Yesterday, Susanne Gervay, Corinne King and I went to Marysville, car loaded with books and original art from the Hope Card. The books were donated by SCBWI (Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators) members all over the world.

The Black Spur

We were delivering the books and art to Marysville Primary School.

The children listened while we told them about the Hope Card book, about how members all over the world had sent messages of hope to the children of Marysville after the devastating Black Saturday fires in February 2009.

Susanne and Corinne showed some of the original art from the Hope Card book.


A lovely thank you on behalf of the Marysville Primary School students.

This is what it was all about. Official ceremony over, the children began to explore the books.
We spent the next half-hour reading with the children. None of these photos were staged. They were so absorbed that most ceased to notice anything but the book.