Activities for It's Bedtime, William!

This craft project is based on my book It's Bedtime, William! published by Penguin.

With this activity, we can make a mobile of William having a pillow fight with his visiting friend, the lion.

Hopefully, it is an idea with which crafty people can springboard into their own creative ideas.

Download this Activity Sheet here.

Once the pages are printed, they can be used for just colouring-in if a mobile is not your thing.

You can make these figures bigger or smaller by adjusting your printer settings.

I've been working on another activity for It's Bedtime William!

This one is fairly simple to make. It is a Lion Face or Mask.

A number of lion faces would be quite impressive decorating a classroom wall.

Click on the image and print the instructions.

Activities for The Tall Man and the Twelve Babies

I do get many queries for activities relating to my books.  I thought I would design some printable activity sheets for children that might be fun!

The first one is making your very own Tall Man!

Tall Man Activity

Click on link above and print out instructions.
I'll add other activities as soon as I can.
Also suggestions are welcome!













Tall Man Activity No 2

Colouring-in page.
Click on the image below and print out.
Print it bigger if you like.
Colour all the babies in different colours.  See how unalike you can make them.
The tall man and the babies like to be bright and happy!

Tall Man Activity No 3

Another picture to colour.

The Tall Man is taking the Babies for a walk.

Remember to print in landscape format.

The Tall Man and the Twelve Babies

This book has received some lovely reviews so far and I get many emails from children and adults. 
They are always a delight to read.  Recently I was most impressed to view the following video on youtube.

Check out this great book trailer created by 11 year old Marcus!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQp9WXrJQFw

I would be happy to see other videos and creations based on my books from children of all ages.
I love to see original ideas from the kids.

 

A treasured painting

About twenty-five years ago I bought a small painting from the local thrift shop in Sydney.

I had seen it in the shop window and loved the quietness of it. I took it home and had it cleaned and reframed.
I've always had this painting hung on a wall in my house.
I never knew who had painted it until a name revealed itself after the cleaning.  Even then I couldn't find out anything about the artist.  I've been curious all these years because I've always admired the fine detailed work in this small painting which measures only 10 x 8 inches.

Since the advent of the internet and the wealth of information to be explored, I've finally found out who my mystery artist is.  The name on the painting is C B Presbrey which I have traced back as belonging to Clara Briggs Presbrey (1864-1946) an artist who lived and worked in Taunton, Massachusetts, US.  She specialised in miniature painting.  

I haven't been able to find any other work by this artist and I wonder if any others exist.  And how did this painting end up in a thrift shop on the other side of the world?

Painting by Clara Briggs Presbrey (1864-1946)

Larger than actual size close-up. Painting by Clara Briggs Presbrey (1864-1946)

The other mystery I've yet to solve is the identity of the subject.  For a while I thought it might be a portrait of Clara's cousin, Frank Presbrey, who had a significant reputation in the advertising industry in New York.  Then I thought it could be a portrait of her own father, Silas Dean Presbrey, well known in Taunton, MA, as a respected physician and educator.  Or it could be someone quite unrelated to Clara.

Meanwhile I continue to enjoy my little painting!

Art of Giovanna Garzoni

Giovanna Garzoni (1600-1670 ) was an artist who was greatly admired during her professional life. She produced superb paintings under the patronage of the powerful Medici family of Florence, Italy.

Her delectable paintings of flowers, fruit and vegetables with the occasional lizard or hedgehog, were painted on vellum using watercolour in a gouache technique.

 

 

When Coco was a Kitten

This is another book of mine for the very young. 

The theme is children and pets. The story features a kitten and her owner who looks after the kitten from babyhood to adulthood.
She observes the changes as the kitten grows.

I've made the illustrations simple and colourful, and again I have used Photoshop for the entire book.

I love working on the illustrations using the computer these days.

This book is also published in the USA by Kane/Miller.

First published by Penguin Books, 2009

The Paintings of Jacopo Ligozzi

Jacopi Ligozzi (1547 – 1627)

 

Good News!

Wow!  I was so delighted to learn that two of my books have been shortlisted for this year's CBCA Children's Book of the Year Awards in Australia.
What a surprise!

The books shortlisted are:

•  It's Bedtime, William!  Published by Penguin Viking, 2010

•  The Tall Man and the Twelve Babies.  Published by Allen & Unwin, 2010            

 

William jumps for joy!

 The lion is laughing!

The babies are so happy!

We are all thrilled at this exciting news!

Let's Play!

I've written and illustrated this book for very young children.
Using bright colours and a simple theme, this story takes a look at friends having fun together in the playground.
The version shown below is the delightful Spanish edition published by Kane / Miller Book Publishers in California.

Let's Play! Cover of Spanish edition

Red Dog climbing

Blue Cat and Yellow Bird Swinging

 This story tells of three friends having a great time by sharing and co-operating with each other.

Congratulations!

A fantastic win for Shaun Tan!

He is taking home an Oscar in the category of Best Animated Short Film in today's Academy Awards.
His film was based on his very popular children's book, The Lost Thing.

Shaun Tan is an outstanding artist and deserves all the acclaim he receives now and in the future.
He inspires many, many new and established illustrators and artists with his superb work..