Tuesday Book Club begins

Yesterday marked the inaugural meeting of the First Tuesday Children’s Book Club. We 18 gathered in Mother Superior’s Chambers at the wonderful Abbotsford Convent. The book club is for anyone interested in children’s literature in its myriad forms. The benefits will emerge….

General Format

We plan to discuss a picture book each month and also two other books, alternating junior fiction and young adult books.

Our First Meeting

Yesterday we looked at ‘Where the Wild Things Are’. We talked about the three incarnations: the original picture book (published 1963); the movie (2009) and the novelisation (also 2009 and called ‘The Wild Things’). Discussion ranged broadly from the intended target audience, initial reactions to each ‘version’ and much more. We also began drawing a list of books to be discussed at upcoming meetings. Some are very recent, others much older. One book suggested was released in the 1930’s and will probably be too difficult to source.

I’m really looking forward to the next meeting.

The next meeting

Today was a meeting of a different sort. Some years ago I joined an online children’s writers networking group (kwd). We are spread across the country and seldom have a chance to meet. But today 7 of us met in Melbourne for a morning tea that stretched into lunch. The only trick was making sure we collected the right people from under the clocks at Flinders Street Station. (To the lady with the shell necklace, we hope you found whoever it was you were supposed to be meeting, and we apologise for thinking you might want to come with us!)

Alison, Bren, Kay, Dee, Kim and Ali.

We had a lovely time, and I doubt that anyone watching would have imagined that we didn’t all know each other very well. The internet comes in for its share of criticism as an anti social entity, but it is not always so. It was great to be able to match voices and faces to the online words.

What did we cover in the proper Book Club meeting?

There were 13 of us today, and we were looking at ‘Wolves in the Walls’ by Neil Gaiman, ‘Field Guide’, the first title in The Spiderwick Chronicles written by Holly Black and ‘Various’ by Steve Augarde.

As at our first meeting, there was a wide variety of opinions and new insights.

What I like most about the book group, apart from the obvious discussion of books by book lovers, is that I’m directed to books I’ve not necessarily read, and may not have read. Particularly when others are particularly passionate about those books.

Next month, we’re looking at Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi, ‘Does My Head Look Big in This?’ by Randa Abdel-Fattah, and ‘Ziba Came on a Boat’ by Liz Lofthouse.

Who is First Tuesday Book Club for?

The group is open to anyone interested in children’s literature, not just writers/illustrators. Get in contact or start your own book club in your State. We can reckon it’s great.