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Our fabulous double bills are back – bringing you three big nights of international writers, presented back-to-back.From genre-bending fiction bestsellers to young adult authors with cult…
It’s been quite a week for Australian literary award shortlists (and a pair of longlists). We share them with you here – along with a reminder about the inaugural Stella Prize, with the winner…
Last Sunday, we held our annual Children’s Book Festival (in partnership with the State Library of Victoria). From 10am until 4pm, the State Library Lawns, our Performance Space, Little Lonsdale…
Celebrated children’s book illustrator Freya Blackwood has a diverse creative background – extending from working on special effects for the Lord of the Rings films to her many collaborative books…
Bronwyn Bancroft is a Bundjalung woman, fashion designer and artist, whose credits include being one of the first Australian designers to be invited to show their work in Paris. Her career in…
Calling all kids!Have you ever been to a party where everybody there loves stories as much as you do? And all your favourite authors are there, talking about all your favourite characters? And you…
What were your favourite childhood reads? The books that formed and nurtured your childhood imagination?In honour of the Children’s Book Festival this weekend, Wheeler Centre staff have shared their …
Let the wild rumpus start!The Wheeler Centre kicks off our first season of events with a celebration of storytelling that revels in the deepest recesses of the imagination. This year, we dedicate…
Rock star writer Neil Gaiman has a reputation for reinventing genres – and for following his imagination wherever it leads. He’s written everything from journalism to episodes of Doctor Who, fantasy …
In 2012, we partnered with one of Melbourne’s oldest institutions to create the Wheeler Centre Zoo Fellowships – a unique opportunity for Melbourne artists to soak up the zoo’s surrounds and create w…
Bedtime stories are a treasured ritual for parents and children everywhere – and not just because they’re the best recipe invented for a good night’s sleep.Mem Fox and Judy Horacek, the much-loved…
We share some of our favourite links and articles found on the internet this week.Mitt Romney versus Big Bird versus ObamaThe US presidential campaign has taken another bizarre pop culture twist in t…
Most people know that children’s author Dr Seuss used a pseudonym: his real name was Theodor Geisel. But did you know that his day job was in advertising?In this week’s Friday High Five, we share
We take a look at our five favourite links from around the internet this week.Keep the night-light on: Terrifying French picture booksSome believe we should tread cautiously with our children’s…
When Jeff Kinney created Diary of a Wimpy Kid, he thought he was telling stories for adults who like cartoons. Instead, the eccentric everyday comic adventures of middle-class middle child Greg…
When Jeff Kinney created Diary of a Wimpy Kid, he thought he was telling stories for adults who like cartoons. Instead, the eccentric everyday comic adventures of middle-class middle child Greg…
For the Children’s Book Festival, co-presented with the State Library of Victoria, 2012-2013 Australian Children’s Laureates Boori Monty Pryor and Alison Lester join Paula Kelly to discuss their…
Thanks to all who joined us yesterday for our big day out for small people, the Children’s Book Festival.A crowd of 13,000 little literati populated the State Library lawns and Little Lonsdale…
The big event on the calendar of all lovers of children’s literature is back! On Sunday 25 March, your favourite authors and illustrators will be taking over the lawns of the State Library for a day …
The big event on the calendar of all lovers of children’s literature is back! On Sunday 25 March, your favourite authors and illustrators will be taking over the lawns of the State Library for a day …
The big event on the calendar of all lovers of children’s literature is back! On Sunday 25 March, your favourite authors and illustrators will be taking over the lawns of the State Library for a day …
Surreal, edgy and darkly comic, Etgar Keret has established his reputation as a major international talent. In Israel, he’s seen as a worthy successor to the Amos Oz generation with work that is as b…
Working with Words is a series where we talk to writers about their work – and other bookish things. This time, we talk to Andy Griffiths, Australia’s most popular children’s writer.Andy is best…
Our article on the politics of pink and pastel Lego for girls provoked furious debate on our Twitter and Facebook accounts last week. Writer, philosopher and dad Damon Young, one of those who spoke…
The Age reported today that Lego’s controversial new line for girls, Lego Friends, has won Toy of the Year for its City Park Cafe.Lego Friends was launched last December, with curvy doll-like…
We share five of our favourite links to news, reviews or articles that we’ve discovered over the past week.Feast of Thrones: Eyeballs, pigs’ heads and dragon eggsFans of Game of Thrones, the series b…
From Coraline to The Sandman and American Gods to Doctor Who, Neil Gaiman has made his mark by bringing fantasy and sci-fi from the fringe and into the spotlight. Gaiman joins Clem Bastow onstage to …
Is it too soon? Just 11 years after it was first brought to screen, Bret Easton Ellis' novel American Psycho is set to be remade. Variety reported last week that Lionsgate has a remake of the film…
The Dolly Parton show is in town and so it’s a good occasion to pay tribute to the veteran country singer’s work to promote literacy among poor kids. Since 1996, Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library…
In 1984, American author Chris Van Allsburg published a book called The Mysteries of Harris Burdick. The highly unusual book consisted of a series of drawings with a title and a single line. The…
A picture really is worth a thousand words, creating new worlds and new readers. In this discussion, two of the craft’s leading exponents, Roland Harvey and Alison Lester, paint a picture of the…
Illiteracy and poverty go hand in hand. There are almost 800 million adults and children alive today who can’t read, and most of them live in the developing world. Closer to home, only 15% of…
Image credit: Ingvar Kenne Mark Mordue on why modern-day fatherhood is all about eating breakfast standing up.It’s Father’s Day morning, the year 2011. No Glad Wrap in the …
You’ve heard Samuel L. Jackson read it. You’ve maybe even heard Werner Herzog read it. But have you heard Australia’s favourite storybook reader, Noni Hazlehurst, read the children’s book spoof…
For generations of children and adults alike, Ruth Park was a mainstay of Australia’s literary community. Ruth Park died on 14 December 2010, aged 93. With Michael Williams, acclaimed actor Anne…
German ‘Sesame Street’ logo via WikiCommons A new book claims that television shows such as Sesame Street propagate radical left-wing ideology. Newspapers across the world …
Melbourne author Alison Goodman’s fantasy children’s book Eona has debuted at number five on the New York Times best-seller list in its category. The children’s chapter book best-seller list lists…
Four Australian author-illustrators of children’s books will be touring China this month and next as part of an initiative to promote the local industry in the Middle Kingdom. The tour, billed as…
A kids' book with a twist is proving to be a pre-publishing phenomenon in the US. The book, Go the F—– to Sleep, is actually an adult cry for help, presented in a tongue-in-cheek spirit as a kids…
The shortlist for the Children’s Book of the Year has been announced. The awards – hosted by the Children’s Book Council of Australia – are the nation’s most prestigious. Congratulations to all…
If you pass the State Library lawns today and they seem to have a slightly crumpled look, you’re not hallucinating. It’s estimated that about 9,000 kids, parents and grandparents attended the…
In partnership with the State Library of Victoria..On Sunday April 3, your favourite authors and illustrators will be taking over the lawns of the State Library for a day of books, books, books…
All week we’ve run a series of articles on kids' and young adult books to coincide with the inaugural Children’s Book Festival this Sunday from 10am to 4pm.Today we finish the series by following up …
We add our congratulations to the long list of accolades for Shaun Tan, who’s backed up his Oscar win with the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award. Worth 5 million krona ($765,000), it’s the world’s…
The conventional wisdom is that it’s usually wise to read the book before you see the film. But as filmmakers cast their sights further and further afield for inspiration, sometimes the film is…
In the lead-up to the Children’s Book Festival on Sunday, Chris Morphew is blogging this week on the website of ABC Radio National’s Book Show.Chris is a young adult author who’ll be appearing at…
Winners of the Book Trust’s Best New Illustrators Award have been announced in the UK. According to the Trust’s website, the winners – Joe Berger, Claudia Boldt, Katie Cleminson, Chris Haughton…
Look up the word ‘parenting’ on Amazon and expect to wade through some 61,559 responses. ‘Pregnancy’ is slightly more manageable at 25,678.First-time couples about to embark on the long haul of…
It seems the world of ideas is in the throes of one of its periodic visitations on the subject of talent, success and parenting. This latest wave is all about tough love. Just in the last few weeks, …
Freya Blackwood, illustration from Amy and Louis, text by Libby Gleeson, Scholastic Press, 2006, watercolour on paper, courtesy of the artist Look! The art of Australian…
Curious George is one of the characters appearing on an app this Christmas Just in time for stocking stuffers, Publisher’s Weekly have surveyed what children’s publishers a…
An unfinished manuscript by Theodore Geisel, better known to children for generations as Dr Seuss, has recently been sold at auction and there’s excitement that it will add a new word to…
Just when you’re recovering from the Booker surprise, the National Book Foundation (NBF) has announced the finalist for the US-based National Book Awards and closer to home Inside a Dog has…
And the books shortlisted for the Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards YA Prize are: Raw Blue by Kirsty Eagar Swerve by Phillip Gwynne Beatle Meets Destiny by Gabrielle Williams Phew. I don’t have to …
Writer/illustrator Sally Rippin On his way out, Kevin Rudd selected an interesting shortlist for this year’s Prime Minister’s Prize.Along with fiction (J. M. Coetzee…
