I want to be a Rockstar

I want to be a Rock Star is a new children’s book by Melbourne author Mary Anastasiou. The book is charmingly illustrated by Anil Tortop.

This is the first in a series of books for young readers by Anastasiou, inspiring them to explore their future passions and creative dreams. I Want to be a Movie Star and I Want to be a Sports Star are the upcoming titles in this series.

My son, who is 7, read the book straight away by himself when he received it, after being intrigued by the title. In fact this book came along at just the right time as we are introducing him to music and pop culture. Only a week ago my music loving husband carefully curated a best of alternative Rock playlist for him to listen to. I must agree it was a great playlist but we would like to open him up to many more genres out there, I am personally not a rock person but love country and retro disco and would like to share that with him (much to the dismay of my husband!). 

This delightful book takes the young reader on and adventure following Luke and his dog Ralphie on their dream of being music stars through the many different genres of music such as country music, rap music, all the way to classical music. There is no general info about these genres, but each of these musical styles is given personality through Anil Tortop’s energetic illustrations. My husband and I follow and appreciate pop culture of all levels and hope to share that passion with our kids, this book is a great way of introducing creative musical dreams in a visual and entertaining way. My son really loved reading the book with us also and listening to our personal insights on these music genres. 

Coming from music loving parents, he was familiar with most of the genres in the book except for Jazz and the art of DJ-ing, so we will definitely create some fun playlists for him to further explore now.

This book isn’t a fairytale it’s so much more. It’s an opportunity for young readers to discover that ‘happily ever after' can happen in real life by having ambitions and dreams that are real in this world. Whether those dreams be creative or sporty, discussing and reading about what these are with children can become an exciting way for the young readers to begin this journey. We are looking forward to reading the rest of this series. I want to be a Rock Star is available in a hardcopy, a portion of the sale of these books go to the children charity TLC for Kids.

Reviewed by Virginia and family

For more info visit https://www.lilrebel.com.au/

Friday Finds

image credit: Raquel Caballero

+ My youngest son adores animals and did a vet workshop with these guys a few years ago. New programme out for 2017 AND they are also offering two scholarships.
+ My daughter would love these graphic tights. Too many choose from!
+ Our friend Lilly Blue from BIG Kids magazine will lead participants through theatre games, collaborative invention and art making in response to SCAF's immersive installation, After Voices. 
+ My daughter is my new photographer for my project Hello Bookshop (That's her pictured). It was very exciting to work with her.  We will give you a heads up when our first conversation is up.
+ If you are in Penrith this is your last chance this weekend to catch The Adventures of Alvin Sputnik: Deep Sea Explorer. We loved  it in 2011 at the Sydney Festival.
+ We will be in Melbourne this weekend and will be popping along to Circus Oz's open house in Collingwood.

Friday Finds

+ Pop up ice skating in the city and Bondi may have ended but you can skate seven day a week at The Ice Zoo
+ Melbourne Writers' Festival children and teen program looks wonderful. Love the podcasting workshop
+ Your teen may be find their voice at the Australian Poetry Slam
+ We love this Tokyo time-lapse / Tokyo is an amazing city to visit with your kids
+ Tracks - A pop up program of events for young writers
+ My teen is at Splendour in the Grass this weekend - but they also cater for the little ones.

reading, watching, doing

Reading
S (12) Looking for a new book (thriller preferred)... Give us your suggestions in the comments. Jasper Jones Craig Silvey
M (14) Girl, Interrupted Susanna Kaysen
O (almost 18) Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson

Watching
Hunt for the Wilderpeople

Doing
Drumming at Taikoz

Coming up
Sydney Film Festival

Wish List
Cindy Sherman with Mischa (14) at QAGOMA

Numerical Street Exhibition | 18 Feb - 1 March 2016

DISCOVERED | The Selfie Project at Kinokuniya

Where: Kinokuniya Books - Sydney   

When: Month of June 2014

PS - While you are there check out their children's book section - best selection of kids books in Sydney.

Mother Artist Network Forum | 25 May

Our friends over at BIG Kids magazine will be at this months MCA Zine Fair on the 25 May to host the Mother Artist Network forum and launch Issue 6 Patterns of Pathways. 

My date for the event will be  the very wonderful Wolfgang and Rose - hope to see you there!

"Artists and co-creators of BIG Kids Magazine Jo Pollitt and Lilly Blue will be hosting the first Mother Artist Network forum at the MCA. Joined by artists Emma Magenta and Emma Gale, the panel will explore the challenge and rich terrain of navigating motherhood with an ongoing professional art practice. The Mother Artist Network (MAN)) was launched in 2011 as a platform to provoke dialogue about creative practice and motherhood."

This event is free but bookings are advised.
For more information and to book:  http://www.mca.com.au/events/mother-artist-forum/8772

CLOSED Giveaway: The Incredible Book Eating Boy

I bought the book The Incredible Book Eating Boy by Oliver Jeffers for my children when they were younger - it turned into one of our favourites.  We eat books in our house! - we are all big readers.

It was wonderful to see that this book the celebrates the joy of reading has been transformed from page to stage. The kids love seeing their favourite books come alive on stage.

We have a family pass to give away to The Incredible Book Eating Boy for the 12 April. (2 adults, 2 children).

For your chance  to win tell me your child's favourite book to read at info@artsrocket.org
Entries close 9 April and the winner will be notified by email. CLOSED.

Congratulations to D Collings.

The Incredible Book Eating Boy 
Sydney Opera House
12 - 27 April

Alphabetical Sydney

I am always on the lookout for books that I can send to our family that reside interstate or overseas. Books I love the best are ones that portray our life in Sydney and Australia to be shared as bedtime stories - stories that keep far away cousins connected.

Alphabetical Sydney is a beautiful book to share with your own children, with Sydney visitors or family that live afar. The book is a collaboration architect/illustrator Antonia Pesenti and award-winning playwright Hilary Bell.

Jump on the local bus and travel to the many everyday wonders of Sydney with delightful verse and exquisite images.

This Christmas, copies of Alphabetical Sydney will be travelling to our family in Brisbane, Ireland and Canada.

Alphabetical Sydney

Booktopia

Antonia Pesenti and Hilary Bell

NewSouth Books

Images by Antonia Pesenti -  courtesy of NewSouth Books

Arts Rocket Friday Finds

image via Underbelly Arts - Tableau Vivant

School holidays are over - but there is still fun to be had if you look a little closer:

• Underbelly Arts Festival have a great kids/teen program(kids under 12 are free) - jump on a ferry and head over to Cockatoo Island on the 4th August.
• Pop up book workshop with Tony Flowers at Sherman Gallery on 3rd August
• Kiddley is back!
• We have been playing with Poster Candy and Origrami to showcase our family images
• Beautiful bag for kids that love to draw - anywhere - anytime 
• Youth courses at Metro screen in filmmaking and video game design
• We have rediscovered Scratch - my youngest son loves it. 
• For teens - Tavi at the Opera House 
• My kids are reading: JD Salinger - Catcher in the Rye (15), R.J. Palacio - Wonder (11) and Emma Cameron - View from the 32nd Floor (9)

Arts Rocket Friday Finds

• Way Out Festival for children hits the Casula Powerhouse in July. Look out for  the giant Termite city made out of milk crates.
• Olafur Eliasson is back at The Sherman Gallery for lego mad kids
• Our holiday movie is going to be Satellite Boy
• Talking about movies - did you know that Palace Cinemas has a youth movie club - Scope - membership includes 1 free ticket on joining, $10 tickets and a free choc top on your birthday
• What my kids are reading at the moment - Once upon a slime, Chew on this - everything you don't want to know about fast food and My sister Jodie

A BIG new discovery

We have only just discovered the beautiful kids  magazine "BIG" - Bravery, Imagination and Generosity.  The magazine explores children's interaction with art and collaboration with artists and with probably the youngest senior editor in the world (Luca is 8 years old!).

Each issue has a different theme with the current issue  being -  First flight. So expect beautiful illustrations, photography, poetry and workshops including - how to make a flying bird animation.

Kids can get involved by submitting  their own artwork and register to be a part of the  child artist response project and can submit ideas for upcoming issues.

My daughter devours the magazine as part of her night time reading in bed before she goes to sleep. My boys haven't had a chance to look at it as she has claimed it as her own. BIG can be shared amongst the whole family (adults included) and archived to bring out later for inspiration.

Track down a copy of BIG - your family will love it.

For more info and stockists visit: http://www.bigkidsmagazine.com

Charlie and Lola are in town

Charlie and Lola's  Best Bestest play ever opened today at the Sydney Opera House. Most families are familiar with the wonderful BBC series and books of brother and sister and their imaginative world. This charming  production by Watershed Productions brings the siblings to life with a magical mix of puppets, live action and music.

The performance which lasts just under an hour consists of  three stories within Charlie and Lola's world. Laughter filled the audience  with mostly under 5's, some even shouted out to Charlie and Lola on stage as they would to a friend.

This magical production is a must see over the school holidays!

Performance Details:
Venue: Playhouse
Dates From 17 Dec 2010 until 30 Jan 2011
Duration: 55 minutes
Bookings: http://www.sydneyoperahouse.com/whatson/kath_charlie_and_lola.aspx

For more  information on:
Charlie and Lola visit: http://www.charlieandlola.com/
Watershed Theatre visit http://www.watershedtheatre.com/

Living Library at Sydney Children’s Festival

Carriage Works Living Library is looking for beautiful, interesting, inspiring books.

Many of you will remember that as part of the Sydney Children’s Festival last year, we ran a program called the ‘Living Library’. For those of you who have no idea what I’m talking about, see below:

In a Living Library, readers borrow out books in much the same way as they would in a traditional library, with one important difference – the ‘books’ are real people. The idea is that readers (in this case, the children of the Festival) can ‘borrow’ a book for a short amount of time to hear their personal story, enabling them to hear tales of people with lives very different from their own.

Right now, I’m looking for people of all ages, cultural backgrounds, and from all walks of life to be books. We’ll be enlisting kid’s ‘dream job’ people like firemen, doctors, vets and astronauts if we can find them, as well as people with quintessential ‘Australian Stories’ - people who have migrated to Oz and seen the times change; someone from a tattoo parlour in The Cross covered head to toe in ink; a blind person talking about how they experience the world; and actors and storytellers who can pull the kid’s legs with tall tales and jokes.

Simply put, everyone has a story to tell, and no-one knows how to tell your story like you do. It doesn’t have to be wild and wacky (although it certainly can be), just something from your life that you feel makes it unique.

Whilst it’s clearly not for everyone, volunteering to be a Book has the potential to be a distinctly rewarding personal experience, as well as a generous contribution to the young community. With your help, we can create a safe environment for kids to interact with a huge range of people who they normally wouldn’t cross paths with - and what better way to promote awareness and acceptance of diversity?

The time commitment isn’t huge - at least one of the Library sessions for a few hours on either the 2nd  or 9th October, as well as a short info session in the week prior - so if you think you’d like to be involved, contact me for more details.

If it doesn’t sound like your cup of tea, PLEASE forward this to anyone else you know who you think might be interested.

This is the type of event that really needs personal recommendations to work, so I appreciate any assistance you can give me with that.

Thanks, and we hope to hear from some of you soon,

Kyra Bartley
Associate Producer of Sydney Children’s Festival
producing@carriageworks.com.au | 02 8571 9099
(in the office Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday)

More about the Living Library at Sydney Children’s Festival

Get Reading! 2010

Popping up in some of our cities' most idyllic locations during August and September are the Get Reading! Outdoor Reading Rooms.

For a gold coin donation to the Indigenous Literacy Project, you can enjoy comfy furniture for adults and children, great reads and author appearances at popular outdoor spots.

Outdoor reading Rooms:

Sydney: 27–29 August 
Nagoya Gardens, Hyde Park 
Corner of Elizabeth & Market Streets, Sydney 
10 am – 4 pm daily

Brisbane: 1–5 September
Maiwar Green, Southbank Cultural Centre 
State Library of Queensland 
Stanley Place, South Bank, Brisbane 
10 am – 4 pm daily

Melbourne: 10–12 September 
The Amphitheatre, Federation Square 
Flinders St, Melbourne 
10 am – 4 pm daily

14–15 September: Wagga Wagga 
Wagga Wagga Library Garden 
Baylis Street, Wagga Wagga 
Tues 14 Sept 9 am – 4 pm 
Wed 15 Sept 10 am - 4 pm

Visit the Get Reading Website for Free Book offers, Kids room and author details : http://www.getreading.com.au


The Kids Room: http://www.getreading.com.au/the_extras/kids_room/index.php

Tim Burton - The Exhibition | Melbourne | ACMI

After a season at the MOMA New York, The Tim Burton exhibition has arrived in Australia.  My daughter and I headed to Melbourne to check it out. Even before you step through the doors of the exhibition you know you are in for a treat with the displays that surround the entrance at the ACMI.


Inside, the  Exhibition is full of wonders that have filled the mind of Tim Burton since his school years, "Surviving Burbank" to his latest film "Alice in Wonderland." There is so much to see and take in including illustrations, figures, costumes, and rarely seen short films.


The Burtonarum will delight all ages, a carnival tent buried deep in the forest which feature glowing Burtonesque creatures and little peep holes. You will glow as well.


If you are taking young children, take the kids exhibition trail  which sides steps Sleepy Hollow and other films that they may find too scary.


We both loved the exhibition and found it very inspiring.
It is not too be missed!


Dates: Thursday 24 June - Sunday 10 October 2010
Open daily 10am-6pm. Special late night Thursdays until 10pm
Venue: ACMI Federation Square - Melbourne


For Kids and Families
Kids Exhibition Trail (recommended  for 5 - 10 years)
The trail provides a safe navigation path through the exhibition, bypassing works suited to an older audience. The trail is explored by following a Burtonesque 'monster' character and features activities along the way. The trail ends at the with the kids activity space.


Through the looking Glass
Using the magic of green screen technology and our state-of-the-art studio, you'll have a rare opportunity to journey down the rabbit hole to a magical and mysterious world and immerse yourself in the actual sets from Alice in Wonderland!


Make a movie Burton a-go-go!
In this hands-on workshop, you'll learn how to write, direct, act in and edit a short film inspired by the gothic imagination of Tim Burton.


Burton Sunday workshops
Wander through Wonderland, create a foley soundtrack, discover your inner ghoul in a make-up workshop or direct your own stop-motion animation.


For more information http://www.acmi.net.au/timburton.aspx

Sydney Writers Festival - May 2010

The Writers Festival brings to Sydney a exciting selection of workshops and events for children and their families in May. This is a great opportunity for children and teens to meet their favourite authors and to encourage a love for books and writing. 


Highlights include:
Spend a morning with Andy Griffiths
Sunday 23 May | 10 am - 11 am |  No bookings - all ages | Free | Walsh Bay


Draw your own chicken with Leigh Hobbs
Sunday 23 May | 1 pm - 2 pm |  No bookings  - all ages | Philharmonia Choir Studio


Tashi Tales with Anna Fienberg and Kim Gamble
Sunday 16th May | 12.30 - 1.15 pm | Visit the website for cost | Blue Mountains


For more information on the full program visit the festival website 

SPECIAL OFFER - FOX- PREVIEW APRIL 9th, 6.30pm

PREVIEW TICKETS - APRIL 9th, 6.30pm | $10 TICKETS QUOTE "magpie" WHEN BOOKING

Children can come to this performance FREE! | Bookings: Seymour Centre 93517940

FOX is an internationally acclaimed book for young readers written by Margaret Wild and illustrated by Ron Brooks. In 2010 the Monkey Baa team will present an outstanding adaptation which opens at the Seymour Centre in April 2010 before a 30 week national tour.

The haunting text is set to music by Daryl Wallis and the action of the story is presented through a series of poetic visual and striking physical images. Beautifully designed and imaginatively conceived this is a story of friendship and courage.

Suitable for ages 8 - 108!

Visit http://www.sirentheatreco.com/fox/ for more information | Season http://monkeybaa.com.au/fox.html

--

Kids' APT Summer Spectacular | QLD

Free artist workshops, performances and tours for kids will bring the world of contemporary art to life when the Kids’ APT Summer Spectacular takes over the Gallery of Modern Art and Queensland Art Gallery from January 16 to 26, 2010.

For more information visit http://qag.qld.gov.au/exhibitions/current/apt6/kids_apt

The Book of Everything - Review

My son (aged 11) announced to me on Sunday that "The Book of Everything" was the best play he has ever seen. There are so many elements in this production that will win many hearts during the season at the Belvoir.

Adapted from the novel by Dutch author Guus Kuijer, The Book of Everything tells the story of Thomas, an imaginative, curious and sometimes scared nine year old boy. Thomas documents his life and how he sees the world through his eyes in his Book of Everything.

To escape the oppression himself and his family endure from his over pious and abusive father, Thomas finds comfort that comes in the form of chatting with Jesus, falling in love with the girl with the leather leg, learning about the beauty of books, overcoming fear from his new friends and writing in his Book of Everything.

References to Emil and the Detectives will delight readers of the novel by German author Erich Kaestner.

Kim Carpenter's set design is an absolute knock out and fills the stage with wonder. The interaction between the cast and the audience is fun and lures you right into Thomas's world. We fell in love with Julie Forsyth as Mrs Van Amersfoort, Matthew Whittet as Thomas and John Leary is hilarious as Jesus. The whole cast were all wonderful.

Suitable for adults and children> The Belvoir recommends audiences aged 8 and over - If you have younger children the domestic abuse scenes and themes may be too confronting.

---

Season | 27 Dec 09 - 31 Jan 10

Belvoir Theatre, Surry Hills | Bookings or 9699 3444

Special children tickets prices and family packages available

Directed by Neil Armfield | Adapted by Richard Tulloch

--

Page to Stage Workshop | Theatre of Image | 15 + 16 July

Conducted by Richard Tulloch and Kim Carpenter