very special books signed by Corinne Fenton, the author of the award-winning Queenie: One Elephant’s Story, and Heath McKenzie, illustrator of the hilarious The Australian Twelve Days of Christmas, Aussie A to Z and The Number One Counting Book.

Corinne will be reading from her beautiful new picture book The Dog on the Tuckerbox at 10.30 am and will be available to sign books afterwards. Then, at 12 noon, Heath will be doing live illustrations of the creatures from his cheeky new book The Twelve Days of Christmas.

Come along, meet the authors and grab yourself a very special and personal Christmas gift.

The Little Bookroom is located at 771 Nicholson Street, Carlton North, Melbourne (Google Maps link).

Come and meet Corinne Fenton, author of the much-loved picture books The Dog on the Tuckerbox and Queenie: One Elephant’s Story, at Dymocks Doncaster on 6 December and Angus & Robertson Heidelberg on 13 December.

The Dymocks Doncaster signing begins at 2.30pm on 6 December at Westfield Shopping Centre, Doncaster Road, Doncaster. The Angus & Robertson signing begins at 9.00am, Shop 29, Warringal Shopping Centre, Burgundy Street, Heidelberg, Melbourne.

It’s not long until Christmas&hellip so why not share the festive spirit with Heath McKenzie? The illustrator and author of best-selling The Australian Twelve Days of Christmas and The Aussie A to Z will lead kids in a drawing session of images from his new book The Twelve Days of Christmas at an in-store event at Book Bonding on 13 December

This 9.30am event is free, but bookings (call 03 9370 4422) are required. Book Bonding is located at 942a Mt Alexander Rd, Essendon, Melbourne.

Bernadette Kelly, author of the popular Riding High and Pony Patch series, will be signing books over three days at the Equitana exhibition from 20-23 November.

Bernadette can’t wait to talk books and horses with her readers! You’ll find her at the Saddleworld Stand. For more information about Equitana, visit www.equitana.com.au.

Rob Vingerhoets is an experienced and highly effective presenter of hands-on and engaging maths ideas and practices for teachers and students. Following his own credo that “maths doesn’t have to hurt”, Rob has produced a set of teachers notes for Black Dog detailing a range of exciting maths-based activities for students of all ages, based on David Demant’s A Story of Natural Numbers.

Download the teachers notes from our teachers page

Find out more about this book

Teachers notes for Dragon Dawn, the latest story in the Dragonkeeper series – including introductory notes on ancient China and Chinese dragons from Carole Wilkinson herself – are now available from our teachers page.

Go to our teachers page

Visit our teachers page

For more information phone 03 9370 4422.

Find out more about the signature pack or click here to buy the signature pack right now!

Black Dog Books is inviting all Carole Wilkinson fans to the launch of the newly released Dragonkeeper prequel Dragon Dawn

The launch will be held at Readers Feast, Midtown Plaza (corner Bourke Street and Swanston Street), Melbourne on Thursday 9 October at 6.30pm.

Please RSVP to dog@bdb.com.au or 03 9419 9406 by Monday 6 October.

The ‘Once Upon a Story’ Festival is back again and bigger than ever. This free event for kids aged 4-12 will feature the very entertaining Danny Katz and Mitch Vane, who will be sharing their latest release The Little Lunch Games, and the very affable Heath McKenzie, illustrator of The Twelve Days of Christmas, plus lots of other great authors and illustrators. Geat food and kids entertainment.

The ‘Once Upon a Story’ Festival is on September 9 at Gasworks Park in Port Melbourne

View the full program at www.gasworks.org.au

Peter Macinnis’s Kokoda Track: 101 Days was named an Honour Book in the Eve Pownall Awards for Information Books.

View our awards page

Paula Hunt’s project book on Australian bushrangers, Wild Colonial Boys and Carole Wilkinson and Dean Jones’s recreation of Ned Kelly's infamous, vividly descriptive ‘Jerilderie Letter’ have been shortlisted for the Crime Writers' Association of Australia Ned Kelly Awards, to be announced on Friday 29 August at the Melbourne Writers Festival.

Teachers notes for both books are available from the individual book pages, and our Jerilderie Letter page also features sample pages and a slideshow of the creation of the book’s cover.

Best of luck to Paula, Carole and Dean!

Find out more about Wild Colonial Boys

Find out more about Ned Kelly’s Jerilderie Letter

View our awards page

Read Danny’s Olympics blog

For the rest of August, Black Dog Books is offering three books on China and the Olympics for the price of two!

The pack includes Carole Wilkinson’s The Games, Danny Katz and Mitch Vane’s hilarious The Little Lunch Games, and to help you become an armchair expert on Chinese culture, Li-Yu Lai Hung’s fascinating The China Book.

Together these three books normally retail at $50.97, but you can buy them as part of our Olympics 2008 value pack for $33.98.

The 2008 Inkys longlist has been announced, with Sue Lawson’s Finding Darcy among the ten Australian titles nominated for this year’s Golden Inky.

Danny Katz and Mitch Vane, Little Lunch Games launch, 10.00am-11.30am, Byron Bay Writers Festival, The Lakehouse. Free event

Friday 1 August:

Official launch of The Dog on the Tuckerbox by Corinne Fenton, Gundagai Library, 1.30pm

Saturday 2 August:

Corinne Fenton signing at Gundagai tourist information centre, 1.00pm-3.00pm

Sunday 3 August:

Corinne Fenton signing at Bullocky Bill Cafe, 12.00pm-2.00pm, Old Hume Highway, Gundagai

Corinne Fenton signing at the Dog on the Tuckerbox Cafe, 2.00pm-4.00pm

Tuesday 5 August to Friday 8 August:

Corinne Fenton author tour, Sydney. More details to follow

Saturday 16 August:

Carole Wilkinson author appearance, 2.30pm onwards, Hobart Bookshop, 22 Salamanca Square, Hobart. Free event

Monday 25 August:

Melbourne Writers Festival Schools Program: ‘Ned Kelly: Myth, Man and Legend’, 10.00am. Join Caroline Wilkinson, author of Ned Kelly’s Jerilderie Letter, and Tim Pegler as they talk about how Ned Kelly has been interpreted in fact and fiction. Visit the festival website for more information

Tuesday 26 August:

Melbourne Writers Festival Schools Program:

‘Encountering Conflict’, 6.30pm-7.30pm. Students will hear from Richard Plunkett, author of The Long Patrol: Australia and East Timor’s Wars, who will talk about the conflicts experienced by the East Timorese and how he wrote about them, along with indigenous author Bruce Pascoe and National Gallery of Victoria education officer Susie May. Visit the festival website for more information

‘DIY Culture: blogging isn’t writing is it?’, 12.30pm-1.15pm. With insideadog.com.au manager Lili Wilkinson, author of Scatterheart and Joan of Arc, and Margo Lanagan. Visit the festival website for more information

‘ArtPlay with Carole Wilkinson’, 11.15am-12.00pm. Join Carole Wilkinson, the author of The Dragon Companion as she discusses the various species of dragon and how they’ve been illustrated in her book Visit the festival website for more information

Wednesday 27 August:

Melbourne Writers Festival Schools Program:

‘Writers who read, readers who write’, 12.30pm-1.15pm. With Lili Wilkinson, author of Scatterheart and Joan of Arc, Margo Lanagan and John Marsden. Visit the festival website for more information

‘Words of war’, 12.30pm-1.15pm. Join Richard Plunkett, author of The Long Patrol: Australia and East Timor’s Wars, and David Metzenthen as they explore different approaches to writing about war. Visit the festival website for more information

‘ArtPlay with Danny Katz’, 12.30pm-1.15pm. Using stories and characters from the Little Lunch books, Danny Katz will inspire kids to dig into their own schoolyard experiences and create their own funny stories and characters. Visit the festival website for more information

Saturday 13 September:

Corinne Fenton reading, 10.30am, Book Bonding Bookshop, 942a Mt Alexander Road, Essendon VIC 3040. Free event, but please phone 03 9370 4422 to reserve a place

Find out what happens when a coconut octopus finds a coconut! More footage from Mark Norman – this time, a sneak preview of the DVD that comes with Mark’s forthcoming book The Octopus’s Garden, published in September

View the footage from The Octopus’s Garden

Find out more about The Octopus’s Garden

We've just added sneak previews for our exciting range of August titles, including a new picture book by Carole Wilkinson and two new books in the I’m Glad... series.

Get inspired with 21 classroom activities on Aboriginal history, the discovery of Australia, European exploration and early settlement, convict history, cultural heritage, Federation, Australians at war, postal history and Australian communication history inspired by Chris Miles’s Stuck on History: the story of Australia in stamps.

Download teachers notes from the Stuck on History page

Explore the highs and lows of the modern Olympics with The Games a new edition of Carole Wilkinson’s fact-filled, easy to read account of the funny, bizarre and touching moments in the history of the modern Games.

Teachers notes have been added for our brand new anthology Short: a collection of interesting short stories and other stuff from some surprising and intelligent people

Carole Wilkinson’s Dragon Moon has been shortlisted for the Book of the Year in the Younger Readers category.

Kokoda Track by Peter Macinnis, The Antarctica Book by Dr Mark Norman and The Jerilderie Letter by Carole Wilkinson and illustrated by Dean Jones have been shortlisted for the Eve Pownall Award for Information Books.

And Chris Miles’s Who’s on the Money? and Carole Wilkinson and Dean Jones’s The Dragon Companion have both been listed as Notable Books in this year’s awards.

Congratulations to Carole, Peter, Mark, Dean and Chris!

Beautifully illustrated and designed, Flowergirl Me would make a wonderful gift this Christmas, and is available in bookstores and from our secure online shop.

Find out more about Flowergirl Me

The first book in the series, Dragonkeeper, was a winner in the 2003 Aurealis Awards.

Visit our special Dragonkeeper microsite

Click here to view the movie!

Author and web designer Chris Miles (Who's on the Money?) will be revealing how objects like money and stamps can offer a fascinating glimpse into our history, and will be sharing some of his on- and off-line research methods.

Karen and Chris will be signing books at the conference, which is being held at the Telstra Dome, Docklands, Melbourne.

Find out more about Chasing Boys

Find out more about Who's on the Money?

Find out more about the 2007 SLAV conference

Tune in to ‘Dave and Denise with Shaun Micallef’ on vega 91.5fm at 8.10am on 8 November to hear Danny hand out some election advice to co-host Dave O'Neill, who is running for the seat of Gellibrand in the upcoming election.

Danny and Mitch will be presiding over mini-elections at Borders, Carlton in Melbourne at 11am on 17 November, and at Angus & Robertson Bookstore at Melbourne's Southland Shopping Centre in Cheltenham at 2pm on 18 November. Don't miss out — these events are sure to have have more spin and sizzle than the real thing!

Visit our A Little Election book page for a preview of this hilarious election guide, and a downloadable colouring page featuring an original Mitch Vane illustration.

The book signing (and high tea with cupcakes!) will be held in conjunction with the bookshop's Sunday Storytelling session. Prizes will be available for children who come dressed as flower girl or pageboy.

Berkelouw Books is located at 1044 High Street, Armadale, Melbourne. For more information, contact the store on 03 9576 2555 or by email at armadale@berkelouw.com.au

Find out more about Flowergirl Me

Find out more about My Canberra Project

Carole will be appearing at Mostly Books, Shop 26b, Mitcham Park Shopping Centre, 119 Belair Rd, Torrens Park, Adelaide on Saturday 6 October from 2-4pm.

Contact Mostly Books on 08 8373 5190 for more information.

This is a free event to be held at 3pm on Sunday 21 October. Readers Feast is located at Midtown Plaza, corner of Swanston and Bourke Streets, Melbourne.

For more information or to RSVP contact Readers Feast on 03 9662 4699.

This is Leon's second award for Red Haze, which was also named as an Honour Book in this year's Children's Book Council of Australia Eve Pownall Award for Information Books.

Find out more about A Little Election

Find out more about The Dragon Companion

Find out more about this year's ASLA conference

The judges praised The Penguin Book's "innovative" layout, its "clear accessible text, excellent photographs... outstanding maps...", and added that The Penguin Book will "delight all those interested in the natural world."

Find out more about The Penguin Book: Birds in Suits

Find out more about Queenie: One Elephant's Story

Find out more about Red Haze

Visit our awards page

Visit the 'Once Upon A Story' Festival website

]]>http://www.bdb.com.au/news/index.php?id=26http://www.bdb.com.au/news/index.php?id=262007-08-16'Aussie A to Z' illustrator Heath McKenzie will be appearing at the 'Get Into Art' day at Dromkeen Art Gallery on 28 October.Aussie A to Z illustrator Heath McKenzie will be appearing at the 'Get Into Art' day at Dromkeen Art Gallery in Riddells Creek, Victoria, on 28 October from 12 noon to 4pm.

Visitors will have a chance to discover and explore art as they look behind the scenes at Heath's artwork. Gold coin entry per person.

Dromkeen Collection Art Gallery is at 1012 Kilmore Road, Riddells Creek (phone 03 5428 6799).

Visit our teachers page

Find out more about Queenie: One Elephant's Story

This story is a perceptive and humorous insight into the adolescent world as a young girl struggles to cope with her Mum’s cancer, her peer group and her family. It was declared by the judges to ‘demonstrate good parenting strategies, positive family relationships and mutual regard.’

Find out more about black dog’s award winning books

Visit our teachers page

Visit our teachers page

Find out more about The Penguin Book: Birds in Suits

Visit our teachers page

Find out more about The Aussie A to Z

Congratulations to our authors and illustrators Corinne Fenton, Peter Gouldthorpe, Mark Norman and Leon Davidson!

Visit our teachers page

Get a sneak peak at Chasing Boys by Karen Tayleur — a page-turning coming-of-age story for girls who don't like pink — with a special chapter extract available from our downloads page.

Find out more about Chasing Boys

Find out more about Karen Tayleur

Learn about Danzi's map and the riddles of the Chinese language, make your own tangram puzzles, download stunning Dragonkeeper wallpapers, hear special audio content and explore the world of Dragonkeeper at www.dragonkeeper.com.au.]]>http://www.bdb.com.au/news/index.php?id=13http://www.bdb.com.au/news/index.php?id=132007-02-26black dog has a stack of books on the 2007 Victorian Premier's Reading Challenge list.black dog has a stack of books on the 2007 Victorian Premier's Reading Challenge list.

Click here to view the full list of black dog titles on the challenge this year (with links to more information about each book) or click here to download a printer-friendly PDF version of the list.

Summer, Autumn 2007 Buying Guide

1.8Mb PDF

(Right click (PC) or control-click (Mac) the link above and select 'Save target as...' or 'Download linked file' to download catalogue to your computer, or click on the link to open in your browser)

Discover one of the most important documents in Australian history with Ned Kelly's Jerilderie Letter, edited by Carole Wilkinson and illustrated by Dean Jones, and discover an Australian story of extraordinary bravery in Kokoda Track: 101 Days by Peter Macinnis.

Also available in February are two great picture books: The Patch by Justina Chen Headley and illustrated by Mitch Vane, and a paperback edition of Open Wide: Tooth School Inside by Laurie Keller.

Every entrant receives a set of free Maxx Rumble Cricket cards featuring characters from the series!

Maximum Maxx, a collection of all eight Maxx Rumble cricket stories in one book, is in shops now and is available for purchase from our online shop.

• Ned Kelly's Jerilderie Letter by Carole Wilkinson
• Kokoda Track: 101 Days by Peter Macinnis
• The Patch by Justina Chen Headley (illustrated by Mitch Vane)
• Who's On The Money by Chris Miles
• My Canberra Project by Gregory Murdoch (and Rachel Flynn)
• Open Wide Tooth School by Laurie Keller

Find out more about our 'Making of...' features

Find out more about Dragonkeeper

Find out more about Ned Kelly's Jerilderie Letter

Find out more about this book

Purchase this book

Find out about our Maxx Rumble Cricket colouring competition

It has been a big year of awards for Carole: Garden of the Purple Dragon won the 2006 WAYBRA (West Australian Young Book Readers Awards) and has been shortlisted for the Queensland Premier's Literary Awards and — along with Dragonkeeper — has been shortlisted for the COOL awards (Canberra's Own Outstanding List).

View all of our awards

Danny read from the newest instalment in the Little Lunch series, Little Lunch Five, while Mitch provided some on-the-spot illustrations.

Find out more about Little Lunch

View all our teachers notes

View all of our awards

Join Corinne as she talks about how she became a writer of children’s books

Corinne has a passion for writing children’s books and she will discuss the research, writing and post production stages of her picture books. Queenie: One Elephant's Story and The Dog on the Tuckerbox.]]>http://www.bdb.com.au/news/index.php?id=73http://www.bdb.com.au/news/index.php?id=730000-00-00'Corinne Fenton will be reading from and signing copies of her book at Angus and Robertson, Camerwell on Saturday June 27!'

Corinne Fenton, the author of the award-winning Queenie: One Elephant’s Story, and The Dog on the Tuckerbox, will be reading from and signing her much-loved books at Angus and Robertson Camberwell.

Come along, listen to some beautiful stories and meet Corinne at Angus And Robertson Camberwell on Saturday June 27th from 11am.

Angus and Robertson is located at 608 Bourke Road Camberwell. For all enquiries please contact the store on 03 9882 4433.

You have two chances to see Danny at the Melbourne Writers Festival this year.

On Tuesday August 25 join Danny and Andy Griffiths as they talk about the ingredients of good comedy and just what makes them are so funny!

What’s So Funny

Where: BMW Edge Theatre, Federation Square

When: Tuesday August 25 11.15am to 12 noon

And if one session with Danny isn’t enough you can see him again on Wednesday August 26

A Little Lunch with Danny Katz

Where: ArtPlay, Federation Square

When: Wednesday August 26 11.15am to 12 noon

For more information or to purchase tickets visit the Festivals website at http://www.mwf.com.au

Tony Thompson will be doing three events at the Melbourne Writers Festival this year!

On Monday August 24, Tony and Andy Griffiths will discuss what Shakespeare means to them and the interesting things that Tony uncovered during his research into the seedy world of William Shakespeare.

Shakespeare’s World

Where:BMW Edge Theatre, Federation Square

When: Monday 24 August; 12.30pm - 1.15pm

On Tuesday August 25, Tony and Julia Lawrinson will discuss how history can be used to enrich today's stories.

Harnessing History

Where:ACMI 1, Federation Square

When: Tuesday 25 August; 12.30pm - 1.15pm

AND On Wednesday August 26, Tony will be discussing the world of Shakespeare and how the events and people that surrounded him shaped and influenced him as a writer and a man.

In Shakespeare’s Time

Where: Festival Club, Federation Square

When: Wednesday 26 August; 10.00am - 10.45am

To find out more or to book tickets visit the festival website at www.mwf.com.au