Flame Stands Waiting – chasing up copies

A little while ago I realised I hadn’t put away hard-cover copies of some of my picture books for future grandchildren. Panic! So I went hunting.

I’ve managed to find most of them, but acquiring a copy of Flame Stands Waiting is a story in itself. At first it seemed the task was hopeless, then eventually I found a copy, thankfully not hidden away in a little bookshop in somewhere like the Channel Islands, but in Melbourne.

As we were in lockdown I had to pay postage, no way of avoiding that, but in the end the secondhand book which retailed new, for $24.99 in 2010, cost me $45.00. I asked why it was so expensive and the reply, ‘It’s signed by the author.’ I could only laugh.

When the book arrived, beautifully wrapped and protected from any possible damage in transit, I found it was the copy I’d signed for Albert Ullin OAM, children’s literary treasure and founder and long time owner of Australia’s first children’s bookstore, The Little Bookroom.

It is so special to have this copy and is definitely worth it!