What is JacketFlap

  • JacketFlap connects you to the work of more than 200,000 authors, illustrators, publishers and other creators of books for Children and Young Adults. The site is updated daily with information about every book, author, illustrator, and publisher in the children's / young adult book industry. Members include published authors and illustrators, librarians, agents, editors, publicists, booksellers, publishers and fans.
    Join now (it's free).

Sort Blog Posts

Sort Posts by:

  • in
    from   

Suggest a Blog

Enter a Blog's Feed URL below and click Submit:

Most Commented Posts

In the past 7 days

Recent Comments

Recently Viewed

JacketFlap Sponsors

Spread the word about books.
Put this Widget on your blog!
  • Powered by JacketFlap.com

Are you a book Publisher?
Learn about Widgets now!

Advertise on JacketFlap

MyJacketFlap Blogs

  • Login or Register for free to create your own customized page of blog posts from your favorite blogs. You can also add blogs by clicking the "Add to MyJacketFlap" links next to the blog name in each post.

Blog Posts by Tag

In the past 7 days

Blog Posts by Date

Click days in this calendar to see posts by day or month
new posts in all blogs
Viewing: Blog Posts Tagged with: Claire Saxby, Most Recent at Top [Help]
Results 1 - 17 of 17
1. Review of the Day: Emu by Claire Saxby

emuEmu
By Claire Saxby
Illustrated by Graham Byrne
Candlewick Press
$16.99
ISBN: 978-0-7636-7479-3
Ages 4-7
On shelves now.

Alas for poor emu. Forever relegated to be consider a second rate ostrich, it encompasses all of the awkwardness and none of the stereotypes. Does anyone ever talk about burying your head in the sand like an emu? They do not. Are schoolchildren routinely called upon to ooh and aah at the size of an emu’s egg? They aren’t. And when you watch Swiss Family Robinson, do you ever find yourself wishing that the kids would try to saddle an emu for the big race? Not even once. Emus are the second largest living bird in terms of height, coming right after the ostrich, and you might be fooled into believing that they are the less interesting of the two. There, you are wrong. Wrongdy wrongdy wrong wrong wrong. I do not wish to start a war of words with the prominent ostrich societies of the world, but after reading Emu by Claire Saxby (illustrated by Graham Byrne) I’m a bit of what you might consider an emu convert. Chock full of interesting information and facts about what a typical emu might experience in its day-to-day life, the book is full of thrills, chills, and a species that gives stay-at-home dads everywhere a true animal mascot.

Meet the emu. Do not be offended if he fails to rise when you approach. At the moment he is safeguarding a precious clutch of eggs from elements and predators. While many of us consider the job of hatching eggs to be something that falls to the female of the species, emus are different. Once they’ve laid their eggs, female emus just take off, and it is the male emu that hatches and rears them. In this particular example, the male emu has a brood of seven or so chicks but though they’re pretty big (ten times bigger than a domestic chicken hatchling) they need their dad for food, shelter, and protection. The chicks find their own food right from the start and within three to four months they’ve already lost their first feathers. They zigzag to escape predators, live with their fathers for about a year, and have a kick like you would not believe. Backmatter of the book provides more information about emus, as well as an index.

Emu2This is not what you might call Saxby and Byrne’s first rodeo show. The Aussie duo previously had paired together on the book Big Red Kangaroo, a book that did just fine for itself. Following a kangaroo called “Red”, the ostensibly nonfiction title was best described by PW as, “An understated but visually arresting portrait of a species.” For my part I had no real objections to the book, but neither did I have anything for it. Kangaroo books are not rare in my children’s rooms, though the book was different in that it was written for a younger reading level. That same reading level is the focus of Emu and here I feel that Saxby and Byrne have started to refine their technique. One of the problems I had with Red was this naming of the titular kangaroo. It felt false in a way. Like the author didn’t trust the readers enough to show them a typical day in the life of an animal without having to personalize it with faux monikers. Byrne’s art too felt flatter to me in that book than it does here. This may have more to do with the subject matter than anything else, though. Emu faces, after all, are inherently more amusing and interesting than kangaroos

In terms of the text, Saxby utilizes a technique that’s proven very popular with teachers as of late. When kids in classrooms are given open reading time there can sometimes be a real range in reading levels. With this in mind, sometimes nonfiction picture books about the natural world will contain two types of text. There will be the more enticing narrative, ideal for reading aloud to a group or one-on-one. Then, for those budding naturalists, there will be a complementary second section that contains the facts. On the first two pages of Emu, for example, one side introduces the open forest with its “honey-pale sunshine” and the emu’s job while the second block of text, written in a small font that brings to mind an expert’s crisp clean handwriting, gives the statistics about emu (whether or not they can fly, their weight, height, etc.). In the back of the book under the Index there’s actually a little note about these sections. It says, “Don’t forget to look at both kinds of words”, and then writes the words “this kind and this kind” in the two different fonts.

Emu3Artist Graham Byrne’s bio says that he’s an electrical engineer, builder, and artist. This is his second picture book and the art is rendered digitally. What it looks like is scratchboard art, with maybe an ink overlay as well. I enjoyed the sense of place and the landscapes but what really made me happy was how Byrne draws an emu. There’s something about that bright yellow eye in the otherwise impassive face that gets me. I say impassive, but there are times when one wonders if Byrne is fighting an instinct to give his emu some expression. There’s a scene of the emu nosing his eggs, his beak appears to be curling up in just the slightest of smiles. Later an eagle threatens his brood and there’s almost a hint of a frown as he runs over to the rescue. It’s not enough to take you out of the story, but such images bear watching.

In comparing the emu to the ostrich I may have omitted certain pertinent details. After all, the emu doesn’t have it quite so bad. It appears on the Australian coat of arms, as well as on their money. There was an Emu War of 1932 where the emus actually won the day. Heck, it’s even not too difficult to find emus on farms in the United States. Still, culturally they’ve a far ways to go if ever they are to catch up with their ostrichy brethren fame-wise. Books like this one will help. I think there must be plenty of teachers out there a little tired of using Eric Carle’s Mister Seahorse as their de facto responsible-dads-in-the-wild motif. Now kids outside of Australia will get a glimpse of this wild, wacky, wonderful and weird creature. Consider it worth meeting.

On shelves now.

Source: Final copy sent from publisher for review.

Like This? Then Try:

Share

0 Comments on Review of the Day: Emu by Claire Saxby as of 11/20/2015 3:12:00 AM
Add a Comment
2. Books of Australia – For Kids

January 26th marks the date in which Australians reflect upon our cultural history and celebrate the accomplishments since the first fleet landed on Sydney’s shores in 1788. Here are a select few picture books aimed at providing children with some background knowledge of our beautiful land, flora, fauna and multicultural diversity. There is plenty of […]

Add a Comment
3. Books of Summer – For Kids

In Australia we’re in the midst of Summer, although here in Melbourne we’ve already had all four seasons in one, sometimes even in one day! A great way to familiarise children with all that the season encompasses is through engaging language experiences. That means providing children opportunities to see, do, touch, listen, read and think […]

Add a Comment
4. Qld Literary Awards vs Prime Minister’s Literary Awards

The winners of the Qld Literary Awards and the PM Literary Awards are being announced on the same evening – Monday 8th December. You can follow the PM announcements live at ‪#PMLitAwards  or tune into ‪@APAC_ch648  at 7:15pm ‪http://on.fb.me/1pPELkt . It is fantastic that both these awards exist. They include outstanding Australian books and their shortlists promote these […]

Add a Comment
5. Gorge yourself on authors, illustrators, kids’ books industry ~ SCBWI Conference at The Hughenden

Frane Lessac, in the jaws of a crocodile SCBWIThe buzz is mega with some of Australia and New Zealand’s most loved authors and illustrators as delegates – Sarah Davis, Libby Hathon, Stephen Axelson, Corinne Fenton, Claire Saxby, Mark Greenwood, Dianne Wolfer, Sally Murphy, James Foley, Meredith Costain ….. and more ….

and then there’s Frane Lessac fighting off crocodiles to get from fremantle WA to Sydney!!!!!

Look out for the brilliant creators of  Looking for Alibrandi and Jellico Road;  Diary of a Wombat;Star Girl and Boy Versus Beast

Guess who they are?

Melina Marchetta

Bruce Whatley

Louise Park

Australian Publishers Association party Nov 2013 Sue whitingAnd there’s more – Australia’s best publishers and editors from most publishing houses

And there’s more – US Senior editor from Roaring Brook (Pan MacMillan) USA

And there’s more – some of the best of Australia and New Zealand’s illustrators in the Illustrator Showcase

And there’s more – launches, illustrator’s duel, Christmas Press limited edition prizes; and there more …. and then the SCBWI BAND – dinner party sing along with the fabulous Meredith Costain, James Foley on the guitar with Scott Chambers and Chris Cheng

…….

The post Gorge yourself on authors, illustrators, kids’ books industry ~ SCBWI Conference at The Hughenden appeared first on Susanne Gervay's Blog.

Add a Comment
6. Crystal Kites

and in all of the hullaballoo of the week ... I forgot to add this on Monday night when they were announced:

Congrats to Claire Saxby who received the 2011 Crystal Kite Award for our SCBWI Australia and New Zealand divison. Would love to be at the next Victorian SCBWI meeting!!!!

WHAT are the Crystal Kites you ask? Well they are the Awards that I set up here for our SCBWI chapter where members voted for their favourite published book of the preceeding year - a little like the Logies or the People's Choice Awards (or a National Children's Choice awards that should be run here)! One year it was a little Aussie / New Zealand thing, the net year it went global and all around the SCBWI membership folks voted for their favourite books published last year in their division.


And elsewhere in the world Candy Gourlay - who will be appearing on My Creating Space in the next few months, and my friends Sydney Salter (who appeared in a Christmas Memory post last year) and Jo Kittinger (who I will have to grab for this blog) also won the trophy for their respective divisions. Their books get stickered, they each receive a Crystal Trophy and more ...
As Chair of these awards (that's what happens when you come up with a great idea) it was absolutely amazing to see this happen. There were a few pinching-of-self too. Oh and it was awfully hard not to blab - but I DID keep the secret!

More on the Crystal Kites in the press release from the SCBWI website.
What an awesome BUZZ!!!

0 Comments on Crystal Kites as of 1/1/1900
Add a Comment
7. The Kids of Marysville School Receive Gifts of Hope

The 2009 Black Saturday  bushfires swept across Victorian townships causing devastation of community, life, land and animals. It was Australia’s highest ever loss of life from bushfires.

SCBWI Australia & New Zealand heads Chris Cheng and I made a call for new books for the schools and the Hope Cards for the kids of the bushfires and their families.

Children’s writers and illustrators from around the world sent beautiful autographed books collated by authors Corinne King and Claire Saxby with the support of the writing community.

The HOPE CARDS from around the world that were hand illustrated artwork was framed and the computer designed artwork printed in the HOPE CARD BOOKS with support from The Hughenden Literary & Arts Hotel and Final Frame.

The presentation to the children of the books and artwork, at the newly built Marysville Public School with the much loved principal Peri Dix  and teachers was moving.

It was renewal, love and hope for a bright new future.

Add a Comment
8. There Was a Nice Author...

I am really pleased to welcome my good friend Claire Saxby to the blog today. Claire is here on the first stop of her blog tour to promote her beautiful new picture book, There Was an Old Sailor, which was released on February 1.  Welcome Claire, and congratulations on the release of There Was an Old Sailor. 1. Has it been a long time from the birth of this concept until its release? Yes,

7 Comments on There Was a Nice Author..., last added: 2/8/2010
Display Comments Add a Comment
9.

Time for another writing quote to start the week. I am cheating and posting this week's quote a day early, because I have set tomorrow aside for a visit by my friend and fellow author Claire Saxby, who'll be dropping in tomorrow to kick off her blog tour. Today's quote is near and dear to me. I'll explain why after I've shared it: No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader. (Robert Frost)

1 Comments on , last added: 2/7/2010
Display Comments Add a Comment
10. Sheep Goat Blog Tour Day 6

I am delighted to welcome today my good friend and fellow author Claire Saxby, here as part of her blog tour to promote her wonderful new picture book, Sheep Goat and the Creaking Gate.Welcome Claire.1. What are you doing to promote Sheep Goat and the Creaking Gate?I'm having two launches, one in Adelaide on 16 August with Judith Rossell who is the very talented illustrator of Sheep, Goat and the

4 Comments on Sheep Goat Blog Tour Day 6, last added: 8/23/2009
Display Comments Add a Comment
11. SCBWI Hope Card from Margery Gardiner Victoria to the Kids of the Victorian Fires

Margery Gardiner the SCBWI HOPE CARDMargery illustrates with  colour and joy. She created this vibrant painting for the kids of the Victorian bush fires 2009 with love from the authors and illustrators of country Victoria.

Authors Corinne Fenton who heads the regional branch of Victoria SCBWI and assistant Claire Saxby organised the card and the authors words - because the kids authors and illustrators care.

With thanks - Susanne

Add a Comment
12. Guest Blogger: Claire Saxby

Day 29 of my month of celebrations for the release of Pearl Verses the World. Today I am delighted to welcome my friend and fellow poet, children’s author and blogger Claire Saxby to my blog. As part of my month long celebration of all things poetry, Claire has agreed to guest blog with a wonderful poetry exercise – and a beautiful poem.birthing a poemPoems can be like snapshots capturing a

0 Comments on Guest Blogger: Claire Saxby as of 5/28/2009 1:27:00 PM
Add a Comment
13. blog tour day 5

Welcome to day 5 of my celebrations for the release of Pearl Verses the World.Phew. The first four days have been action packed with blog tours, guest bloggers and the first big Verse-Off. Before we go on, I just want to thank everyone who has dropped in here at the blog, or at the other blogs I've been visiting, as well as those who've participated in the Verse Off and, especially, the people

0 Comments on blog tour day 5 as of 1/1/1900
Add a Comment
14. New Reviews

I've just added eighteen new reviews to Aussiereviews, thanks to the contribution of the wonderful Claire Saxby.Enjoy!

0 Comments on New Reviews as of 1/3/2009 2:38:00 PM
Add a Comment
15. Aussiereviews Updated

Have just spent my Saturday afternoon updating Aussiereviews with twenty one new reviews – possibly the most I’ve ever added in a single sitting. Ten of the reviews were by myself, ten by my colleague (and friend) Claire Saxby, and one by Murphlet 3, who enjoys reviewing when it means he gets to read a book before I do. Enjoy the new offerings – there is a real range of books there.

0 Comments on Aussiereviews Updated as of 5/31/2008 6:25:00 AM
Add a Comment
16. New Reviews

Have just added twelve new reviews to Aussiereviews, mostly contributed by my friend Claire Saxby. Enjoy!

0 Comments on New Reviews as of 1/1/1900
Add a Comment
17. 7 Weird/Random facts About Me

I have been tagged by Joh at johblogs. I’ve never been tagged before, but figure I’ll give it a go. Here’s how it works: Link to the person that tagged you, and post the rules on your blog. Share 7 random and/or weird facts about yourself. Tag 7 random people at the end of your post, and include links to their blogs.Let each person know that they’ve been tagged by leaving a comment on their

0 Comments on 7 Weird/Random facts About Me as of 1/1/1900
Add a Comment