As with Lost! A True Tale from the Bush, Amazing Grace is lavishly illustrated, and it includes information sections at the end of each chapter, as well as a glossary, a map, lists of background reading material and illustrations, and an epilogue. Age range: 7 to adult

 Reviews

Vicki Stanton, Buzz Words Books, http://buzzwordsmagazine.blogspot.com, 28 December 2011: ‘This book is absolutely outstanding from the story created around the factual evidence to the presentation and production quality … The author is a master storyteller, able to draw the reader into the thoughts and feelings of passengers, crew and rescuers … A list of characters, glossary, short chapters and plentiful illustrations and further information ensure that the story can be followed by competent younger readers as well as being enjoyed and appreciated by older readers and even adults … I highly recommend Amazing Grace and it should find a place on all bookshelves.’    

Russ Merrin, Magpies 26(5), November 2011: 22: ‘Like its predecessor [Lost!], there is an endearing quality to this book. Apart from the the fascinating information the reader can glean from its pages, and the pleasure one gets in simply reading the well-told tale, it is a book that we can all treasure and add to our personal trove of special titles. Highly recommended.’

Krista Bell, ABC Radio, 30 November 2011: ‘Another sumptuous publication from NLA in Canberra based on archival paintings, survivors’ accounts, newspaper articles and crafted into 100 glorious pages of Australian history by Dr Reeder … Imaginatively recreating history to bring it to a young readership in such an engaging fashion that adults will enjoy it thoroughly too.’

‘Great Gifts for Kids: Books for Christmas’, Australian Women’s Weekly, December 2011: 300: ‘Adventurous girls will love this book, based on fact … Packed with maps, illustrations and news stories of the day, it’s an Enid Blyton-style adventure for 21st century girls.’

Heath Graham, Junior Bookseller and Publisher, September to November: 17: ‘Stephanie Owen Reeder’s writing style is clear and engaging, and this style of book can often bring an historical incident to life in a way the simple facts cannot. This is recommended for upper primary school readers with an interest in history and real-life heroism.’

TEACHERS NOTES

 About Amazing Grace 

 Amazing Grace: An Adventure at Sea by Stephanie Owen Reeder is a fictionalised retelling of the true story of the sinking of the SS Georgette, a steam and sailing ship which was wrecked off the Western Australian coast in 1876. Grace Bussell, a 16 year-old girl who lived on a nearby farm, bravely rode her horse into the surf and helped to save over fifty people from drowning. However, she was not the only brave soul in this amazing tale of perseverance, selflessness and heroism.

Based on eye-witness accounts and newspaper articles from the time, as well as later versions of the story, Amazing Grace relates the story from the perspective of Grace, as well as the people on board both the ship and its ill-fated lifeboat. The book is lavishly illustrated with paintings and drawings from the 1800s, drawn from the vast Pictures Collection of the National Library of Australia, as well as illustrations by the author based on pictures from illustrated newspapers of the time.

            Amazing Grace also features photographs of the main characters, as well as extracts from newspaper reports and from letters written by the people involved. Information sections at the end of each chapter present extra information about  the Georgette, life at sea, pioneering life, wrecks and rescues, Christmas in the colonies, and  communications and newspapers. An epilogue relates what happened after the shipwreck and rescue to Grace, Sam and the other people involved. A glossary explains nautical terms, and a select bibliography provides suggestions for background reading.

Amazing Grace is a companion book to Lost! A True Tale from the Bush, which has gained the following recognition: Notable Book, Children’s Book Council of Australia Book of the Year Awards 2010; Shortlisted, Eve Pownall Award for Information Books, Children’s Book Council of Australia Book of the Year Awards 2010;  Honour Book, Junior Judges Project, Children’s Book Council of Australia Book of the Year Awards 2010.

It is intended that Lost! and Amazing Grace will be the first two books in a Heritage Heroes series of books about brave young people from Australia’s history.

Using Amazing Grace in the classroom

Amazing Grace can be used across the curriculum, including in the following areas:

·         Visual Literacy

·         Creative Arts

·         Studies of Society and Environment (themes such as heroism, shipwrecks, pioneering life, Australian colonial history)

·         Studies of Society and Environment (values such as compassion, resilience, fear, bravery, hope)

A number of possible activities based on the book for teachers to present to their students are outlined below.

Family History

Interview your parents and grandparents and find out more about your family history. Document it in a family scrapbook. It could feature the following:

·         Pictures of a house that your relatives built, or of houses that you and your family members have lived in

·         Retellings of family stories that have been handed down from generation to generation

·         A family tree going back to your great-grandparents, with information about the people featured

·         A letter describing an exciting event in your life or in the life of a member of your family

·         Newspaper-style interviews with family members

·         Photos and drawings of family members

·         A map showing where your family members have lived in a particular state, or in Australia or in the world 

·         Information about your family’s Christmas traditions, including: menus and recipes, decorations, presents, special traditions.

Local History

Busselton and Grace Bussell

Sadly, Grace Bussell’s home, Wallcliffe House, which was built by her father in the 1860s and features in Amazing Grace, was destroyed in the bushfires that swept through the Margaret River area of Western Australia in November 2011, the month that Amazing Grace was released.

·         Research the history of Wallcliffe House and either draw a picture or make a model of the house.

·         Find a map of the Margaret River area and see how many things you can find (streets, towns, roads, highways, caves etc) that are named after Grace, the Bussell family or the Georgette.

·         Create a multi media artwork showing either the sinking of the lifeboat or the wrecking of the Georgette. Select media, colours and imagery that best reflect the drama and horror of the situation.

·         Who is your favourite character in Amazing Grace? Do a painting, drawing, collage or model construction which shows their role in the story.

Your local area

·          Research the history of your local area. Identify any shipwrecks or other historical events of interest. Write either a newspaper report about the incident or a fictionalised retelling of the story. Draw, paint or construct a picture of the incident.

Heroes and Heroines

·         What is the definition of a hero or heroine? Discuss who should be deemed a hero. Does this include sports stars?

·         Research some modern child heroes. What brave act did they perform? Did they get a bravery medal? Were they as brave as Grace, Sam and James? Discuss what you would do in a similar situation.

Visual literacy

·         Carefully look at one of the five images that appear at the end of each chapter:  shipboard life (pages 32–33); fighting a bushfire (pages 48–49); surviving a shipwreck (pages 62–63); celebrating Christmas (pages 78–79); finding out about Australia (pages 94–95).

·         Discuss the images using the following questions as guidelines.

o    What atmosphere has the artist tried to create?

o    What have they used to create this atmosphere (colour, composition, linework)?

o    What is the focal point of the picture? How does the artist draw your eye to this point? Why have they chosen this particular aspect of the image to focus on?

o    How do the people in the picture feel? How has the artist used body language, facial expressions etc to communicate this?

·         Paint/draw or construct a picture of the same topic using a different focal point, and creating a different atmosphere by varying the colour, composition and/or linework, and changing the reactions of the people in the picture.

Creative writing

Write a story based on one of the five narrative pictures that appear at the end of each chapter: shipboard life (pages 32–33); fighting a bushfire (pages 48–49); surviving a shipwreck (pages 62–63); celebrating Christmas (pages 78–79); finding out about Australia (pages 94–95). Use the following questions as guidelines.

Plot: What is happening in the picture? How will you structure your narrative? Where will your story start and end?

Setting: Where and when is the story set? Is the setting integral to the story or does it just provide the background?

Point of View: Whose point of view will you tell the story from (one of the characters or a narrator)?

Characters: Who is your main character and what sort of person are they? Who else will you feature?

Theme: What is the point of the story? What message do you want to convey?

Atmosphere and tone: What sort of story is it? How do you want the reader to feel?

Title: What is the title of your story? Make sure it

Other narrative paintings and images can be found in the National Library of Australia’s Pictures Collection. They are available online at www.nla.gov.au.

Select Bibliography

Chapman, Jean, illustrated by Jack Montgomery, The Wreck of the Georgette. South Melbourne, Vic.: Macmillan, 1987.

Chase, Diana and Valize Krantz, To the Rescue. South Melbourne, Vic: Macmillan, 1995.

Geason, Susan, ‘Australian Heroines’. At www.susangeason.com/nonfiction.html#a.

Gillespie, Michelle, illustrated by Sonia Martinez, Sam, Grace and the Shipwreck. Fremantle, W.A.: Fremantle Press, 2011.

Guinness, Claire, All and About Dunsborough. Perth, WA: Jubilee Publishing Co., c.1983.

Isaacs, Vic, ‘The Wreck of the Georgette by Vic Isaacs 4th Generation Isaacs’, at www.wilja.asn.au/georgette.htm.

Stewart, A.F. Ferguson, Australia’s Grace Darling. Perth, WA: Patersons, 1946.

Terry, Frances, They Came to the Margaret. Margaret River, WA: F. Terry, 1980.

Teachers notes prepared by Dr Stephanie Owen Reeder BA (Hons), Dip.Ed, Grad.Dip.Lib., MEd, PhD

January 2012

The National Library of Australia’s Pictures Collection contains a treasure trove of sketchbooks from the nineteenth century. They range from impressive leather-bound albums, with marbled endpapers and gold engraving, to battered, pocket-sized sketchbooks. Each sketchbook tells the story of both its artist and the places and people they depicted. Opening these books is like taking a trip back in time, and seeing the Australian and New Zealand landscapes through the eyes of someone who has just stepped off the boat after a long and sometimes harrowing passage across the ocean to a new world.

            Most of the images have been wonderfully preserved. The colours are still bright, often luminous, and the different artists’ interpretations of both built and natural landscapes provide engaging insights into the colonial world, where horses were the main mode of travel, ‘homesteads’ were often nothing more than cottages or bark-slab huts, and farming was backbreaking physical work.

            The Vision Splendid showcases the sketchbooks of 22 artists who recorded their time in Australia and New Zealand in often breathtaking detail and with great enthusiasm. They range from well-known professional artists such as Eugene von Guerard and Albin Martens, to amateurs about whom very little is known, such as John Goldfinch and Edward Thomson. These engineers, military men, solicitors, public servants and pastoralists all delighted in recording what they saw, and then sharing it with family, friends and the wider public. The Vision Splendid presents both the artwork and the life stories of these sometimes remarkable but often quite ordinary people for an even wider audience to share.

Book for adults

Available September 2011 $34.95

Reviews

‘Stephanie Owen Reeder is a Canberra-based writer and illustrator who deseves credit for compiling the artwork and prducing a text that will be inviting to the general reader.’ Courier Mail, 8 October 2011

‘A handsome coffee table book depicting 19th century Australia.’ North Shore Times, 30 September 2011

·         ‘The parliamentary cat: a modern folk tale’, illustrated by Erin McGuire, in The House at Work, Parliamentary Education Unit, Parliament House, Canberra, 2001: 144–148

·         ‘The empty leg’, illustrated by Astra Lacis, Blast Off: New South Wales School Magazine 88(3), April 2003: 81–83

·         ‘Under the frangipani tree’, illustrated by Noela Young, Touchdown: New South Wales School Magazine 84(7), August 1999: 220–222

·         ‘Kala Rahu and the Moon Maiden’, illustrated by Gaye Chapman, Countdown: New South Wales School Magazine 84(2), March 1999: 56–60

Writer

·         The Vision Splendid, Canberra, National Library of Australia, 2011

·         Little Treasures: Bookplates, Flowers, Animals, Book of Hours, Birds, Maps (set of six gift books), Canberra, National Library of Australia, 2008

Editor

·         The Inside Story: Creating Children’s Books, co-edited by Belle Alderman, Children’s Book Council of Australia, Canberra, 1987

Contributor

·         1001 Children’s Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up, edited by Julia Eccleshare, HarperCollins, Sydney, 2009

·         The Good Reading Guide: 100 Critics Review Contemporary Australian Fiction, compiled by Helen Daniel, McPhee Gribble, Sydney, 1989

Biographical and bibliographical information

·         Website: www.stephanieowenreeder.com 

·         Freelance Register, Canberra Society of Editors, at www.editorscanberra.org

·         AustLit: The Resource for Australian Literature, at www.austlit.edu.au

·         Contemporary Authors: A Bio-Bibliographical Guide to Current Writers in Fiction, General Nonfiction, Poetry, Journalism, Drama, Motion Pictures, Television, and other Fields, Vol. 169, Gale Group, Detroit: 352–353

·         The Writers Directory 2005, 20th Edition, Volume 2, Gale Group, Detroit, 2005: 1401

·     Something about the Author: Facts and Pictures about Authors and Illustrators of Books for Young People, Volume 102, Gale Group, Detroit 1999: 174–5

·    ‘Know the Author: Stephanie Owen Reeder’, interviewed by Rae Carlyle, Magpies, 26 (5), November 2011: 4-7

Feeling Fine! (National LIbrary of Australia) is an entertaining board book about emotions. With its colourful illustrations and engaging word play, it encourages children to recognise faces that are happy, sad, angry or even scared. This is a perfect interactive board book for babies and preschoolers who are learning to understand their own emotions and to recognise how others are feeling. It is also recommended for autism spectrum children. Feeling Fine! is a board book version of I’ve Got a Feeling!, which was included by the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) in the prestigious booklist Outstanding Books for Young People with Disabilities 2011.

• ‘Glories of Gibbs and gumnuts’, The Canberra Times, 26 November, 2011: Panorama 28-29
• ‘Family and Friends’, Australian Book Review, November 2011: 68-67
• ‘Perfect Partnerships’, The Canberra Times, 29 October 2011: Panorama 32
• IBBY Outstanding Books for Young People with Disabilities 2011, catalogue compiled by Heidi Cortner Boiesen. IBBY Documentation Centre of Books for Disabled Young People, Sandvika, Norway, 2011: 36-37 (I’ve Got a Feeling!)

Latest releases:

• The Vision Splendid. Canberra, National Library of Australia, September 2011
• Amazing Grace: An Adventure at Sea. Canberra, National Library of Australia, November 2011

Upcoming Events:

• Book Reading and Launch, Amazing Grace, Bookshop, National Library of Australia, 10.30 am, Saturday, 10 December 2011

Forthcoming Titles:

• Dance Like a Pirate (NLA Publishing, 2012)

Availablity:

• To book Stephanie for author talks, book festivals etc contact Creative Net at www.fordstreetpublishing.com/cnet

A traditional Indonesian tale published by Random House (1997)

Based on an Indonesian folk tale from the 14th century, this is the story of Rangda, a powerful witch who curses the whole kingdom when no one will marry her daughter because no-one wants a witch as a mother-in-law! The king tries to fight fire with fire, but soon realises that only wisdom can defeat the witch’s terrible power. Illustrated with stunning watercolur paintings by Indonesian artist Dadang Christanto, this is a stirring tale which, like all good traditional tales, takes the reader to another land and another time. And, of course, it has a happy ending.

Reviews

Reading Time 41(4):  The text and illustrations convey the spirit of the Balinese story and dance splendidly … The illustrations are characterised by vigorous action, exquisite composition and meticulous attention to authentic detail … The vividly written story is rather too scary a tale for the very young but tougher minded older children will relish the dramatic conflict in it … the ancient tale just begs to be read aloud … It is an enrichment of literary experience for Australian children to encounter the folklore of Indonesia in this exciting way.

Viewpoint 5(4): 49: … it is highly satisfying to spend time with this story - my few words can hardly summarise its immense appeal, which does not arise only from its originality, but also from the universal nature of the tussle between good and evil.

Included on the IBBY Outstanding Books for Young People with Disabilities booklist 2011

When children feel an emotion, it is written all over their faces and reflected in their body language—the set of their eyebrows, the shape of their eyes and mouth, the way they hold their body and what they do with their hands. I’ve Got a Feeling! (National Library of Australia) is an entertaining and interactive lift-the-flap book about emotions. With its engaging verses, colourful illustrations and pertinent questions, it encourages children to think about what makes them feel happy, sad, angry or even bored. Activities are provided at the back of the book for children to explore their emotions through art and imaginative play. This is a perfect picture book for toddlers and preschoolers who are still learning to understand and control their own emotions and to empathise with how others are feeling. It is also recommended for children with autism spectrum.

Can be purchased online at www.nla.gov.au, click on Bookshop. Also available through other online booksellers and at most major bookshops.

 Reviews

A. Souter, New South Wales Department of Education and Training, Scan: Online Journal for Educators, February 2012: There are many books and programs for teaching emotional literacy, but this interactive, lift the flap book is one of the best. Children will be attracted by the vibrant colours, the clear drawings, and the quirky verses describing each of twelve emotions … The additional activities in the back of the book could form the basis of engaging lessons. 

Dr Kerry White, The Source, www.magpies.net.au/magpies:  Will appeal to a wide range of young children. Babies will love the clearly drawn faces, preschoolers will like the verse and the guessing component while early primary children will gain most from the photographs and questions in the final pages.  Reading age 1 to 7.

Tania McCartney, Kids Book Review, www.kids-book-review.blogspot.com: ‘gorgeous book for young ones’; ‘beautifully crafted book resplendent with adorable retro-style illustrations that really pack an emotional punch’ - recommended for babies to toddlers and preschoolers.

Heidi Cortner Boiesen, IBBY Outstanding Books for Young People with Disabilities 2011 Catalogue: 36-37: ‘With large, expressive drawings and clear rhyming text this book helps children to recognize their own feelings and explore the feelings of others.’

http://amlib.eddept.wa.edu.au: ‘Vivid colours, large expressive faces and rich descriptive and action vocabulary make this interactive fold-out book a stand-out for young children.’

Shortlisted, Eve Pownall Award for Information Books, Children’s Book Council of Australia, Book of the Year Awards 2010

Honour Book, Eve Pownall Award for Information Books, CBCA Junior Judges Project, 2010

Tales of children lost in the bush have frightened and fascinated the Australian public since colonial times. In August 1864, three children––Isaac aged nine, Jane seven, and Frank just three––survived for nine long days and eight cold winter nights in the desolate mallee scrub of the Wimmera District of western Victoria. They walked for nearly 100 kilometres with no food or shelter and very little water. Against all the odds, the children were finally found, very ill but alive. This is their inspiring story. Lost! A True Tale from the Bush (National Library of Australia) retells a part of Australia’s colonial history for a primary school and junior secondary audience. It includes seven information sections which provide entertaining and informative insights into how children lived in the 1860s. It also showcases stunning artwork and photographs from the Pictures Collection of the National Library of Australia.

Reviews

Maurice Saxby, Magpies, November 2009: ‘Without undue pathos or sentiment Stephanie Owen Reeder clothes the bones of the story with warm, living flesh … A period piece is created without didacticism by skilfully added specifics … The landscape is poetically described in word and phrase … This is a wonderfully satisfying book to handle and … a handsome addition to the art of the book in Australia.’

Jack Waterford, The Canberra Times, September 2009: ‘It’s a beaut, with extra information mixed in about how kids lived in those days … well worth the investment for grandmothers and fond aunts thinking of exquisite Christmas gifts.’

Michael Cathcart, Bush Telegraph, ABC Radio National, 22 September 2009: ‘an absolutely charming book for kids’ (listen to Michael Cathcart’s interview with Stephanie Owen Reeder at www.abc.net.au/rural/telegraph/content/2009/s2693314.htm)

Robin Morrow, Australian Bookseller & Publisher, October 2009: ‘This will make a valuable addition to primary school libraries, and a beautiful gift book especially for families where it is shared and discussed as a read-aloud.’

Dr Kerry White, The Source, September 2009: ‘A book to share with children, and a wonderful gateway for classroom use to a more personal introduction to Australian history. Beautifully bound and presented, highly recommended.’ Reading Age: 7 to adult.