Posts by Megan Daley
‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’ at QPAC
I laughed, teared up (several times) and applauded enthusiastically from the first note to the final bow of ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’ at the Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC) last night. We could all do with being transported to a better place right now and the fantastical world of Wonka is absolutely the place to…
Read MoreBooks for Tweens and Teens
I’ve been collecting books for tweens and teens on *all of the things* for many years now – for the various schools I have worked at and for my own children. I am not a doctor, psychologist or high school teacher (definitely no expert) but between a shelf full of books with *all of the…
Read MoreBook Week Costumes for Kids
I am a Book Week tragic from way back. As a child I have vivid memories of planning my Book Week costumes with my teacher librarian mum, my favourite being the year my sister and I went as gumnut babies from the iconic May Gibbs books. I know some people dread the planning of the Book…
Read MoreBook Week Costumes for Educators
Many moons ago, when I was a young classroom teacher and still bopping around at raves and weekend music festivals, I lived for Book Week costume planning. My love for over the top rave and festival outfits was poured into planning Book Week costumes that involved an extreme amount of glitter and tulle and my…
Read MoreBooks by First Nations Authors and Illustrators for Children to Teens
National NAIDOC Week is a celebration of 65,000 years of history, culture and achievements and an opportunity to discuss and action a just future. Story has the power to educate and to heal and below you will find some of my absolute favourite texts by First Nations authors and illustrators in approximate age group order.…
Read MoreBluey’s Big Play The Stage Show
The smallest bee (5 years old) and I had a #kiddate at QPAC last night, to see ‘Bluey’s Big Play The Stage Show’. Me: So Bluey on the stage is going to be a puppet show with a ‘real life’ Bluey and Bingo puppets that are super big! Smallest Bee (quizzical look on face): The…
Read MoreMother’s Day
All families are different and I try very hard to feature books here on my blog for all families. Mother’s Day can be a beautiful day of honouring your mum or mother figure, or it may be a really tricky or fraught day for you….I so understand this. My own mum is superb and I know…
Read MoreSecrets of the Honey Bee
Many of you will know that I have long loved bees – one of my very first posts on this blog was ‘Books About Bees’ and I have done a plethora of posts and reviews since. I have an entire shelf dedicated to books about bees, I am ‘the beekeeper’ for our native bees at…
Read MorePicture Books for All
The other day I received an email from a reader, expressing her disappointment that her Year Three daughter had been told that she can no longer borrow picture books from the school library, only novels. Clearly, this sent me off the deep end as there is no age limit on picture books… High quality contemporary…
Read MoreBooks to Support Earth Hour
For some years now, the girls and I have taken part in WWF’s Earth Hour. Earth Hour began in 2007 in Sydney and has become a global movement to protect our planet. It is the responsibility of us all to care for our planet and while I know I could do so much more, here…
Read MoreTristan Bancks Young Writers’ StorySchool
Tristan Bancks has written some of my favourite books for middle primary students, tweens and teens, including ‘Two Wolves’ , ‘The Fall’ , ‘Detention’, the ‘Tom Weekly’ series and ‘Nit Boy’. His author visits are some of the most memorable I have hosted and they are always followed by a huge spike in borrowing of…
Read MoreTheatre People: Nelle Lee
Shake & stir is one of the country’s leading contemporary theatre companies touring Australia and New Zealand since 2006. They tour as in-school and mainstage productions and are well known for their book to stage adaptions, making them one of my favourite theatre companies, because clearly, I love seeing books come to life! Adaptations have…
Read MoreBook People: Kirli Saunders
I interviewed Kirli Saunders in 2018 when her first book, ‘The Incredible Freedom Machines‘ was released (see here for that interview) and I have followed her work with interest ever since. Her latest book is ‘Bindi’ (illustrated by the incomparable Dub Leffler) and was the winner of the Daisy Utemorrah Award. I adore verse novels…
Read MoreAnd then there was six…
Since Dan’s death, the girls and I have been a team of three. A team of three surrounded by family and a village of people who have supported us online and offline in ways that continue to astound me – we have truly experienced the best of people. And now the strangest thing has happened.…
Read MorePersonalised kids’ books teaching the value of vulnerability
There are some moments in life which are calling out for a personalised book experience – even though I could count on one hand the number of such books I’ve ‘approved of’ over the years! I recently came across the My Big Moments personalised books and they blow all stereotypes of personalised books out of…
Read MoreGifts Which are Literary & Lovely
The lovely bits and pieces in this post are gift ideas for colleagues, friends, family and teachers – a bit of a mash up of all the things I love and I think you will also love. They are not sponsored ideas, though some links are affiliate links (which cost the buyer nothing) and which…
Read MoreBook People: Ted Prior
It is hard to imagine a time when ‘Grug’ did not exist. I feel like I grew up reading about the funny little character who began his life as the top of a Burrawang tree books and the first was written in 1979 so they are absolutely my vintage! It is testament to the writing…
Read MoreThe lifespan of a good book
We often read stories about well-loved teddy bears or dolls and the imagined adventures they have had over their lifespan. It’s somehow comforting to see an old toy loved again – the ones who have been repaired and patched and given new life. But have you ever thought about well-loved children’s books and the stories…
Read MoreBook People: Kate Gordon
Kate Gordon’s writing in ‘Aster’s Good, Right Things’ is at times so authentic that it makes you wince with the pain and anguish of it all but ultimately wraps you up in immense beauty and goodness. This is one of my favourite middle grade reads in a long time and I’m recommending it to all…
Read MoreYou can be anything. Be your own man…
When I first read ‘Love Your Body’ by Jessica Saunders, I felt so very grateful to be living in an age where my girls had access to a book like this. This week I have read her latest book ‘Be Your Own Man’ and this time I thought ‘my glory how far we have come…
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