Trudie Trewin

Wibbly Wobbly’s a notable too!

Trudie Trewin — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 06:38:06 +0000

Today the CBCA announced their notables and shortlisted books.

And Wibbly Wobbly Street is on the list as a notable – I’m happy dancing again!

The complete list of notables and shortlisted books can be found here. It’s full of great books, and I’m honoured that Wibbly Wobbly Street has been included.

And since I’m still celebrating Wibbly Wobbly Street’s White Raven listing, don’t be surprised if I look a little wibbly wobbly myself tonight!

Camp Croc

Trudie Trewin — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 04:43:36 +0000

Look what arrived in the mail today – my advance copy of Camp Croc!

I love the croc on the cover.

And just to show I’m no wimp when it comes to crocs, I celebrated the arrival of my book by doing some croc-wrestling.

Walker Books suggested it would be nice to include an interesting photo on the Lightning Strikes web page when they add Camp Croc to it, so I stepped up to the challenge. The nice people at Hartley’s Crocodile Adventures let me come in and take on some of their most fearsome crocs.

Okay, so this one is actually made of fibreglass and not likely to do much damage – although it’s been raining a bit and I could have slipped off and sprained a wrist I suppose.

This one, however, is real.

Well, real but stuffed. His name is Charlie and was the original croc at Hartley’s. When I first arrived in Cairns he was was decidedly more active, sadly, he died in 2000.

This one, is both real AND breathing! He might only be one year old, but the muscles in his tail are already amazingly strong, and his jaws are capable of leaving a finger dangling by a thread.

Once I had subdued him though he was putty in my hands, and even let me kiss him. The Croc-whisperer, that’s what they call me now!

Wibbly Wobbly’s a White Raven!

Trudie Trewin — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 02:47:44 +0000

Today I am gob-smacked. And ever so slightly stoked!

Every year the International Youth Library select 250 newly published books from around the world for their White Ravens list. The White Raven label is given to books that ‘deserve worldwide attention because of their universal themes and/or their exceptional and often innovative artistic and literary style and design’. And to my delight, Wibbly Wobbly Street is one of them for 2011!

Eleven books from Australia made the list this year, you can see them all here:

http://content.boomerangbooks.com.au/blog/oz-nz-authors-make-2011-white-ravens-list/2011/04

This is me today:

Happy, happy day

Trudie Trewin — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 23:32:46 +0000

I know I haven’t posted anything here for a while, but today is too momentous to let pass without comment….

This morning, our eldest son headed off for his first day at high school. But it’s not the passing from child to young adult that makes this such a happy day for us. And it’s not the fact that he looks so grown-up in his new uniform either (although he certainly does). And it’s not even the fact that he’s headed off to school full of excitement, with a heart full of hopes and plans for new experiences and expanded horizons.

Nope, what makes this such a happy, happy day for us is the knowledge that today he will finally, finally… eat the lunch I packed for him!!

You see, for the last eight years (prep through to year 7) his lunch boxes have returned almost as full as I sent them off. Because there is only ONE sandwich that my son will eat… peanut butter. And our primary school has a strict ‘no nuts’ policy.

But there is no such rule at the high school – so now I can look forward to five years of empty lunch boxes – YAY!!!!

…Unless of course he comes home and tells me that peanut butter sandwiches aren’t ‘cool’ enough for high school…. what are the chances?

What’s with the names?

Trudie Trewin — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 01:33:42 +0000

As a writer, I’ll sometimes give my characters unusual and weird names, especially to add some humour.

But as a parent I much rather the names that have stood the test of time. And I like to spell them normally too – I was never even slightly tempted to write ‘Danyule’ on the birth certificate. I am constantly amazed by some of the names I hear, and the reasons behind them…

The other day I heard of a child given the name ‘Maakee’, because when the mother was little she had trouble saying monkey, and that’s how it came out.

Lucky for my kids I didn’t go down that path… when I was little I had trouble with the word ‘coat-hanger’. Just imagine introducing young ‘Goat Angg Angger Trewin‘ to his year one class mates!

And if my kids use this method of naming, I’ll end up with Copenopen Trewin (coconut), and Elbumow Trewin (elbow) for grandkids!

Eeek!

Doodling Ukuleles

Trudie Trewin — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 23:00:25 +0000

I love the Ukulele. There, I’ve said it – and in a public forum to boot! It’s fun and lively, and captures the relaxed lifestyle of the Pacific Ocean tropics perfectly. Cairns is holding its inaugural Ukulele Festival this week and I’m looking forward to kicking back on the Esplanade and listening to some of the performances. (For those currently in the grip of the cold snap down south, it’s likely that there will be blue skies, and around 27 beautiful degrees drifting lazily on the breeze!)

One component of the festival is the Uke Art Exhibition on display at the Cairns Regional Gallery. Some local, national and international artists have decorated ukuleles, which will be sold to raise money for the Duchenne Foundation. I browsed through the eclectic collection last weekend, and thought I’d share some of my favourites with you.

Some were decorated with lovely paintings…

Hayley Gillespie

John Phillips

Shaun Tan

Karen Cousens

Some were decorated with paper or beads…

Some were amazing, but unplayable!

Geoff Dixon

kendall Booth-Thomson

And this one played itself…

Kevin Mayo

This one was cool, but a little scary…

Greg Dwyer

But these four were my favourites. So much fun, just like the ukulele…

Gary Myers

Tohby Riddle

Colin Thompson

Michael Salmon

Some of these ukuleles are for sale on ebay, with the proceeds going to the Duchenne Foundation. Here’s the link:

http://shop.ebay.com.au/dmdfoundation/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_from=&_ipg=&_trksid=p4340

Worth every shiver

Trudie Trewin — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 00:42:28 +0000

Last Thursday I flew to Sydney for the NSW CBCA conference. On the plane trip down I worked out that this was the first time I would be spending a weekend down south during winter in 21 years! I looped the scarf around my neck a couple more times – would the conference be worth facing single digit degrees?

Well, YES! I had a blast. I spent two days listening to some of Australia’s best writers and illustrators. All were inspiring, some were inspiring and funny, and even inspiring, funny and a teensy bit cute (yep, Markus Zusak was one of the presenters).

But wait, that wasn’t the best bit. The best bit was the social side – catching up with old friends and making new ones. Living so far away from the capital cities means opportunities such as these are almost non-existent, so for me the morning teas, lunches and dinners were very much the icing on the cake! In fact, an extra day at the end, dedicated to social-surfing, would be about the only thing the conference lacked.

Oh, but wait… the very best bit… it wasn’t even that cold!

Some reviews

Trudie Trewin — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 10:45:38 +0000

Here are some lovely reviews for Wibbly Wobbly Street that Google has dropped in my in box recently….

http://newkidsbooksinoz.blogspot.com/2010/06/picture-book-delights.html

http://content.boomerangbooks.com.au/blog/wibbly-wobbly-street-by-trudie-trewin-cheryl-orsini/2010/05

http://www.aussiereviews.com/article3106.html

http://deborahabela.wordpress.com/2010/05/14/wobbly-streets-trick-riders-and-creepy-stuff/

Gotta love those google alerts!

Where did he get it from?

Trudie Trewin — Thu, 27 May 2010 10:53:37 +0000

My stick people look like someone took a hammer to an octagon and tried to sweep up the mess. My husband’s effort is even worse. So how did we produce a 10 yo son who can do this….

He was inspired by a painting he found online, the original painting is by Jennifer Young and can be found here. (Thanks, Jennifer, for allowing me to indulge my maternal pride and display it on my blog)

I know he’s still young, and who knows, maybe I just think he’s talented because, well, he’s my son! But how cool would it be if he could one day illustrate one of my picture books?

Now that’s a good lookin’ board!

Trudie Trewin — Fri, 21 May 2010 03:08:12 +0000

No 1 on the best-seller board at Collins Booksellers at Smithfield!

A few facts:

1. I didn’t put it there.

2. It’ll only be there for a week.

3. It’s only there because Collins were my booksellers at the launch on Sunday, and so the sales figures are a little distorted.

4. If you’re looking for me for the rest of the week, I’ll be sitting in front of that board!

Whoo – hoo!