Today on Be A Fun Mum, I’m welcoming Australian children’s author, Aleesah Darlinson. Aleesah is a mother, wife, sister, daughter, children’s author and book reviewer for The Sun Herald.  Her series for girls aged 7 plus, Totally Twins: Musical Mayhem, was released in September. The book follows the adventures of identical twins, Persephone (she’s the sensible one) and Portia (she’s the messy one) and is written in diary format.

Interview with Aleesah

What is your best FunMum tip?

Don’t forget to let yourself be a kid sometimes, too. You’ll be amazed at how good being silly can make you feel and the kids absolutely love it. 

How many children do you have?

I have three young, energetic (and demanding!) kids aged 7, 5 and 2.

How to you find the work/family balance?

As my writing career is quickly taking off, I’m still trying to work it all out. It’s not easy because I enjoy my work so much. But I also know my kids won’t be little for long so I try to enjoy every precious moment I have with them.

What advice would you give someone wishing to write for children?

Go for it. Follow your dreams. Don’t worry about the washing, the cleaning, the ironing. Just write for all your worth because you never know where it might take you.

Do you use your own childhood memories as inspiration in your writing?

Very much so. I draw on my childhood memories, experiences, hopes and dreams and build them into my stories. Sometimes I pretty them up a bit, other times I relive and recount them as they really happened.

Your new book, Totally Twins, is written in diary format. How do you hope to encourage children to, not only read, but write as well?

I’m facing this problem with my oldest son at the moment. He’s a clever kid, but doesn’t seem to have a passion for writing. He has always loved books, always loved having books read to him, but there are so many other distractions in life. I try to sit with the kids every night and work through exercise books, doing maths, writing, reading. We play board games around the table, anything that keeps their minds and their imaginations open. I think – and hope – having the whole family do these activities together and making them fun will help ignite the passion for writing and reading that I have in my kids. I can only try my best, that’s all anyone can do really.

Have you met some twins?

Having been to various places talking about my books, I often talk to twins. I’ve even had people come up to tell me that they’re one of an identical set of triplets. Truly amazing! There are some really funny stories out there about twins’ experiences and tricks twins have played on other people. I love hearing about them all.

The twins, Perse and Portia, look the same but have different personalities. Can children learn to be themselves yet respect the difference in others around them?

I think those two aspects are very important for any child to learn. Loving and respecting ourselves helps with self-esteem. The more we like ourselves, the less afraid we are of others, the more we’re willing to accept and embrace their differences. No matter who we are or where we come from, we’re all different AND all the same deep down. In Totally Twins: Musical Mayhem, Perse has to learn to not take herself so seriously and that it’s okay to laugh at herself. I think this is a good life lesson for kids and adults. Sometimes we’re all guilty of being a little too serious for our own good. And that’s when we forget to appreciate how being different is good. 

What is the Book About? by Angela Hall

In this first ever secret diary of Persephone Pinchgut, who is about as good at singing as a cat being thrown across the room, her drama class embarks on a musical.  Now a musical to Portia her twin sister is like winning the lottery, but for Perse it is very much the rotten egg booby prize.  Of course her friends and Portia completely and utterly tease the life out of Perse as only children can.  With her Mum dealing with her own busy schedule and her Dad a million miles away and no one but her diary to turn to how will Perse get through this Musical Mayhem with her head held high?

– Angela Hall from Bug in a Book

Free Colouring Sheets

Be A Fun Mum readers can print these free character colouring pages and activity sheet.  Click on the image to access the printable PDF file.

Illustrator: Serena Geddes

If you have a comment or question for Aleesah, leave a comment below.

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External Links

Buy the Book Totally Twins

Aleesah Darlinson’s Website

Follow Aleesah on her Blog Tour

Be A Fun Mum Links

Interviews

Welcome Bug in a Book readers!

Reading with Expression (Children aged 0-6)

Reading with expression is a key to enjoyable read-aloud time with young children.  Drawing from my experience as a children’s book consultant and reading to my own children, I’ve learnt how to get the most out of every picture book; to make it fun my children and myself.

When you choose a picture book, look out for these things:

Rhythm

Musical rhythm is ideal for reading with expression. Rhyming is one form of rhythm; however rhythm is not limited to rhyming text.

“But where is the green sheep?”

This line in, Where is the Green Sheep by Mem Fox, is a perfect example of a rhythmic line.  

Other examples:

Dig, Dig, Digging by Margaret Mayo

Peepo! By Janet and Allan Alhberg

Repetition

Repetition. Repetition. Repetition. Young children love repetition. When it comes to reading with expression, repetitive lines are gold. It gives the reader an opportunity to develop a musical-like way of saying the repetitive line, over and over again.

Choose a book YOU like

Find a book you like as much as your child. In my recent interview with Australian Author, Alison Lester, she shared this advice: “Always read something you like. There’s nothing worse than wading through some boring rubbish trying to sound interested. Be honest with your kids and tell them if you think a book stinks.”

Books I love to read:

Down the Back of the Chair by Margaret Mayo

Oh! The Places You’ll Go by Dr Suess

Add exuberant expression and words as you read

Experiment with expression. This might be anything from hand gestures to verbal gasping; or put them together like this:  Gasp! {Cupping hands over face.} What could happen next?

Reading with expression makes reading aloud-time fun for both the parent and child. Not only does child experience the wonder of a book in an animated way; but also, the reader has the opportunity to feel like a child – once again.

Be A Fun Mum Links

Interview with Australian Author Alison Lester

Theme It: Dr Seuss

Guest Post: Reading

Books are NOT Just for Reading

Story: Wordless

There’s More Than One Way to Tell a Story

The Magic of a Book

Talking Children’s Books

I’m a Queenslander; through and through, so I’d never thought I’d say this but {deep breath}  here goes: I envy Victorians right now. Why? The Victorian  Government has established the Young Readers Program to support and encourage parents in reading to their children.  In its second year, the Young Readers Program is designed to encourage parents to read to their child, from birth.

The Young Readers Program provides:

1. A free ‘It’s Rhyme’ booklet and DVD given to the parents of every four-month old child when they visit their Maternal and Child Health centre.

2. A free Australian picture book given to every child in Victoria at their two-year-old Maternal and Child Health visit.

3. Professional development across regional Victoria and metropolitan Melbourne for early-literacy professionals working with young children. 

If you live in Victoria, enjoy the benefits.  For the rest of us, I can bring a little of the sunshine throughout Australia.  Alison Lester, award winning children’s writer and illustrator, and ambassador for the Young Readers program, was willing to be interviewed for Be A Fun Mum readers.

“All the research points to a link between exposure to books at an early age and educational outcomes. So reading to your children is more than great fun – it’s also good for them,” – Alison Lester

Alison Lester is a favourite author/illustrator in our house.  The reason why is I ENJOY reading her books as much as my children enjoy me reading to them. The first Alison Lester book I read was Imagine, and I was utterly captivated by the book, page by page. Each time my children and I read it, it seems fresh somehow, as there are always new discoveries to be found.

Alison Lester, a warm welcome to Be A Fun Mum.

What is your best FunMum tip?
Let your children stay home on rainy days. Try to say no as little as possible.

In your opinion, why is reading to a child, from birth, so important?
Apart from anything it’s a time when you STOP and give your child your full attention. It helps kids learn to read and opens a whole other imaginary world, much more powerful, private and subtle than television.  

How can parents make reading-aloud time fun?
Always read something you like. There’s nothing worse than wading through some boring rubbish trying to sound interested. Be honest with your kids and tell them if you think a book stinks. Make sure you are comfortable. It’s ok to snooze.

Often, storybooks are read at bedtime.  Are there advantages of reading with young children throughout the day?
I have guilty memories of my youngest calling out for a story and finding him asleep when I finally made it to his room. This happened many times, the poor old boy. He’s a strong reader, though. Many houses have a lot going on at bedtime, so daytime reads are wonderful.

Do your children have a favourite Alison Lester book?
I’m not sure.

My daughter (8) asks this question:  Did you name the pinnacle dinosaur in Are We There Yet?
No, it’s a no name dinosaur. Good question though!

Meet Alison Lester

Attend one of the Babies Love Books! events.  Click here for details.

Supporters

Victoria State Government

Department of Education and Early Childhood Development

Municipal Association of Victoria

State Library of Victoria

Follow: Website — Facebook – Twitter – You Tube – Flickr – What’s on

External Links

Read SquiggleMum’s interview with Alison Lester

Complete List of Alison Lester Books

Did you know: you can buy Alison Lester postcards and prints here.

The Little Big Book Club has much to offers parents and teachers in all states. 

Be A Fun Mum Links

Guest Post: Reading

There’s More Than One Way to Tell a Story

The Magic of a Book

Talking Children’s Books

Read more Be A Fun Mum interviews here

I’m always on the look out for interesting children’s picture books.  The Fun Funnel brings together a book and DVD, creating an interactive story in a pop-out-of-the-page way.

Read it… Watch it… Show it… Share it…

A message from the author, Robbie Cameron:

“I have self produced and published “The Fun Funnel”. A children’s picture book that comes with an animated version of itself on DVD. It is a unique concept and has been very well received from all kids, and also special needs children. When book and screen are used at the same time it is both fun and educational. At www.dvdstorytime.com you can see how it works and also read some very heartfelt testimonials.”

Belmont Library Catalogue

“A favourite story is a lifelong gift to the imagination. Characters that live in our memories, shared from one generation to the next. Words and pictures that educate and entertain. Now the delights of story time have a new dimension. DVD Storytime brings books to life; animated action, toe-tapping music and unforgettable characters. First in the series is The Fun Funnel, a heart-warming tale of a grumpy old man who finally succumbs to happiness when for the first time in his life he discovers fun. Children can follow the animated story on the screen, seeing and hearing the words and pictures come to life from the very book they have in their hands. It’s a great learning tool and entertainment for the whole family. Developed for children aged three to seven, it has proven to have profound effects with children starting to read, slow readers, and a wide variety of special needs kids (Autism, Asperger’s Syndrome, ADHD and Down Syndrome). The overwhelming response from parents say it engages children like nothing else ever has.”

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Oh behalf of The House of Vinter and The Gold Coast Grapevine, I’d like to offer one reader a copy of The Fun Funnel (RRP $29.95).

To enter, subscribe to The Gold Coast Grapevine and leave a comment below saying you’ve done so.

The competition is open to Australian and New Zealand residents only.

Valid from Monday 28 June to Friday 2 July 2010.

I will draw the winner by random number at 7pm on the closing date.

The winner will be notified via email and a ost update link on the Be A Fun Mum Facebook Page.

8.33 pm 2.7.10 Congratulations Virginia!

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Other Be A Fun Mum book reviews:

You Are Sooooo Beautiful by Leanne Powers

Monster Maddie by Susan Stephenson

Relevant Post:

Guest OT Post: Reading