And here is another fabulous Aussie children’s writer for you!
Ursula Dubosarsky is an amazing Australian children’s author born in Sydney. She has won a heap of awards for her books and has been on the CBCA shortlist several times. She has written about forty books, including anything from books for younger readers to YA.
The first book of hers I read was The First Book Of Samuel, which was on the CBCA shortlist that year. It took the Biblical story of the child Samuel and updated it to modern Australia. Samuel is a little boy whose grandfather is a Holocaust survivor and his father is p an opera singer, of all things! Odd, but if you are familiar with the Biblical story, you’ll pick it up.
The Red Shoe is historical fiction, set in Australia in the 1950s, during the Petrov Affair, when a married couple defected from the Soviet Union. The red shoe of the title refers to a shoe dropped by Mrs Petrov when the KGB were dragging her to the plane. It has become an iconic image here. The Petrov Affair is seen from the viewpoint of children.
YA novel The Golden Day has a flavour of Picnic At Hanging Rock, though no, it isn’t about schoolgirls going missing on a rock! Hard to explain, but it has a similar haunting atmosphere. Actually, I’ve found that her books in general have a haunting quality.
A book of hers for younger readers was published by Christmas Press, an illustrated story book called Two Tales Of Twins From Greece And Ancient Rome, retelling the stories of Artemis and Apollo and Romulus and Remus. She also read the text for the audiobook version. I’ve reviewed both on this blog(check out the links above).
And here is her web site. http://ursuladubosarsky.squarespace.com It has information about all of her books plus videos, teachers’ notes, craft activities, a podcast interview and a direct email address! About all it doesn’t seem to have is where you can buy her books, so here are a few links from me.
Amazon
Booktopia
Book Depository
Most are available in any good bookstore and many in ebook or audiobook. Buy, read, enjoy!
Amazon
Booktopia
Book Depository
Most are available in any good bookstore and many in ebook or audiobook. Buy, read, enjoy!
Her stories sound very interesting. I'll check out her books. My friend and her husband spent several years sailing around Australia. Lately we've exchanged children books for gifts. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteI hope you enjoy them as much as I have!
ReplyDeleteThis is so informative :-)
ReplyDeleteI hope you will check it out, then!
ReplyDeleteI have never read her, but she sounds like a fashinating author. And I understand she mostly writes historicals?
ReplyDeleteNot mostly, no. Check out her web site and you’ll find a good variety of books.
ReplyDeleteSounds like Ms Dubosarsky has a wide range of interesting books for a large range of younger readers. I can only imagine the research she must do for some of her titles.
ReplyDeleteTasha
Tasha's Thinkings - Movie Monsters
Yes, I imagine it would need quite a lot of historical research for some of those books!
ReplyDeleteHi Debs! I think your granddaughter may be a bit young for any of Ursula’s books right now, but she has certainly done some books for younger readers. You’ll find the details on her web site. Glad to have given you some ideas! Wait till tomorrow when I will be talking about Hazel Edwards, author of There’s A Hippopotamus On My Roof Eating Cake.
ReplyDeleteThat book "The Red Shoe" sounds pretty interesting, really.
ReplyDeleteHi John! Yes, it’s worth a read, and I hope you find a copy.
ReplyDeleteHow fun! I've never heard of her. Part of what makes this challenge so much fun!
ReplyDelete@IsaLeeWolf
A Bit to Read
Yes, it’s always good to learn new things! Her books are easy enough to get hold of, wherever you are, but she is best known in Australia.
ReplyDelete