On Wednesday, September 30th a filming session was held in the Ardtornish Primary School Library for SA children’s authors and illustrators. This was a quickly organised event to help compensate for the cancelled “Creative Connection” to have been held on November 13th. Not all the authors and illustrators could be present but 7 new publications were featured, “Indigo Owl” by Charlie Archbold, “A Boy and a Ball” by Phil Cummings, “Edie’s Experiments: How to be the Best”, by Charlotte Barkla, “Eloise and the Bucket of Stars” by Janeen Brian, “Meet Mia at the Jetty” by Janeen Brian and Danny Snell, “Esmeralda’s Nest” by Robert Moore and Mandy Foot and “Molly Moores has a House like yours” by Kaliah Tsakalidis and Ross Morgan. Lauren did a great job in filming and editing the movies and Janeen in organising the authors and illustrators. We now have the promo shots and most of the movies completed for a segment we have named “Book Bubbles”. Each author or illustrator donated a signed copy of their book to use as a Facebook promotion. CBCA SA Branch also has their own YouTube channel, where you see all the “Book Bubbles” book trailers.

On Tuesday, September 29th, 2 concurrent PD sessions were held at Ardtornish Primary School Gym.
The first session, “What to do after level 30” was a 2-hour presentation on how to use children’s literature as the focus for the classroom reading program. The topics ranged from how to select a “Just Right” book to record keeping for both teachers and students, book trailers and classroom libraries. Scholastic, a CBCA SA Branch sponsor supported the event with free giveaways, a chance to win a poetry pack and the opportunity of a free copy of a Donalyn Miller book. Another sponsor, Greenlight Comics kindly gave each attendee a comic pack to take away.
There was an hour break for lunch, after which the second afternoon session, “A Mixed Bag” Arts PD 3-hour presentation began. There were 2 guest presenters, Kristin Martin, poet and Lauren Mullinder, illustrator who gave wonderful hands on presentations on poetry writing and dragon drawing.
A variety of presenters gave informative talks with examples on how to connect the arts and writing to children’s literature, in particular the 2020 Short list and Notables books.
At each presentation a raffle was held where the winning prize was original artwork by Greg Holfeld and Greg kindly donated signed copies of his books as part of the prize.
 
The PD committee worked very hard setting up the Ardtornish School Gym and it was transformed into an exciting and welcoming environment.
The “Mixed Bag” Arts PD PowerPoint is now ready for sale for $20 on our website.

Thank you to Brenda George, Lauren Mullinder, Kathryn Beilby and Kate Jones for the many hours of work they spent making the art, the PowerPoint and setting up the gym. Thank you to our SA Branch Director for helping with the heavy lifting.

CBCA (SA) was pleased to support the launch of our member Mike Dumbleton's book, Anisa's Alphabet on Friday 13 March at Burnside Town Hall in front of 300 invited guests. 
It was a night filled with the warmth, humour and compassion, surrounding the topic of refugees and their strength, resilience and contribution to Australian society. It was supported by powerful and moving renditions of the National Anthem and I am Australian by a children's choir from Playford College. 
The Governor of South Australia, His Excellency, the Honorable Hieu Van Le AC, launched the book and shared his personal story as a refugee. 
The launch raised $500 for the Refugee Association of Australia.
Congratulations Mike, illustrator Hannah Sommerville, and South Australian publisher Midnight Sun for a beautiful book.

Katharine England OAM was awarded Life Membership of the CBCA (SA) Branch at the 2020 AGM on 24 February 2020 by Branch president Julie Wells in recognition of her exceptional service to the Branch over an extended time.
Her Citation read
"As President of the South Australian Branch of The Children’s Book Council of Australia, and on behalf of the SA Committee and Branch members, I take great pleasure in announcing that Katharine England is a recipient of a Life Membership for the organisation.
 
This award is an acknowledgement of the wonderful contribution Katharine England has made over many years.
Katharine first joined the CBCA in 1992, serving as committee member for most of the years since then; 4 years as Branch President 1997, 1998, 2011 and 2012.
She was Vice-President from 2000 to 2010 and again in 2014.
 
Katharine served as a Judge for the CBCA Awards on three separate occasions: 1993-94, 1997-98, and 2017-18.  This has been a huge commitment particularly when we consider in the years past, judges were asked to read every book entered from cover to cover and produce a written report on each, plus fulfilling the expectation for giving a talk at various events in the home state about the Short List.
 
As we are all aware, Katharine has long been our Branch’s resident literary expert.  Undoubtedly, she is the most well read of reviewers of children’s literature in Australia.  Her columns in The Advertiser – for which she has been a reviewer of over 50 years – are masterly – thoughtfully written and so well researched.  Many readers rely on her expertise in recommending titles and have always done so. 
 
In addition, Katharine has guided emerging writers, attended conferences, judged for other literary awards and written reviews for numerous publications.
This vast field of experience means that she has offered the SA Branch a greater depth of understanding of children’s literature, along with valuable insights and wisdom, which she has always been happy to share.
 
Thank you Katharine for your amazing contribution to the CBCA SA Branch."

Nearly 50 people attended the combined Book Blitz and AGM held at Unley Town Hall on Monday 24 February 2020.
Our sponsors Emma Heyen from Harry Hartog, Dan McGuiness from Greenlight Comics, Pat Pledger from ReadPlus, and Anne Cameron from Scholastic 'blitzed' us with "Ten in Ten' - their top ten new and hot books in 10 minutes. 
Members can access these lists from the Members only page of this website.
As well as formal presentation and acceptance of reports (also available on the SA Members only page), presentations were also made to Katharine England OAM as a new Life member for services to the SA Branch, and Julie Wells as outgoing Branch President.
Elections for the new committee were as follows  - President, Jane Moore; Secretary, Nola Uzzell; Treasurer, Anna Angelakis; Committee members - Caitlin Hadrill, Lauren Mullinder, Brenda George, Karyn Stephens, Jo Marshall, Judy Miller, Kate Jones, Kate McBride, Linda Guthrie, Maria Komninos, Sharolyn Talbot, Wendy Jeffreys, Margaret Wilkinson, Josephine Gaskell. 

The South Australian Branch of CBCA joined with Unley Libraries to co-host a magical evening with the wonderful and acclaimed children's author Jackie French.
Jackie took the sellout audience on a magical mystery tour as she explored her ideas for turning kids onto tr readers, (and keeping them there!), and her passions for meticulously researching and uncovering the forgotten or hidden parts of history, particularly as they relate to women and indigenous Australians, and giving voice to these through her stories so that all children and young people can access them in an entertaining and meaningful way.

Through Jackie's generosity, the Branch was able to provide $500 to support students in member schools to attend school based workshops during her three day visit to South Australia. 
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Our sponsors, Scholastic Australia and Harry Hartog Burnside Village, supported the event with book sales and raffle prizes.

rhe CBCA (SA) Branch and our Gold Sponsor, Dymocks Rundle Mall, were pleased to join together to host a free community event celebrating South Australian authors and illustrators of YA and children's literature. 
Host Allayne Webster was joined by Adam Cece, Beck Nicholas, Sean Williams, Margot McGovern, S.J.  Morgan, Poppy Nwosu, Jared Morgan and Dan McGuinness for a rollicking night of fun and exploration of the stories behind the books.
Stories were told of how our guests started their craft, their earliest children's literature favourites, and their current projects - all illustrated on the spot by Dan, interspersed with  games and musical interludes from our talented guests!
Some of these authors are available for school and library visits through another of our Gold sponsors Becky's Literary Bookings.
On a serious note Margot highlighted the importance of recognizing the importance of Australian YA Literature and the the work and resources of the LoveOzYA project. 

Thank you authors and illustrators. Thank you Dymocks Rundle Mall for a great night.

Jean Waddington and Sally Heinrich were sponsored by the Branch to attend the CBCA National Conference "And Now We're Laughing"  earlier this year.

Prior to the October Committee meeting they shared their Memorable Moments with the Committee and Branch Members over wine and cheese.

​A number of the members present stayed on as guests at the Committee meeting that followed to get a better sense of the workings of the Branch and perhaps be inspired to join the Committee.

 We hope to have the PowerPoint from the night available to Members on the Members Only page of the website.