Mem Fox 'Good Night, Sleep Tight' autographed book giveaway

Greetings all,

I was lucky enough to attend the sold out reading at my local library, with my author Tania McCartney (a National Year of Reading Ambassador) & our primary school daughters . . . to listen to the engaging Mem Fox read her book Good Night, Sleep Tight.  I doubt there is a home in Australia without a Mem Fox book in it.  We have dozens.  She was a delight. 

It was so much fun, the nursery rhymes in this book (as told by Bonnie & Ben's babysitter, Skinny Doug) made me teary, remembering how many times i'd sung them to my four children . . . the sweetest memories as they are timeless & generational.  

Mem is also a University lecturer & campaigns for children's literacy . . . it has been proven, if a child can know 6 nursery rhymes by heart by age 4 . . . they will be the soaring with their reading in primary school.  Fascinating & seriously, who can't belt out a few "Round & Round The Garden, Like a Teddy Bear, One Step, Two Steps, Tickle You Under There" while changing a nappy or "Star Light, Star Bright, First Star I See Tonight, I WIsh I May, I Wish I Might, Have The Wish I Wish Tonight" while taking one last look at the sky before putting a toddler to bed?? 

 I had already spent $70 before the event started, my children are ravenous readers & who can resist a book which comes with a green sheep??  Straight up, Mem came over to my 3rd daughter & asked if she could borrow her green sheep, which Mem promptly tucked under her blouse for the finale of reading "Where Is The Green Sheep??"  As my youngest child is nearly 9, it's been a while since i bought these kinds of children's books, but who cares, i'll keep them for the grandchildren!! 

 It was just so much fun, the atmosphere electric, until . . . the wind was taken out of my sails when Mem stopped reading a few pages into the first book to request we didn't take any photos.  I know, WHAT??  How about some publicity & capturing the experience??  Judy made a spiel about not appreciating the moment if you're busy taking photos to look at later.  If you're that famous, SURELY you can't stop people taking photos at a public event.  No one was trampling anyone, no blinding flashbulbs, no media . . . just mums sitting on the floor with iPhones & a baby in their lap taking a few snaps.  I've been to zillions of book launches & events, big & small, this 'no photos' was new to me.     

They had zero issues with you buying some books though.  I purchased an extra book to be autographed & given away on my blog, to one of my gorgeous readers!!  They also requested "no photos" at the signing table.  Seriously!!  It's terrible public relations.  I hope everyone in the queue at least got something autographed.  

So here you go, the mixed world of the book industry.  I assure you, i will always give an honest account of any public relations, products & events.  The books are excellent.

Please leave a comment here if you'd love to win an autographed copy of Good Night, Sleep Tight, autographed by author Mem Fox & illustrator Judy Horacek.  You must be a follower of this blog (on the side, sorry i can't tell if you are RSS fed) & i'd like this to be won by an Australian resident, if you're overseas - i'll gladly post to an Australian friend!!  Of course, an extra entry for every mention of this giveaway on your social media platforms of Blogs, Instagram, FaceBook, Pinterest, Twitter etc.  This is something really special, thank you for sharing the love!!  

 Good luck everyone, winner will be drawn after midnight Sunday 11th November.  Love Posie
EDIT: i am proud i wrote this post as-it-happened-from-my-perspective, i have reconsidered to make it more gushing, then thought . . . wouldn't you prefer your child to have a photo of their hero in Mem Fox, an educator . . . than a sports star or celebrity with questionable real life morals (that your child may be aware of)??  No photos at a promotion, it really is completely bizarre, full stop.  Especially as we were not standing in the crowd of 200 children with flash bulbs, blocking people's view or calling out to the author "look here, work it Mem" . . . we were politely sitting on the side lines, listening to the reading & taking photos discretely because we are fans & paying good money for their products!!

Beijing Tai Tai: life, laughter & motherhood in China's capital - BOOK GIVEAWAY

Greetings all,
I read Beijing Tai Tai a few years ago, when i first met Tania McCartney.  I went to her book reading & as i read the book myself, i heard her voice telling me her story, personally.  It's just that kind of fabulous book.  Now it has been relaunched with a fresh cover & extra content, the kind folks at Exilse Publishing have offered a copy of the new release for one of my lucky readers.

"I feel like everyone should know about Beijing Tai Tai... it's the Eat Pray Love for mothers." - author Dee White
& Tania is gorgeous, she'd star in her own Hollywood movie version too!!
The official word . . .
Intensely personal, at times a little controversial, Beijing Tai Tai is a rollercoaster ride of honesty and openness as a wife (tai tai) and mother juggles suburban family life in urban Beijing. Presented in a series of love/hate column-like snippets - on topics ranging from the consumption of bull testicles to the life-altering experience of walking the Great Wall - it exposes expatriate life in a country on the brink of great change
From tragic hair moments and bustling silk markets to China's quest to stay true to its ancient origins, Beijing Tai Tai is a book for anyone interested in this diverse and culturally rich country. It's for anyone from anywhere who knows what it's like to fall in love, explore new worlds and live with challenges. It's about life in a city full of soaring highs and disconsolate lows - but never anything less than remarkable.

"This book rewrites the myth of the full-time expat mother." - Lee Mack, Managing Editor, City Weekend Beijing

Me, well my favourtite stories in Beijing Tai Tai include . . . trying  open a bottle of wine on a train journey, sans corkscrew; her little boy's first day of International School - still wearing size 2 underpants (i hear you Tania!!); & the hilarious under current/ parrallel story of the housemaid, sometimes sinister but always entertaining, always at the McCartneys expense.  I didn't want the book to end, i savoured the last few pages, great entertainment for $24.95.  There is also a neat glossary at the back with all the must-know terms for life in China.  Yes, Tania thought of everything!!

 Cover Girl Tania & ACT National Year of Reading Ambassador Tania; wife, mother, author, writer, friend Tania, the lady is an incredible talent, you should see her blog - filled with craft, style, humour, travel, parties . . .

 Tania even runs this amazing KBR website, a must for young readers!!

Follow the virtual book tour - more giveaways, reviews & amazing blogs to discover too!!

Thanks to Exisle Publishing for sponsoring this book giveaway. 

You can also order a copy of the book here. 

Just follow this blog & leave a comment here to win a copy of this fantastic book, open now until midnight on Thursday 19th April. 

If you're in Canberra, come along to the launch at the National Library of Australia on Wednesday 18th April (evening), details & RSVP here.

Good luck everyone, i'll announce winners of all my latest blog giveaways on April 20th.  Love Posie

Australian Story: an illustrated timeline . . . GIVEAWAY

Greetings all,
Welcome to the Australian Story: an illustrated timeline BLOG tour.  Author Tania McCartney has presented the history of Australia to children in such a clever way . . . bold images from the National Library of Australia's digital collection, a running timeline along the bottom of each page, dates & details highlighting this country's milestones.  The book instantly captures children's attention . . . from the chunk of Gondwanaland, dinosaurs & first plants.  Give your primary school aged child some perspective about where they fit in to life & they are the key to what happens next. 

 Things start to get really interesting when Indigenous people arrive in Australia & the land masses break off (good bye New Guinea) & hello Warrigal (dingo). 

 Never under estimate children's love of facts & figures, they'll be quizzing you. 

 Q: Which European disovered Australia first?? 

A: Dutch explorer Willem Jansz in 1606. 

Australia was called New Holland when James Cook landed in 1770 to claim it for Great Britain.  Then the first fleet came with Arthur Phillip & convicts on 26th January 1788 - Australia Day - first celebrated in 1838 with fireworks, lamingtons, Union Jack car flags & a BBQ, maybe not, this is non fiction.  Anyway, you'll ace Australian trivia after reading this book. 

 We were lucky enough to attend Tania's entertaining book launch at the NLA, where she read to the children & involved them in a human time line: my 3rd girl was Captain Cook & my son was a 1956 Melbourne Olympics team member!!

This book is filled with inventions, currency, sports, gold rushes, World Heritage sites & achievements, all the big names are in it too - explorers Flinders, MacQuarie, Stuart, Burke, Wills; Holden cars + Phar Lap, the world's greatest racehorse.  You'll have flash backs to childhood history projects & it's a neat quick reference guide, a book, who knew, you don't have to google everything!!  Tania McCartney, making history cool for children, 47B years, $24.95, order here. 

Want to win a copy??  Just follow this blog & leave a comment here, closes midnight Sunday 18th March.  Good luck, love Posie

triple book review & GIVEAWAY from National Library of Australia

Greetings all & welcome to my reading chair . . .
i believe you need a happy place to indulge in books & the beautiful places they can take you.  The kind folk at the National Library of Australia have sent me 3 new, wonderful & very different books to review from 3 award winning & highly celebrated Australian authors.  I've very much enjoyed each book, lounging in my garden chair.  They are March releases & a blog giveaway too!!  

 Prolific writer & photographer, the late Leslie Rees, has his work continue in a new series of biographies about indigenous animals, created by his daughters Dymphna & Megan.  First in this series is Shy The Platypus, filled with stunning photographs, illustrations, prints - specially commissioned by the NLA for this heritage style edition.  The  beautiful story of Shy's adventures & discoveries, including encounters with humans was first published in 1944 - proving Rees was ahead of his time as an environmentalist. 

 I remember reading these Australian style books as a child, they are page turners, fragile native life versus the world.  At the back of the book you'll find platypus facts & information too.  Shy The Playtpus, 96 pages, $24.95 

 A fantastic first book bursting with colour & action for the 3 year old set, is Judy Horacek's These Are My Hands & flip it over to reveal These Are My Feet.  Have your little ones wriggling their fingers & tapping their feet as you read along together.

 Horacek is a popular cartoonist & visual artist, who has collaborated with uber famous Mem Fox  My favourite page is the footprints-in-the-sand, don't children love their own footprints!!  These Are My Hands, 48 pages, $17.95

 Love your Australian history but loathe that your children just 'google' what they need to research as you've forgotten??  Tania McCartney brings together all the major events of our nation's history on a timeline, which gives children a proportion guide from the explosive beginnings of our planet to modern day.  Australian Story: an illustrated timeline is a colourful factual book of images from the National Library's digital collection.

  This book is jam packed with exciting ecological change, social upheaval, politics, inventions, culture, modern technology & so much more.  Australian Story: an illustrated timeline, 47 billion years of history, $24.95 order here!!

Want to win an awesome prize of these National Library of Australian publications??  Just follow my blog & leave a comment at this post for your chance to win:
Shy The Platypus, These Are My Hands & a goodie bag from the Australian Story book launch.
Good luck & thanks NLA.  Giveaway open worldwide (to share our amazing country with you all), runs until midnight Saturday 10th March, love Posie