-
Yesterday, I was given such a wonderful farewell by the Australian Children’s Laureate Foundation. It was lovely to celebrate the occasion with ACLF board members, family and friends. Thank you all for your generosity, support and love over the past two years. They have been some of the best years of my life, – Gabi...
-
My final school visit as the Australian Children’s Laureate was to Edgar’s Creek Primary School. The ACLF provided a grant of $10,000 for the new school in Wollert, Victoria, to buy culturally diverse books for the library. I was pleased to present two workshops to the fantastic kids from grades two to six. What an...
-
Last Friday, I attended one of my final events as Australian Children’s Laureate at the Wheeler Centre. Here, Asphyxia and I took part in a panel session where we discussed diversity in its many varied forms. It was lovely to meet Asphyxia, who beamed into the Wheeler Centre via Zoom from Northern NSW. The event...
-
Last week, I attended the YABBA Awards (Young Australians Best Book Awards), which is in its 34th year. The last time the YABBA Awards were held in person was pre-COVID-19 in 2019, so the day was a real treat! This year, the YABBA Awards were held at Camberwell Girls Grammar, who were such wonderful hosts....
-
I spent a truly magical day with the kids from two schools in Coolgardie and Kurrawang, WA. It was such a wonderful way to finish my Follow the Dragon tour as Laureate. At C.A.P.S Coolgardie, I had a fantastic session where I met a student named Kana, who dressed up as Zadie Ma for Book...
-
It was my last full day in Perth yesterday, which I spent holding a Chinese painting workshop at the beautiful Paperbird Books in Fremantle. Below are images of some of the artworks made. I’ve had a wonderful time this past week covering 10 schools in 5 days from East to West, North to South. I...
-
My fourth day of book week in Western Australia was another great day. I spent time with kids at South Coast Baptist School and then Frederick Irwin Anglican School, with a stop at beautiful Waikiki Beach. Thank you to Ron Gorman for being my lovely minder for the day. On my fifth day in Perth,...
-
I spent a lovely morning amongst the trees on a hill overlooking a lake at the Montessori School. There were some great artists in Years 4, 5 and 6. Here are a few of their characters named: Bob, Buddy and Goat Dude. After lunch and a drive along the coast, I spoke at Quinn’s Baptist....
-
On my second day of Book Week in WA, I visited the Year 4s at All Saints College. I finished my session and was walking back through the grounds when I saw a student playing a polka-dotted piano. How lovely that there’s a piano for all to use. I was quite under the weather with...
-
This week, I travelled to Western Australia to spend Book Week in Perth, Kalgoorlie and Albany. My first day of Book Week was a tiring but extra rewarding one, where I visited two great schools in Perth – Providence Christian College and Carey Baptist College. I was blown away by the diversity of the questions...
