School Visit with the Preps on Flame Stands Waiting
Just over 5 years ago, a week or so before my first picture book ‘Queenie One Elephant’s Story’ was about to hit the shelves, my old school friend, also the Librarian at a nearby primary school, suggested I visit her school to deliver my first author presentation to the kids.
My palms were sweaty, my knees shook and I recall being terrified of the Year 6 boys in particular. I ‘survived’ through the younger groups, each one becoming a little easier, then came the Grade 6’s. Two boys I’ll never forget, stood apart from the rest of the class, leaning on the bookcases, their body language screaming out loud and clear – ‘We’re too old for picture books.’
As I told Queenie’s story, little by little those two moved closer and at the end of the session, it was these boys who came up and told me what a wonderful story it was.
So 5 years and I think hundreds of presentations later, yesterday I went back to visit my friend at the same school, this time to read ‘Flame Stands Waiting’ to three classes of brand new preps.
I read the story to wide-eyed 5 year olds and showed them my power-point photo collection of carousels from all over the world. Then to the beautiful strains of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s ‘Carousel’ they followed me up and down, round and round in a circle pretending they were a carousel horse called Flame. Apart from anything else, it’s wonderful exercise and the preps were a delight.
Although I had some photos of the children and me in action, facing away from the camera, I’ve decided not to post it as a few little faces turned towards the camera and I don’t have permission to use their photos. Instead, I’ve included a photo of me with ‘Flame Stands Waiting’ and the horse I call Flame.
Me at Luna Park, Melbourne with 'Flame Stands Waiting'
A Visit to Tennant Creek Primary School – Remote Australia
Last week I was fortunate to be offered the opportunity of presenting to classes of children at Tennant Creek Primary School, geographically classified as far remote Australia.
Wednesday morning, so this time last week, I was winging my way to Alice Springs where I picked up a hire car on arrival at the airport and made my way to Bradshaw PS to pick up children’s illustrator and friend, Marjory Gardner, my driving companion on the 500 kilometre journey north to Tennant Creek.
As I drove into town, I followed the train track for a while and happy memories flooded back of the last time I was in Alice with my husband and we travelled on the marvellous Ghan from Alice to Adelaide.
Marjory and I set off on our adventure with the advice from the librarian that it was an easy, straight journey to Tennant Creek which would take about 5 ½ hours. As we left the outskirts of Alice, Marjory and I chuckled at the 130 kph speed limit sign – the inference being ‘AS IF’.
The road was straight and pot-hole-free and we found ourselves having to treat the accelerator kindly. For some reason the car loved 130! The scenery was red and green and amazing, the petrol stops interesting with a character waiting to be written about at every stop and the Devils Marbles, a spectacular rock formation, not too far from our destination, a fascinating sight, especially the one lone kangaroo sitting on the highest rock surveying his kingdom.
We arrived at the motel at Tennant Creek with time to spare, avoiding easily that twilight period when it is often dangerous to be driving on any Australian country road with animals on the move. The windows of our motel wouldn’t open (built that way) but we enjoyed the delicious meal and a good night’s sleep.
First thing next morning we arrived at the Primary School where we were greeted by the Principal and welcoming staff. Our classes were a mixture of Australian Aboriginal, Australian and little faces from far away places, but the joy I felt from sharing my books with these children was unparalleled.
The biggest decision for me was what book I would focus on. In the end I chose Queenie, thinking that most of these children would never have seen an elephant – dogs are everywhere, although not necessarily sitting on tuckerboxes and I thought a carousel might be too hard to imagine for some of the children.
My favourite moment was watching a little girl’s fingers touching carefully the pages of ‘Flame Stands Waiting’ as if she could feel him, which is exactly what my character Clara, does in the book –
‘Clara looks at the horses one by one. She runs her fingers over their pearly paintwork. She gazes up to the inside roof of the carousel. Then she looks to the horses again . . . and reaches for Flame.’
My visit is something I will never forget, or the faces of the children.
Our visit to Tennant Creek Primary was funded by The Children’s Charity Network and Minemakers Limited. Thank you.
The Writing of ‘Flame Stands Waiting’
© Corinne Fenton
Set in the time when a carousel ride was a highlight of a child’s life, Flame Stands Waiting is the story of wanting something enough to make it real.
The idea of a story about a carousel horse, standing waiting, came to me before I ever knew of an elephant named Queenie and long before I thought of writing the story behind the legend of The Dog on the Tuckerbox.
I remember the exact moment the thought jumped into my head and then began to form itself as a story in my mind. One day my mother said, ‘You know, the first thing your grandmother wanted to do when she came to live in Melbourne (from Tasmania) was to ride on the carousel at Luna Park.’
So that’s where Flame began and I started scribbling. I wrote much of the initial part of this story at Luna Park either beside the carousel or sitting on the back of the horse I call Flame.
Flame was the kind of story that I wrote, then fiddled with – it had many, many re-writes. It went to several publishers and one asked if I would rewrite it as a junior novel. I took up the challenge and tried my hardest to write Flame in this form, but for me the story was not right, it was no longer speaking to me. For me Flame was always meant to be a picture book and I guess, like Flame himself, I had to stick with believing in myself and my dreams.
At this point Flame went back into the bottom drawer for quite a while – years I think, before I resurrected it again. In the end three publishers were interested in publishing it.
My husband’s work Christmas parties are always held at Luna Park, so once again I sat on Flame’s back – much to the embarrassment of my teenagers – going round and round imagining how Flame and Clara would feel, spinning and turning – changing and altering some words, disposing of others. For me writing ‘in the real’ is a huge bonus, as that ‘sense of place’ is so important when I’m writing. Although the story is set on the Luna Park carousel, the story could be on any carousel anywhere in the world. There are some magnificent carousels in Europe and America and I am sure, in many other places.
We live in such a fast-paced world now, that it gives me pleasure to think back on how things once were. Clara was actually the name of my great grandmother, who I was lucky enough to know well into my adult life, so for me this story in many ways is a celebration of the women in my family and their hopes and dreams. It’s about following your heart.
There is some wonderful history about Melbourne’s Luna Park carousel on the Equus Art website: http://equusart.customer.netspace.net.au/
Although this carousel has 68 horses, 66 are jumpers (moving up and down) and only two are standers (stationary on the platform.) The horse I call Flame is one of the standers, but in his heart he wants, more than anything, to be like the other horses. One day a girl called Clara comes to the park and although she gazes at all the other horses, Flame is different, and it is Flame she wants to ride.
The Grand Carousel at Luna Park in Melbourne is the only one made for export from America where it was manufactured in 1913 in Pennsylvania, by the Philadelphia Toboggan Company.
Research information came from the St Kilda Historical Society, Equus Art P/L, Friends of Luna Park, State Library of Victoria, Port Phillip Library Service and the National Trust of Australia.
Although the story is set in a long-ago time, the good thing is that the carousel at Luna Park has been lovingly restored to its original beauty and any child today can visit the park and the carousel and even ride on Flame’s back.
The story is set in the period of The Great Depression, (1929-32) when there was very little money. It was a time of extreme hardship and unemployment for many people in Australia. A visit to a park and a ride on a carousel was a highlight in a child’s life.
The setting takes us back to a time of more simple pleasures. There is something special about carousels and merry-go-rounds that draw us to them where-ever they stand, in towns and cities all over the world. Some are magnificent with gracious horses and shiny paintwork, while others are small and humble. But all of them have something magical, something that takes us away to another place or time.
‘Flame Stands Waiting’ by Corinne Fenton, Illustrated by Sebastian Ciafflaglione and Published by Black Dog Books, 2010.
