Coming Home
So this is my regular Wednesday Blog Post. Yes, I know it’s Thursday here in Australia but as my body is still operating on US time, to me it’s still Wednesday. I should also point out that for the last four Wednesdays there have been no blog posts, no website updates, Facebook or Twitter postings, in fact I gave myself a break from the whole lot.
Only exception – emails – these I sifted through daily and thank goodness for that, as there were 745 of the little darlings waiting dutifully in my Inbox yesterday!
The trip to America combined attendance at the wonderful New York, Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators Conference, followed by a holiday and visits to some special places in the US, including Central Park, the top of the Empire State Building, The Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon, Zion National Park and the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.
This was my first trip to the US and one lovely and unexpected thing was the enjoyment of identifying places which were familiar from movies and television shows, often ones dating back to our childhood – ‘Is that really where they filmed Mr. Ed?’
We enjoyed every moment (minus a few hiccups which are part of the usual challenges of travel). I have a brand new half-written story, saw some spectacular sights – some of which I’ll add below, but I guess none were as spectacular as the sunset viewed from our own backyard last night, which just goes to show that while travel is fantastic, there’s nothing quite like Coming Home.
New York New York
Grand Canyon
Bryce Canyon
San Francisco
Home
‘Queenie: One Elephant’s Story Book Launch – Melbourne Zoo 22 January 2012
When ‘Queenie One Elephant’s Story’ was published in 2006, by Black Dog Books, the book and Queenie (and me) received a generous amount of media attention.
Yesterday with the launch of the first paperback edition it seems to be happening all over again and it’s ‘knocked my socks off.’
My week has been filled with radio and newspaper interviews and there have been many photographs taken (some good and I suspect some horrible) and once again I’ve had this feeling of ‘gosh, is this really happening?’
Yesterday’s launch at the zoo was very special, not just for me but for my family and friends who have been listening to me talk about Queenie for a very long time. It was also special for those people who knew Queenie, visited her or rode on her back. I wish I could have been one of those people.
The magnificent cake, which is a replica of a Queenie cake was made by the Greensborough Cake Decorating Centre and tasted as good as it looked.
On top of this excitement is also the news that next year Queenie will also be Published in hardback in the United States, so Queenie will travel even further.
She’s part of Melbourne, part of our history and part of what zoos were like back then. She was an icon and now I hope she will be remembered forever.
‘Queenie One Elephant’s Story’,
Published in paperback 2012
Black Dog Books/Walker Books
$16.95
by Corinne Fenton
Illustrated by Peter Gouldthorpe
Queenie Cake in the car (looks like a real Queenie)
Me
Me and the Hon. Ryan Smith, Minister for the Environment.
The cake was made by the Greensborough Cake Decorating Centre.
‘Queenie One Elephant’s Story’ Launch in paperback – Melbourne Zoo 2.00 p.m. Sunday 22nd January, 2012.
Queenie: One Elephant’s Story was launched, the first time, in August 2006 and now the paperback will be launched this Sunday at 2.00 p.m. in the Trail of the Elephants at the Melbourne Zoo by the Hon. Ryan Smith, Minister for the Environment.
I remember being bowled-over by the ‘welcome’ the book received back then and by the interest in Queenie, which has never faltered over the last 5 ½ years. Publisher Maryann Ballantyne of Black Dog Books, once said that every time they received a letter, written in old-fashioned handwriting, they knew it was for me.
Children in schools still want to hear about her and members of seniors’ groups such as Probus and Legacy continue to invite me to talk about Queenie and the writing of the book.
The build-up to Sunday’s launch seems to have taken off again – I have back to back radio and newspaper interviews and interest in the launch is building momentum by the minute.
Over ten years ago now, I fell upon a story I knew, must be told and I was passionate about introducing Queenie to a new generation, as well as stirring memories of those who were lucky enough to ride on her back. Many of these children and adults will be celebrating with me on Sunday.
We will even have a replica of the cake subsidised by the Greensborough Cake Decorating Centre, which is illustrated by Peter Gouldthorpe, so beautifully in the book.
Normal zoo entry applies: http://www.zoo.org.au/MelbourneZoo
www.corinnefenton.com www.walkerbooks.com
Cheeky Cocky
Cocky on the clothesline
thought he’d take a ride
survey the ‘breakfast fodder’
hanging side by side.
At first he tried the blue jeans
but they were clearly ‘tough’
so he nibbled a winter jacket
‘Erk!!! that had too much fluff.
He sampled undies, shirts and socks
but nothing tasted right
so off he flew to our neighbour’s house
to find something ‘tastier’ to bite.
This photo inspired the poem, although as you can see there were no clothes on the line.
Shelter from the Storm
I was stealing myself from writing a sad blog post today . . . about two dogs.
One is our neighbour’s dog Ranee who spends much of her time with us (family grown up and gone) and the other, Maverick, my son’s, girlfriend’s teenage puppy (it was looking like she might need to find a new home for him).
So, during storms and fireworks nights, Ranee often comes to us for shelter (as she did on New Years Eve) and at the moment, we are also sheltering Maverick, full-time, but temporarily.
We live on the edge of the bush on a main, busy road without fences and keeping a puppy safe is not without its stresses – especially on those occasions when he escapes. The rest of the time he is in the kitchen/family room area or out on the deck – with its temporary barricades, wallowing in his kids-sized blue shell-pool. The kitchen-tidy is in the laundry, the couch is in our entrance and anything precious is shoved in cupboards or living on ‘higher ground.’
This morning began peacefully enough. I was writing a poem, Maverick was sitting happily under my feet and all was well, until the storm.
As the raindrops splashed onto the deck and thunder rumbled above, the wet, brown head of Ranee appeared behind the barricades. I need to explain here that a boisterous male golden-retriever and an old female kelpie don’t quite ‘work’ in a room together . . . but we tried. All Maverick wanted to do was play (he was quite insistent) and all Ranee wanted to do was sleep in a safe place – ours.
At one point, a safety gate and two stools were toppled over and Maverick took off, at lightening-bolt speed along the driveway, only halted in mid-flight by the familiar rattle of the puppy-food bag.
Both dogs spent the morning in the same room, separated by a make-shift ‘indoor fence’ sheltering . . . from different storms and I live to tell the tale!
