27th January Lewis Carroll (1832 - 1898) Harry Allard (1928) Julius Lester (1939) Krista Bell (1950)

Reverend Charles Lutwidge Dodgson was better known by his pseudonym Lewis Carroll. He was an English mathematician, photographer and author, who was best known for the classic fantasy stories Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its sequel Through the Looking Glass. In their day these books were considered children's literature, while today there are many who would debate this and say that they are novels in which children appear. Neither book is really accessible to my age group unless they read a very abridged version of the story or see it as a media text.

Harry Allard is the American author who together with the illustrator, James Marshall created the teacher Miss Nelson from the series that began with Miss Nelson is Missing.

Julius Lester is also an American author who worked closely with one particular illustrator, Jerry Pinkney to give American children books which showed Black American children living their lives and addressing the racial slurs of some children's books. Their book Sam and the Tigers is a retelling of Little Black Sambo and it is a means of addressing these issues. Another of his books Let's Talk About Race, is Lester's way of ensuring that children know that they are much more than their skin colour. Lester says, "I write because our lives are stories. If enough of these stories are told, then perhaps we will begin to see that our lives are the same story. The differences are merely in the details."

And Krista Bell is an Australian author who writes fiction and non-fiction, picture books, bridging novels and novels. Two of her newer books that are in my library are Peeking Ducks, a story set in China about three ducks and the importance of learning from parents. The other, Flying Feet, one of the Aussie Nibbles series is about Henry and tap dancing. A good book for convincing children that it is okay for boys to dance.

10th October Helen Nicoll (1937) James Marshall (1942 - 1992) Nancy Carlson (1953) Wendy Harmer (1955)

10/10/2010 meant to be a lucky day! So these authors and illustrators should have a good day.

Helen Nicoll is the writing half of the Meg and Mog books. Helen was a television producer with the BBC for many years. It was here, as a producer of the children's educational series Watch, that she first met Jan Pienkowski. After working together for four years, they decided it was time to preserve their creativity in book form for future generations of children to enjoy. Together they have created two characters that young children love. The bright colours, simple shapes and black outlines with minimal text seem to work so well. My only beef, why no punctuation? Still for second grade they make a good editing/proofreading activity.

James Marshall was an American author/illustrator who was often praised for his comic timing. He is responsible for the series of books about two hippos, George and Martha, another series about Fox and he illustrated the Miss Nelson books as well. A large number of fairytales were also retold and illustrated by him. The copies in my library of these make the children laugh. Dig out yours and look at them closely.

Nancy Carlson is also an American author/illustrator. She has a penchant for animal characters, but they behave like human children and always provide positive outcomes and life lessons without being preachy. On her website she says why she does this... life should be fun for everyone, but especially for children. This optimistic message permeates her picture books and provides a positive counterpoint to much of what children are influenced by in today's society.

Wendy Harmer is an Australian author who has many hats, comedienne, journalist, radio and TV panelist, but she is here as the author of a very popular series of books for young readers about an urban fairy called Pearlie who lives in Jubilee Park.