On my bookish week

Posters along Church Street

The last few days have been very booky, which, of course, I think is wonderful. I have spent the last five days in Melbourne, travelling over to do some training with Kid’s Own Publishing, the company you may or may not remember that I worked with in May. Kid’s Own Publishing run workshops that teach kids to make, write and illustrate their own books. You know a training session isn’t going to be boring when you walk in and a big box of collage is sitting on your table. Yes, my training involved making my own book, and then making a collaborative book with the other artists in the session. It was almost too fun to be called training.

Our collaborative book

Kid’s Own Publishing are hoping to start a South Australian program, unfurling it over the next three years, which I hopefully will be involved in. I am very excited since, as is probably obvious due to the fact I write a blog about children’s books, I am very passionate about children’s books, and chidren’s creativity.

Walking to ‘The Convent’, where KOP is based

While in Melbourne, I kept with the bookish theme, and spent far too much time in bookshops. I remember a few years ago, when one of my friends moved to Melbourne, she said she struggled to find a good bookshop. I seemed to have the opposite problem, stumbling on them all too often. I also seem to have a problem leaving a bookshop without buying something, and ended up buying six books over four days. I was a bit worried about the weight of my baggage coming home!

The Paperback Bookshop

My favourite bookshop of the ones I encountered would have to be Hill of Content on Bourke Street. It has such a lovely children’s section, and a particularly good children’s classics section. I was particularly taken by their display of ‘Penguin Chalk’ children’s classics, and had to buy Pippi Longstocking. They were so delightful, with their beautiful covers and uneven page edges.

Advertisement

Tags: books, bookshop, children's books, children's classics, children's publishing, Kid's Own Publishing, Melbourne