Storytime

I am a reader, always have been. I read for pleasure and enjoyment. In fact it's part of my nightly ritual, to read in bed before I go to sleep. Sometimes tiredness overrules and the book is put down after half an hour, other times and I'm reading and reading until I realise it is a silly hour in the morning and I have to get up soon. I always have a stack of books by the bed. In fact I begin to worry when I'm down to reading my last book. Small case of abibliophobia- the fear of running out of reading material. Which frankly, would never happen, as there are bookcases full of books in this house...but...the worry persists. Over time I have noticed I have changed the way I read. Now I read as a writer. I'm pulled out of the story with inconsistent details. I'm annoyed by sloppy writing. Frustrated by bad dialogue. I listen to audio books in the car on my way to work and back. I've found that mysteries/ thrillers/ crime stories keep my interest on the...

Part of my day job is working with children and their parents. From new born babies all the way up to teens and I'm always amazed when someone will ask 'but how do you make books fun?' To me, it's very very simple. You begin when they are babies and make books a part of their life. You give them books before they even know what they are about. You let them feel them, play with them, yes even bite them (it's how babies learn). And you read to them, whenever, wherever. A board book takes only a few minutes to read. But what it offers up to children is 100 times more. It promotes brain development, improves concentration, builds up a child's imagination, teaches them new things, helps with language skills and vocabulary. The list goes on and on.... It's also a great way to strengthen your relationship. But the main thing is to make children realise that books are FUN. Recently we had two of the grandchildren here, and as naturally as co...

February 14th is a day to celebrate. I'm not talking soppy sentimental cards and last minute dash to the florist or petrol station for a bunch of sad flowers...but.....LIBRARY LOVERS' DAY. Time to celebrate ALL the reasons why we love our libraries. I've spent this week getting some really intense feedback on why some of our patrons love the library. The fact that all of these patrons were under the age of five is irrelevant...they have legitimate reasons why the library is the place to be. Go Sophia! And of course libraries have moved on from simply having print books, we have audio and e-books and e-audio. We have magazines, both in print and online. Non-fiction, biography, graphic novels, manga, genres, newspapers, books in other languages.... Yes, we are a definite base of learning. Both in person with a huge variety of workshops, seminars and classes being held, weekly or monthly. Everything from yoga to gardening, digital education and making preser...

Another year, another Book Week...another excuse for us all to dress up. Not that many at my work place need an excuse. Frankly a 'It's Friday, dress up day' would suit the majority of us. (except for me, I don't work Fridays). But you get the idea. This year we had some fun celebrating the joy of Book Week.  There was an extravaganza with face painters and stories and scavenger hunts and book making. Each day there have been themes. Friday was Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Saturday, as you can see from the above picture, was anything. Monday and we were Dr Seuss (although I came as Little Red Riding Hood) Tuesday and we were fairies - as yet no group photo but... There were wings. A huge variety of wings. Can I say I had a bad case of wing envy. Some were AMAZING. Bit of a problem when coming too close to people, but they were beautiful. Huge part of Book Week (apart from the chance to have fun dressing up) is to celebrate books. We look at the ...

We all read to our children...I'll take a step back and say we SHOULD all read to our children. To the majority of us it's natural to have a baby/small child in our arms and a book in the other. And we read to them. It's a huge part of my job. I read to babies...I read to toddlers....I read to preschoolers...I read to school-age children. In fact I'll read to anyone and everyone. There are several library users who have limited sight and like help choosing their audio books. I enjoy reading the blurb out loud....most times putting on voices as I go along. (who doesn't?) And by now we all know how good .... important .....VITAL it is to read to children. Reading to babies and toddlers comes naturally to us...but we tend to get to an age when we stop reading to our children. Usually this is when they are able to read by themselves. When they can enjoy a book alone. But why do we stop reading out loud to them? At work we read to children all the time...

My name is Vicki and I have books. We have books. Lots of books. Books in bookshelves, books on top of bookshelves, beside bedside tables, on top of bedside tables. Books on desks, on shelves...books in cupboards. Books in the kitchen, in every bedroom, in the lounge room, the dining room. In fact if I go to your house and discover no books, I don't know if I can trust you. I mean, really...not one book...what sort of person are you? However the tidiest selection of books are in daughter's bedroom...or the visitor's bedroom. Everyone from my sister, nieces, nephews, friends and their kids, but mostly grand daughter...this is where they stay- hence the collection of picture books. (won't mention the two bags of books under the bed in this room.....I've just started delving into these and therefore no room..as yet...for them) The books in cupboards are in a mess, but because they are in cupboards I really don't care. Unless I REALLY need that book....

Last weekend I went on my first, ever, trek to Booktown (aka Clunes). With good company (daughter ) it was a lovely drive (not the part through the city) but after that, out to the west, with the autumn trees beginning their brassy show. Quite pastoral and picturesque. I discovered new things... On a side note- how on earth have I missed potato twisters? Where have I been? Of course I went, not for the potatoes...nor the mulled wine.....nor the home made ice-cream - I mean Turkish Delight flavour..yummmmm.....I went for the books. And books there were. Books in all sorts, sizes, shapes, conditions..and price. Even some fancy lamps made out of books.... with a fancy price tag. Because of where I work, I was positive I was not going to buy fiction---I mean I'm surrounded by books, all sorts of books and I rarely read the same book over and over. There are a few exceptions but I'll save that for another post...so I was determined to ignore the fiction, an...

It's that time of the year...Christmas merely a few weeks / days ....seems like seconds away...and for some reason we have a lot of birthdays towards the end and beginning of the year. So it's present time. Thinking, thinking...what to give? And the answer of course is...books. Yep. The old fashioned, actual able to be held in your hand, kind of books. Most years over half of my givees receive a book of some description.  Even those that have kindles - or read everything via Ipads and Iphones - I give books.  Mostly because a lot of these books are 'coffee table' books. The kind that have the most amazing photos...where you have to slowly flip through....pause, admire...not on a small or smallish screen but in a good A3 kind of size. And yes, I still believe  in the actual touch and feel of a book (can't be beaten). This time of year I'm in book shops like a kid in a candy store. Eyes wide, transfixed smile on my face as I wander around, thin...

Last weekend I went to Tarra Warra Museum of Art  in Healesville to see the 2012 Archibald Prize. I had never been to the museum before and it was a lovely day spent in a very pretty part of Victoria. The museum itself is a modern building with views of the surrounding countryside and mountains in the distance. I will freely admit I don't know a lot about art. I enjoy looking at it and I marvel at the creativity involved. And this was no exception. I found myself asking questions such as 'why did the artist portray the person this way?' 'Why this art form?' 'Who is the influence behind this work?' (And some of the conversations you overhear are amazing but I digress) One painting that stopped me in my tracks was the self portait by Robin Eley  ( you can view it here). Not only was it arresting on so many levels but he had set the portrait in 13 shapes, deconstructed the whole into these smaller parts. Ten of these were books that he had custom bound f...