Yea Marc Festival at Flowerdale Primary and Ford Street, Tucker Road Primary Lit Festival

August is a special time for creators of books for children. There are book festivals, book week activities, school visits, bookshop signings – all of it so wonderful and exciting to be out there meeting our readers.

Last Friday, with fellow authors and illustrators, I traveled to Flowerdale Primary School – driving through green hills, gum trees and bright yellow wattle with sheep and cattle dotted through the green. I decided to travel on a less-known road between Acheron and Flowerdale and it was full of adventure. I had to pull up for both a stubborn magpie (who refused to move from the road), a black Kelpie who was running at top speed down the middle of the road toward me – and on the way back a family of ducks who were out for an afternoon stroll under the rainbow and an ink black sky.

Prior to that I spied a handsome rooster ‘free to a good home’ in a country shop window. Yes, I did question how I would transport him but in the end I was sensible!!

The students at Flowerdale Primary were wonderful and we were looked after well by teachers and the students themselves. A country lunch is always a special treat.

Yesterday, in total contrast I fought city traffic from Warrandyte down to Bentleigh – stop-start traffic, impatient drivers, horns beeping and then a parking challenge (someone before me had definitely squashed that witches hat!) but the welcome and wonderful time we had at Tucker Road Primary School for the Ford Street Festival was just as much fun as the visit to the country and I did not have to rescue even one animal all the way along Middleborough or North Roads.

Thank you to the wonderful teachers for inviting us and the fantastic students for making us feel so welcome. Oh, at Tucker Road there were elephants – lots of elephants. Thank you Year 4 students for all your hard work. The room looked fantastic!