Frané Lessac's Blog
April 24, 2015
By: #228 – Drummer Boy of John John by Mark Greenwood | Kid Lit Reviews
[…] Mark Greenwood website Illustrator: Frané Lessac website blog Publisher: Lee and Low Books website Facebook Release Date: 2012 ISBN: […]
February 25, 2015
Dreams Are Made at Bookaroo
Children’s literature in India is blossoming. Parents and teachers are starting to appreciate the importance of books and reading for pleasure in their children’s lives. Festivals like Bookaroo are a testament to this growing understanding. Bookaroo’s mission is to bring children and books together in a borderless world and we need to celebrate the passionate founders: Jo Williams, Swati Roy and Venkatesh! It’s the first children’s literature festival held in India and has now expanded to over four cities – Delhi, Srinagar, Pune and Goa! I was incredibly lucky to participate at my second Bookaroo Festival, this time held in Pune. 
The main festival is preceded by Bookaroo in the City, an outreach programme where authors/illustrators were taken into local schools. Visiting local schools is always a highlight for me, but going to a NGO (non-government school) and working with underprivileged kids is like mainlining to the core of my heart.
There is nothing in the entire world more gratifying then to give time and support to these children. Getting an education in India is not taken for granted, especially for girls. When you see their eagerness to learn and how precious the opportunity to go to school is to each and every child from the earliest age, there is nowhere in world you’d rather be. To find out more, please check out the Peepal Foundation.
Then it was onto the main Festival where I conducted five sessions over two days. On the Doodle Wall, the children drew themselves and pasted their portraits onto a gigantic train. Within minutes the train was full of happy faces, ready to chug off on travels through India.
It’s easy to feel like a celebrity with so many journalists keen to interview authors and illustrators for the numerous daily print newspapers. The best rock star moment (and 15 minutes of fame) was when we needed the help of security to make our way through a crowd of eager children wanting autographs. Bring it on!
My participation at the Bookaroo Pune Festival was made possible by a Market Development Grant through the Australia Council for the Arts.
January 16, 2015
Virtual Launch and Giveaway
Exciting things are happening in the world of A is for Australia. Since my friends are spread all across the globe, I’ve decided to host an online launch complete with virtual bubbles! Even more exciting, I’ll be giving away three signed limited edition prints from the book. Details on how to win will be posted on the A is for Australia Facebook page next week. To join in all the festivities, you need to LIKE the page. PLEASE share so your friends can learn how to win a print too! Here’s the link: https://www.facebook.com/aisforaustralia
January 12, 2015
A is for Australia
Australia is a far cry from New Jersey where I grew up. I’ve always loved to travel and as soon as I could walk, I’d take off on adventures with my little red wagon…collecting rocks and flowers from neighborhood gardens along the way.
Nowadays, I look forward to travelling around Australia. Within a few minutes from my house, I can catch a ferry to Rottnest Island or stroll alongside the Swan River.
I often see dolphins, black swans and families catching prawns and crabs. One of my favorite pastimes is walking along the Indian Ocean to Dog Beach, watching dogs of all shaped and sizes having the time of their lives.
The love of Australia is what ultimately drove me to create A is for AUSTRALIA and I was lucky enough to travel to many of the places in the book.
My challenge was to represent all the states and to highlight Australia’s diverse and unique landscape. Some destinations were so incredibly iconic: Sydney Harbour, Uluru, and Bondi Beach, which made the decision easy. Some locations were difficult to choose because there were many amazing alternatives! Book Two?
Back in my studio, I sorted through the enormous range of facts, photographs, travel brochures, stacks of research books and many online sources of information. A is for AUSTRALIA is a celebration of Australian people, places and culture. Hopefully children will be intrigued and bug their parents to take them to explore some of the locations in the book!
Now available online and in all good bookstores.
A for Australia TRAILER.
November 10, 2014
Giving Thanks
Mark:
Frané and I have celebrated Thanksgiving in the US, the UK, the Caribbean and many other countries. No matter where we are in the world, we always manage to gather friends and family to share a special day of celebration.
This year our Thanksgiving will be in Australia. So what does an Australian Thanksgiving mean? Our maritime history is full of stories of the Dutch and Portuguese, French and English exploration. These days we have many refugees who embark on treacherous journeys by boat across the vast ocean. Stories like The Mayflower can help us all recognise that although times may change, universal needs – hope, respect, love, freedom and security – remain unchanged.
On September 6, 1620, one hundred and two brave souls began a long, dangerous journey on the Mayflower. Seeking a better life, the Pilgrims crossed thousands on miles of ocean to reach a mysterious destination – the new world we call America.
Thanksgiving is a lesson from history about a moment when people from different races and backgrounds forgot what separated them and rejoiced in what united them. It was about what defines us as humans – a sense of family and community, caring, sharing and a vision of a world where all live in peace and harmony.
It is universal celebration. So, no matter where you are in the world…Happy Thanksgiving.
Frané:
Thanksgiving has always been my favourite day of the year. As a child, I had trouble sleeping the night before. I couldn’t wait to see all my cousins.
My childhood Thanksgivings were spent at Norman Cousin’s county house in Connecticut. This beautiful man continues to be a great inspiration in my life. Quotes by Norman Cousins. Our extended family was so large that it required four turkeys to feed everyone. Sometimes Thanksgiving was comparable to a United Nations meeting. Norman would bring home visiting dignitaries. People from many different cultures from around the world would share the celebration with our family. I remember the excitement when U Thant, Burmese diplomat and the Secretary-General of the United Nations, spent one Thanksgiving with us.
One of my fondest Thanksgiving memories is of a dozen cousins riding through the autumn forest along a dirt track on the roof, hood and bumper of a car – all of us hanging on for dear life. A cousin old enough to reach the car pedals drove with everyone singing and laughing.
Thanksgiving unites family and friends in a way no other holiday does….so we give thanks to Samoset, Squanto, Massasoit and the Wampanoag people – and to those brave Pilgrims, who set sail almost 400 years ago to seek a better life in their little ship, the Mayflower.
TEACHER’S NOTES click here.
THE MAYFLOWER BOOK TRAILER
November 6, 2014
us in the US
Before the nation’s capital city woke up, we took a jetlag stroll.
Over two weeks, we conducted nine extraordinary events in Washington D.C., New York & Massachusetts.…from book festivals, presenting to Children’s Book Guild and SCBWI peers, conducting hands-on workshops, launching a book and meetings with publishers. Bonus was this all took place during my most favorite time of year – Autumn!
The tour was kick-started with an invitation to present our new book, The Mayflower – Holiday House Books at the renowned Politics & Prose Bookstore in Washington D.C. To speak at this celebrated bookstore was a great honour. From this one invitation, all other events rolled into fruition.
The following day we were guest speakers at the Children’s Book Guild’s luncheon held at Busboys and Poets. Attended by many members of the Guild, including established authors, illustrators and specialists in children’s literature, such as professors of children’s literature, librarians and reviewers, bookstore folk and some familiar faces:
Dr. Ernie Bond, Dr. Patty Dean, and Marcella Terrusi all the way from Bologna…
…and the one and only, Laura Krauss Melmed, fabulous wordsmith for the following books created together:
Capital! Washington D.C. from A-Z
New York, New York: The Big Apple A-Z,
and Heart of Texas: A Lone Star ABC.
The highlight of our tour was An Open Book Foundation’s school visit to Savoy Elementary School. An Open Book Foundation’s mission is to promote literacy among disadvantaged children and teens in the greater Washington, D.C. area by giving books to students and providing access to authors and illustrators – and what a unanimously positive experience it is for all involved! We conducted a ‘meet the author and Illustrator’ presentation followed by an art activity. At the conclusion of each presentation An Open Book Foundation gave each student a copy of our book – Drummer Boy of John John -Lee & Low Books – to take home,
signed and personalized by the people who actually wrote and illustrated it. The students were so excited to leave each our sessions clutching their very own book. An Open Book program is as uplifting and rewarding for authors and illustrators as it is for students. We will never forget the look of joy on the faces of the students, who couldn’t wait to take their new books home and share the experience with their families. Comments by students: “You mean we get to keep the book? We don’t have to bring it back?” and “I can keep this book for my whole life. Even when I grow up?”
For a complete set of photos click here!
Off to New York to participate in the children’s program at one of America’s premier book festivals – the Brooklyn Book Festival!
The Brooklyn Book Festival is the largest free literary event in New York City, presenting an array of national and international literary stars and emerging authors. We loved catching up with legendary Australian author Libby Gleeson and spent the day checking out the many Indie publishers’ booths together…
…and always fun to catch up with the local tribe of the New York City Society of Children’s Book Writer’s and Illustrators represented in true style at the Festival.
While in NY, we met up with the lovely Louise May, Lee and Low Books editor of Drummer Boy of John John & the brilliant Grace Maccarone, Holiday House Books editor on The Mayflower.
We then zigzagged across the state of Massachusetts for a series of events, where the autumn colors were truly starting to burst and home to some serious red barns.
First was the Society of Children’s Book Writer’s and Illustrators New England chapter meeting. We shared a presentation about cross cultural books & our experiences of creating books and bookmaking workshops in Australian indigenous communities, inspiring student’s natural curiosity about reading and writing in remote regions where story is more than words.
The old streets of Boston led us to visit the “Make Way for Ducklings” sculpture in the Public Garden. Robert McCloskey’s other classic book, “Blueberries for Sal”, was my all time childhood favorite.
Boston is the home of Candlewick Press. In preparation of the April US release of Midnight
we shared the story behind the story to a packed roomful of keen sales, marketing and editorial staff.
Crossing over to western Massachusetts for our story time and art activity at the Eric Carle Museum in Amherst.
But not before an evening playtime with good old friends from the little Caribbean island of Montserrat who live nearby in Northampton! Photo taken by amazing photographer & children’s book author, Shelly Rotner.
The Eric Carle Museum was created to inspire a love of art and reading through picture books. It is the only museum of its kind in the US. The Carle collects, preserves, presents, and celebrates picture books and picture book illustrations from around the world. The Museum’s has a collection of more than 10,000 picture book illustrations, three art galleries, an art studio, a theatre, picture book libraries, and educational programs. It was a huge honour to be invited to conduct a presentations there for the second time.
Finally, and absolutely fabulous, was an invitation to present at the Plimoth Plantation Museum in Plymouth Massachusetts.
The Plimoth Plantation offers powerful personal encounters with living history built on thorough research about the Wampanoag People and the Colonial English community in the 1600s. Plymouth is also home to the Mayflower II replica.
Returning to the site of our original research which began three years ago, was full circle for us.
Our book, The Mayflower, tells the story of the Pilgrim’s journey to New England. It’s been getting some pretty awesome reviews:
Publishers Weekly
Kirkus Reviews
Children’s Book Council
Booklist – to be posted October 15th.
And then, after nine extraordinary events in three states, it was our own long voyage home.
THANK YOU to West Australia’s Department Culture and the Arts for their contribution of my airfare, Artflight.
October 4, 2014
us in the US
Before the nation’s capital city woke up, we took a jetlag stroll.
Over two weeks, we conducted nine extraordinary events in Washington D.C., New York & Massachusetts.…from book festivals, presenting to Children’s Book Guild and SCBWI peers, conducting hands-on workshops, launching a book and meetings with publishers. Bonus was this all took place during my most favorite time of year – Autumn!
The tour was kick-started with an invitation to present our new book, The Mayflower – Holiday House Books at the renowned Politics & Prose Bookstore in Washington D.C. To speak at this celebrated bookstore was a great honour. From this one invitation, all other events rolled into fruition.
The following day we were guest speakers at the Children’s Book Guild’s luncheon held at Busboys and Poets. Attended by many members of the Guild, including established authors, illustrators and specialists in children’s literature, such as professors of children’s literature, librarians and reviewers, bookstore folk and some familiar faces:
Dr. Ernie Bond, Dr. Patty Dean, and Marcella Terrusi all the way from Bologna…
…and the one and only, Laura Krauss Melmed, fabulous wordsmith for the following books created together:
Capital! Washington D.C. from A-Z
New York, New York: The Big Apple A-Z,
and Heart of Texas: A Lone Star ABC.
The highlight of our tour was An Open Book Foundation’s school visit to Savoy Elementary School. An Open Book Foundation’s mission is to promote literacy among disadvantaged children and teens in the greater Washington, D.C. area by giving books to students and providing access to authors and illustrators – and what a unanimously positive experience it is for all involved! We conducted a ‘meet the author and Illustrator’ presentation followed by an art activity. At the conclusion of each presentation An Open Book Foundation gave each student a copy of our book – Drummer Boy of John John -Lee & Low Books – to take home,
signed and personalized by the people who actually wrote and illustrated it. The students were so excited to leave each our sessions clutching their very own book. An Open Book program is as uplifting and rewarding for authors and illustrators as it is for students. We will never forget the look of joy on the faces of the students, who couldn’t wait to take their new books home and share the experience with their families. Comments by students: “You mean we get to keep the book? We don’t have to bring it back?” and “I can keep this book for my whole life. Even when I grow up?”
For a complete set of photos click here!
Off to New York to participate in the children’s program at one of America’s premier book festivals – the Brooklyn Book Festival!
The Brooklyn Book Festival is the largest free literary event in New York City, presenting an array of national and international literary stars and emerging authors. We loved catching up with legendary Australian author Libby Gleeson and spent the day checking out the many Indie publishers’ booths together…
…and always fun to catch up with the local tribe of the New York City Society of Children’s Book Writer’s and Illustrators represented in true style at the Festival.
While in NY, we met up with the lovely Louise May, Lee and Low Books editor of Drummer Boy of John John & the brilliant Grace Maccarone, Holiday House Books editor on The Mayflower.
We then zigzagged across the state of Massachusetts for a series of events, where the autumn colors were truly starting to burst and home to some serious red barns.
First was the Society of Children’s Book Writer’s and Illustrators New England chapter meeting. We shared a presentation about cross cultural books & our experiences of creating books and bookmaking workshops in Australian indigenous communities, inspiring student’s natural curiosity about reading and writing in remote regions where story is more than words.
The old streets of Boston led us to visit the “Make Way for Ducklings” sculpture in the Public Garden. Robert McCloskey’s other classic book, “Blueberries for Sal”, was my all time childhood favorite.
Boston is the home of Candlewick Press. In preparation of the April US release of Midnight we shared the story behind the story to a packed roomful of keen sales, marketing and editorial staff.
Crossing over to western Massachusetts for our story time and art activity at the Eric Carle Museum in Amherst.
But not before an evening playtime with good old friends from the little Caribbean island of Montserrat who live nearby in Northampton! Photo taken by amazing photographer & children’s book author, Shelly Rotner.
The Eric Carle Museum was created to inspire a love of art and reading through picture books. It is the only museum of its kind in the US. The Carle collects, preserves, presents, and celebrates picture books and picture book illustrations from around the world. The Museum’s has a collection of more than 10,000 picture book illustrations, three art galleries, an art studio, a theatre, picture book libraries, and educational programs. It was a huge honour to be invited to conduct a presentations there for the second time.
Finally, and absolutely fabulously, was an invitation to present at the Plimoth Plantation Museum in Plymouth Massachusetts.
The Plimoth Plantation offers powerful personal encounters with living history built on thorough research about the Wampanoag People and the Colonial English community in the 1600s. Plymouth is also home to the Mayflower II replica.
Returning to the site of our original research which began three years ago, was full circle for us.
Our book, The Mayflower, tells the story of the Pilgrim’s journey to New England. It’s been getting some pretty awesome reviews:
Publishers Weekly
Kirkus Reviews
Children’s Book Council
Booklist – to be posted October 15th.
And then, after nine extraordinary events in three states, it was our own long voyage home.
THANK YOU to West Australia’s Department Culture and the Arts for my Artflight grant to participate in all the above opportunities!
July 27, 2014
Children’s Book Week & School Visits
As I scroll down my Book Week Month schedule and about to face 27 school visits, I thought I’d share my tried and tested top ten survival tips.
1. Reconfirm dates and times with the library or school beforehand. Organisers have been known to go on long service leave or change position.
2. Prepare a presentation that’s age appropriate – find out in advance what year levels you will be seeing. If it’s the entire school in one presentation, you will need to engage the little ones through to the older students. Prepare accordingly.
3. Confirm equipment needs: i.e. a data projector/interactive whiteboard. Always good to carry an extra VGA cable, HDMI cable, powerboard and batteries for a remote. If technology fails, be prepared to have a Plan B
= you alone and the audience. It’s refreshing!
4. Ask where best to park. Organisers will know parking restrictions or may offer you a prime spot.
5. Sign books or autograph books, but not tiny scraps of paper. Alternatively, ask the teacher to photocopy a sheet with multiple signatures.
6. Teachers will adore you if you leave a ‘hands-on’ activity they can use in the classroom for follow-up after your visit.
7. Ask in advance if the school would like a book order form to purchase books for the students and/or school.
8. Be respectful in your presentation. Don’t go for the shock and awe to amuse the students with words that will upset the teachers. Especially if you want an invitation back or anywhere for that matter. Word travels quickly.
9. Ask for a microphone if you feel your voice is going – even with a small group. Don’t wait til it goes completely.
10. Be prepared to change tack. Have Plan B ready to go and even a Plan C.
Inspiring children about books and reading is a great gift to share.
So get out there, good luck and enjoy!
June 7, 2014
Celebrating Children’s Literature in Singapore
Imagine a 16th story library. Fill it with publishers, educators, agents, parents, librarians, authors and illustrators from all over the world. All gathered to celebrate, learn and share knowledge at the most dynamic and fastest growing literary festivals – the Asian Festival of Children’s Content (AFCC).
I was honoured to be one of six selected delegates from West Australia to present at this year’s Festival. There were many wonderful moments…
…being on a panel moderated by children’s book historian, Leonard S. Marcus. If you haven’t seen his landmark exhibition: The ABC of It: Why Children’s Books Matter at The New York Public Library – move it up to #1 on your bucket list as it ends in September.
The panel was shared with Junko Yokota – Director of the Center for Teaching through Children’s Books. Coincidentally, she is a coauthor of four college textbooks that I’ve illustrated: Children’s Books in Children’s Hands. Even though Junko and I have worked together for the past twenty years, we only met in person recently.To round up our panel was Mariko Takagi, an author and book designer extraordinaire.
Another best bit was conducting an all day masterclass alongside the charming Spanish illustrator, Javier Zabala. We hope all attendees went away with new skills and loads of inspiration. I look forward to seeing your illustrative published work in the near future.
I wish to thank writingWA for their support in making this opportunity possible. Thank you to the WA State Government through Department of Culture and the Art for their recognition of important cultural exchanges such as the AFCC. And of course thank you to the National Book Development Council of Singapore for the initiative of bringing Asian content to the world’s children.
February 19, 2014
Midnight on Exhibition
A preview of the “Midnight”exhibition at The Literature Centre
It’s always a thrill to look back and follow the stages involved in preparing a book for publication.
- from its origin and inspiration to the extensive research involved.
- the ‘journeys of discovery’ that help balance creative interpretation with historical authenticity.
- the development of a storyline to the rough drafts and sketches.
- the creative process of the artist that leads to original art.
Midnight captures the bond between horse and rider, the journey to war and an important moment in Australian military history. The Literature Centre invites school groups to view this moving, thought-provoking exhibition – a perfect workshop for students in the lead up to ANZAC Day. Suitable for Year 3 – Year 7
To book go here:
We’ll be celebrating Midnight with an informal gathering at the Literature Centre on Open Day, Sunday, March 16th from 2–3.00pm. Join Gee Jay the light horse for an Anzac biscuit and a cuppa. For details, click on the invite.
