By Sharon Giltrow When my son was little, he loved reading nonfiction books based on the theme ‘who would win?’ Crocodile versus shark ‘who would win?’ Lion versus tiger ‘who would win?’ Then he would read all the facts on these animals to find out who and why. In Sarah Speedie and Rebel Challenger’s book MOZZIES vs FLIES it is the smaller beasts who are battling. But it is not for domination of the ocean, the land or even the sky, but for a barbeque. Who will win? Sorry I can’t give away the ending, you will have to read the book to find out 😊. MOZZIES VS FLIES Written by: Sarah Speedie Illustrated by: Rebel Challenger Published by: Larrikin Books, 1st February 2022 In a small dusty town, in the sweltering heat, two rival gangs had control of the streets. Fuzz and the Flies ruled the town in the light. While the Mozzies and Cozzie took over at night. When the School Barbeque is scheduled for 5.30pm - how do these two gangs decide who gets the rights to this delicious feast? Can they find a compromise or will it all end in an epic sky-high battle? Now, let’s see two of Sarah’s favourite spreads from MOZZIES Vs FLIES and what she loves about them. S- I love the spread where Cozzie and Fuzz are arguing over which side gets the barbeque. I think the way the characters are holding up the moon, stars and sun is so clever! And the gossiping flies and the mozzie with the torch under his chin are adorable. Sh- This spread is a great example of how illustrations can add to the story. The context of flies and mozzies battling is hilarious. Adding the details in the illustration of the sun and the moon makes it even funnier. This image is also a great example of visual juxtaposition; night and day – dark and light. S- The spread where The Mozzies and The Flies are training for battle is my favourite spread in the book. They have such wonderful expressions on their faces, and Fuzz with his huge megaphone is hilarious! Sh- In this spread, Sarah is pushing the joke as far as she can by showing The Flies and The Mozzies preparing for battle. It is also showing us both sides of the story, the characters are both doing the same thing but in a different way. A parallel scene, another powerful visual storytelling technique. Which beasts (large or small) would you like to see battle? You could come up with your own battle of the beasts and write a story about it. See you in April with another great Aussie book. Share a laugh and connect with someone today. GIVEAWAY For a chance to win a copy of our book MOZZIE’S Vs FLIES
BIO:
Sharon Giltrow grew up in South Australia, the youngest of eight children, surrounded by pet sheep and fields of barley. She now lives in Perth, Western Australia with her husband, two children and a tiny dog. Sharon has taught for all of her career. Previously a teacher of children who are hearing impaired and Deaf-Blind, she now teaches young children with Developmental Language Disorder. Her humorous debut PB, BEDTIME DADDY! released May 2020 through EK books. Sharon’s humorous follow up PB, GET READY, MAMA! Is due to be released through EK books in April, 2022. Her third PB, LET’S GO SHOPPING, GRANDMA! is due to be released through Dixi Books in 2022. SAMARA RUBIN AND THE UTILITY BELT, book one in Sharon’s early MG series – THE UTILITY BELT, will be released in 2022 through Clear Fork Publishing. With book two TOBY KING AND THE UTILITY BELT to follow. CONNECT: Website
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by Bryan Patrick Avery I’ve loved baseball my whole life. I couldn’t be happier that the Major League Baseball lockout is over and Spring Training has begun. Spring is also the perfect time to do a little writing training as well. Here are a few exercises you can use to help get those creative juices flowing, generate new ideas, or get the pesky project finished. Training #1 – They Will Be Missed (Or Will They?) Creating characters is easy. Creating characters that resonate with readers is much more difficult. I’ve found that, the more I know about my character, the easier it is to bring them to life on the page. One of the ways to do this is to write a eulogies of the character delivered by the other characters in the story. Because the different characters have different viewpoints, each eulogy will be different. These eulogies will reveal your character in ways you may never have considered. You can then use this information to help bring your character to life on the page. Training #2 – Change Perspective One the great things about storytelling is that the storyteller gets to choose what perspective to tell the story from. If you’re stuck with a story or struggling with details in a particular scene or section, consider the story from a different character’s perspective. The original Sherlock Holmes mysteries are told from the perspective of Dr. Watson. Imagine if the tales were told from the Holmes’ point of view. What about Dr. Moriarty’s? Looking at your story through a different character’s eyes might reveal a detail or idea that you hadn’t considered. Training #3 – Finish Strong Getting to the end of story or book is a great feeling, worthy of celebrating. What if you’re struggling to get to “THE END”? Here’s a tip that might help you finish your story or book. Write the last chapter or final scene. Then, work backwards from there. Write from the end until you get to the beginning. This will help keep you focused on the key elements of the story, as every scene you write will need to push the reader into the scene you’ve already written. That focus can help you get your story finished. This is also a great way to revise your story. It will help you see when something you’ve written doesn’t move the story forward. Give it a try. That’s all for this month. Happy reading and have a magical month. Here's what I'm reading: ![]() At the age of 7, Bryan Patrick Avery discovered a love of reading and mysteries after receiving his first Bobbsey Twins Mystery book. Today, he is an award-winning poet and author of more than a dozen books for children. His middle-grade story, “The Magic Day Mystery”, appears in SUPER PUZZLETASTIC MYSTERIES, an anthology from HarperCollins and the Mystery Writers of America. His Jake Maddox JV Mysteries, OFF BASE and SOCCER SUSPICIONS were released earlier this year by Stone Arch Books. Bryan is the 2021 recipient of the SCBWI Work in Progress Award for his chapter book mystery THE ROBOT IN THE LIBRARY. He is also the author of THE FREEMAN FIELD PHOTOGRAPH, BLACK MEN IN SCIENCE, and the chapter book series, MR. GRIZLEY’S CLASS. Bryan serves on the board of directors of the Northern California Chapter of Mystery Writers of America. He lives in Northern California with his family. By Melissa Stoller Enjoy this month and the changing seasons. And cheers to springing ahead with creative story ideas. ![]()
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We are so excited to be mixing things up at CBA, beginning with some delicious additions to the Blogfish. Meet our awesome bloggers!!
Here's our lineup: 1st Mondays begin with awesome Aussie debut author and former student Amanda Lieber who will be focusing on Aussie kidlit. 2nd Mondays will feature super smart Melissa Stoller whose career is taking off with several new books. 3rd Mondays will feature our new blogger coming soon. 4th Mondays features new blogger, the fabulous Brentom Jackson, who has a beautiful approach to blogging. And 5th Mondays we'll be taking a break Archives
December 2023
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