Australian children's books of the year 2013:

I'm likely repeating myself when I say that I have a high opinion of Australian literary awards. I know that awards of any kind are often frought with controversy, but I think literary awards are important for the publishing industry, for the development of literary culture, and for the writers themselves. Awards are also great for readers, because, in spite of their flaws and the fact that any prize is subjective and influenced by so many details, awards provide readers with a list of books which a number of intelligent and thoughtful people have examined and found to be not just worthy of reading, but seriously seriously recommended.

A week and a bit ago, the Children's Book Council of Australia award winners for 2013 were announced, and the lineup looks great.

Book of the Year: Older Readers 
(Note: these books are for mature readers)
Winner Margo Lanagan, Sea Hearts
Honour Books Neil Grant, The Ink Bridge + Vikki Wakefield, Friday Brown

Book of the Year: Younger Readers 
Winner Sonya Hartnett, The Children of the King
Honour Books Jackie French, Pennies for Hitler  + Glenda Millard, ill. Stephen Michael King, The Tender Moments of Saffron Silk

Book of the Year: Early Childhood
Winner Emma Allen ill. Freya Blackwood, The Terrible Suitcase 
Honour Books Tania Cox ill. Karen Blair, With Nan  + Ursula Dubosarsky, ill. Andrew Joyner, Too Many Elephants in This House 

Picture Book of the Year, arranged by illustrator
(Some of these books may be for mature readers)
Winner Ron Brooks and Julie Hunt, The Coat 
Honour Books Gus Gordon, Herman and Rosie + Alison Lester, Sophie Scott Goes South

Eve Pownall Award for Information Books
Winner Kristin Weidenbach ill. Timothy Ide, Tom the Outback Mailman
Honour Books Jackie Kerin ill. Peter Gouldthorpe, Lyrebird! A True Story  + Kirsty Murray, Topsy-turvy World: How Australian Animals Puzzled Early Explorers.

So what do you think of the winners?Any surprises there? Any notable absences?

To my shame, I haven't read a single one of the winners this year, though there are a few on my bookshelf in my to-read pile, and I'm partway through Vikki Wakefield's Friday Brown at the moment. Some of my favourite Aussie writers and illustrators are represented here, though -- among them Margo Lanagan, Ron Brooks, Sonya Hartnett, Alison Lester, and Jackie French -- and I have no doubt that their stories will be amazing. There are a few names unfamiliar to me as well, which is exciting. New favourites to discover! I look forward to working my way through this list.

Which of these have you read? Which do you want to?

Dude!

The excellent Laura -- whose witty and whimsical blog is an absolute favourite of mine, and who is just as cool in real life -- gave me a blogging award. I'm honoured! What's more, I get to keep the fun moving along. It works like this:

1. graciously accept your award.
2. complete the death-defying stunt of telling your readers seven random things about yourself.
3. pass on the love to three more bloggers.

I'm random (times seven):

1. my head is a weird shape. I try not to think about that too much.
2. when I was four, my parents gave me a bear with a big head and a zipper in his back for storing pyjamas in. I named him Pippi, and he has been hugged to within an inch of his life, thrown up on, put through several washing machine cycles, and pegged to the clothesline. When I was ten or eleven, my uncle gave me a Pippi clone, only this bear's body was pink instead of green. I called him Bippi, and I have both of those bears to this day. Bippi is pristine, clean, and his fur is shiny. Pippi is slightly threadbare, washed-out and nubby -- and of course I love him the most.
   
3. although I love conversation and spending time with special people (plus I tend to be talkative), I'm actually a closet introvert. I don't like big parties and I need time on my own to recharge. I feel most happy and creative when there's an even balance of family-and-friends-time and in-my-own-company-time.
4. following on from that, I guess it makes sense that the written word feels more natural to me than the spoken word. Again, I like talking! But speech for me is so much clumsier than writing. I nearly always fail to say things exactly as I mean them, and I'm good at making a hash of what I'm trying to say. Writing makes so much more sense and I'm more me when I write.
5. I like the tv series' Nickelodeon makes -- but not the cartoons.
6. I'm not an animal person, but it would be very cool to have a miniature turtle.
7. no matter how often people change the rules, I will always use the Oxford comma.

Versatile bloggers (times three):
I want to give this award back to Laura as well, but that makes no sense, really.

1. Staish of Anastasia Does is not only one of my favourite people, but she's also a wondrous blogger. Honestly, if this girl published a newspaper, I would be at the newstands waiting for it to arrive. I only wish she published blog posts five times a day. At her blog you'll find ruminations on marriage, church, creativity, and Jesus -- as well as really excellent pictures and impeccable style.
2. Jessica of Greengate Photo constantly blows me away with her wondrous photography skills. I especially love the pictures she shares of her family and of the wildlife she spots in her local area. Jess also has a deadpan sense of humour and good taste in sarcasm.
3. Katie's blog, Katiefoolery, is on hiatus until October, but I'm going to go ahead and direct you there anyway because Katie is an accomplished writer and a thoughtful blogger. She shares about her writing life, her travels with her cool group of girlfriends, and her photography. Look out for mysterious and atmospheric pictures of abandoned houses.

That was fun.

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Conversations:

Laura Elizabeth -- those were my sentiments exactly! Although today actually felt like real spring instead of sneaky summer. I'm glad. Summer can hold off forever, please thank you.

Un -- you're welcome :)

Katie -- just seeing that little bee bouncing around there took me right back to childhood and summer holidays :).

Fabulous, dahling.

Rachael calls my blog a fabulous one -- daaahlings, I'm so honoured!

And since so many of you have been passing the torch of fabulousness around, I decided to step outside of convention and pick three people whom I don't actually know but whose blogs definitely fit the "fabulous" criteria:

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+ Hula Seventy's blog overflows with colour and beautiful, rich words. I experience a strange reaction when I read it: I'm simultaneously inspired to be a better blogger and to delete my blog and never try blogging again. But seriously. Read this lady's blog. It's gorgeous and a concrete realisation of the word 'creative'.

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+ Blaze Danielle would be cool even if she didn't have such a nifty second name. But as it happens, she is cool and she has a nifty second name. I stumbled across her blog accidentally one day and I keep visiting for more storybook, fairytale goodness. Lovely!

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+ Gluten Free Girl Shauna Ahern writes about food as though she is crafting a novel, each word beautifully selected to make the reader salivate. Her photography is amazing, plus: she is married to a chef.

.

Know any awesome blogs I really should be reading? Do tell me.

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(And now excuse me while I go and eat Madras lentils and steaming rice while I listen to a black storm rage outside. Mondays don't get any better than this.)

It's a lovely day for a game of tag.

And apparently I'm "it". There've been tags and thingummies flying at me from all over the place, so let's bundle them all together in this post -- since it's too hot to play the real thing outside anyway.

Karli and Rachael both tagged me for the six by three meme. So here we go...

Six things I value:

+ the comfortableness of family

+ the steadfast love of friends

+ the strange loveliness of the worldwide church

+ the death of a perfect man for a bunch of otherwise losers

+ the existence of eternity

+ babies and their adorable fatness

Six things I don't support:

+ the global domination of cockroaches

+ spiders and their evil influence

+ the necessity of driving

+ no dessert before the main meal

+ the destruction of old books

+ humidity in high doses

Six people I tag:

+ you

+ you

+ you

+ you

+ you

+ you (I throw this tag open to the world!)

Meaghan tagged me with this one: The 15 factoids meme.

The rules:

Once you've been tagged, you have to write a blog post with 15 weird random things -- facts, habits, goals, or anything about yourself. At the end, post a picture, and choose 10 people to be tagged, listing their names and why you chose them to be tagged.

The facts:

+ I am really, really, really sunburnt. I've been slathering my neck with Aloe Vera Gel. The result is both soothing and greenish.

+ I love checking the mail but I haven't received anything handwritten for ages.

+ The above is decidedly my fault, seeing as I owe the entire universe letters, and not the other way around.

+ I frequently paint or draw right onto my brother's face. It's more fun than canvas.

+ For about one day, I had less than six books on my bedside table. This is like a world record for me.
+ Spiders haunt me, but for some reason I'd like to see Arachnophobia.

+ Lately my tastebuds seem to be changing, and stuff I previously liked I no longer like -- and, of course, the opposite.

+ But I don't think I will ever truly love tomato.

+ I have an epic scar on both my left and right legs because I was born with severe bilateral talipes. Thirty-two stitches at a few months old. Yowch.

+ My feet are still a teeny bit jellybean-shaped.

+ I like boys' movies better than girls' movies.

+ And books written before 1970 better than books after (generally, not exclusively).

+ Stickers are still as exciting to me as if I were six years old.

+ So is Christmas.

+ Making lists gives me an inexplicable sense of contentment.

The picture:

is at the top of the page and my sister tells me my eyes look weird. But there you have it.

The tagged:

include whoever wants to give this little game a try.

Finally, Bethany gave me an Uber Amazing Blog Award, which was super nice of her! Here's how it works:

+ Put the logo on your blog or post

+ Nominate blogs that you think are super.

+ Let them know that they have received this Uber Amazing reward by commenting on their blog.

+ Share the love and link to this post and to the person you received your award from.

I nominate:

absolute strangers who will likely never know, but whose blogs I love reading all the same.

+ Abraham Piper at 22 Words has, in my opinion, The Ideal Blog. I guess it helps if you're witty, intelligent, and well-grounded in theology -- and his blog is certainly all of that. In complete randomness, thoughts about daddies and diapers are interspersed with comments on culture and faith -- and all in twenty two words.

+ On Like Popcorn is one of those blogs I just stumbled across in some crazy surfing, and now I keep popping back for little visits, even though I feel tuggings of the embarrassed stalker emotion welling up, when I consider that a) this is someone's personal blog, and b) I've probably never even left a comment to say that I'm reading. But I recommend it to you all the same: this guy writes good.

+ Notes by Naive is pure lusciousness in blog form. Tommy's posts are picture-filled journeys of delight which make me both want to travel and eat nice foods.

+ Sarah Clarkson's observations about words and travel and faith at Itinerant Idealist are ethereal, lovely, and inspiring.

Still reading, all the way down here? You deserve an Uber Amazing Reader award! Pat yourself on the back!

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conversations:

Staish -- you're awesome. The end.