Category authors
Fabulous activities for The Sorcerer’s Tower
We’re delighted to announce that Ian Irvine’s fabulous fantasy quartet, The Sorcerer’s Tower, published by Second Look as an omnibus in 2017, now has its own Featured Book pages on the United Publishers of Armidale website. This includes an information page about the book, the author Ian Irvine and the illustrator DM Cornish, and a link to buy the book, and also a great activities page which includes a lively video reading by Ian of a chapter from the book, and some great writing and art activities. All free to download and use in schools, libraries, and by families.
Shortlisting for The Boy who Could Fly!
We are delighted to announce that Ursula Dubosarsky’s The Boy Who Could Fly And Other Magical Plays for Children (illustrated by Amy Golbach) has been shortlisted for the 2020 Speech Pathology Australia Book of the Year Awards, in the 8 to 10 year old category. Congratulations, Ursula and Amy, on this very well-deserved award for a very special book we are very proud to publish!
The Speech Pathology Australia Book of the Year Awards which are held every year, aim to promote quality Australian books that help children get the best, most literate start in life.
Books are awarded for “Best Book for Language and Literacy Development” in the following categories:
- Birth to 3 years
- 3 to 5 years
- 5 to 8 years
- 8 to 10 years
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Authored Children’s Book Award.
Each book is judged on its appeal to children, interactive quality and ability to assist speech pathologists and parents in communication and literacy development.
The Boy who Could Fly a Featured Book on United Publishers of Armidale website
We are very pleased to say that our most recent title, Ursula Dubosarsky’s wonderful collection, The Boy Who Could Fly and Other Magical Plays for Children, (illustrated by Amy Golbach) is one of the Featured Books for the newly-launched United Publishers of Armidale website.
As well as details of the book, including buying links(just click on the book cover on the page), you will find some fabulous fun activities created by Ursula and Amy, centred around the book. We invite you to check them out!
Announcing United Publishers of Armidale!
NEWS!
Christmas Press(of which Second Look is an imprint) and fellow children’s books publisher, Little Pink Dog Books, are delighted to announce a brand-new joint initiative, United Publishers of Armidale, with the launch of a new website, www.unitedpublishersofarmidale.net, and associated social media on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
The United Publishers of Armidale website features a number of books from each publisher, with free activities and resources to go with each, as well as information on each title. Activities and resources include audio and video presentations by creators, puzzles, quizzes, word searches, printable colouring pages, teachers’ notes, and more. The Featured Books page will be updated regularly with new, upcoming and backlist titles and their associated activities, while the About page gives information about the UPA partner publishers.
‘The idea behind United Publishers of Armidale is that in these difficult times, it makes sense for publishers, especially small, regionally-based publishers like us, to pool our efforts and resources in order to promote and showcase our books and help to support our creator communities, and we’re thrilled to be partnering with Little Pink Dog Books on this,’ said Sophie Masson, co-director of Christmas Press. ‘But it’s also very much about supporting the wider community, especially children, their families, teachers and carers, by offering free resources and activities through a dedicated website.’
‘We are delighted to be partnering with Christmas Press in this new enterprise and we hope that everyone will have lots of fun discovering our featured books and the activities around them,’ said Kathy Creamer, co-director of little Pink Dog Books. ‘And we warmly thank our authors and illustrators for getting so enthusiastically behind the project and creating such fabulous and diverse activities for our readers.’
Books featured for the website launch are, for Christmas Press, middle grade historical fantasy novel, The Phantasmic Detective Agency, by Julian Leatherdale (out May 2020 in Eagle Books imprint) and Australian Children Laureate Ursula Dubosarsky’s recent collection of plays, The Boy Who Could Fly and Other Magical Plays for Children(Second Look, 2019); and for Little Pink Dog Books, author-illustrator Trish Donald’s picture book Tissy Woo and the Worry Monsters(2018) and Parmesan, The Reluctant Racehorse, written by Jacqui Halpin and illustrated by John Phillips (2017).
Check it all out here.
Ian Irvine’s The Sorcerer’s Tower now available in ebook format
We are pleased to announce that Ian Irvine’s exciting fantasy quartet ,The Sorcerer’s Tower, which we published in omnibus print form in Second Look in 2017, has now also been released in ebook format, published by the Santhenar Trust. You can get it as an omnibus ebook edition, or as the separate four books.
And of course you can still buy the print edition!
Fastest Ship will feature in double Christmas Press launch!
Announcing our next Second Look title, coming May 2018
We are very pleased to announce that our next Second Look title will be a brand new edition of Pamela Freeman’s fun space adventure novel for children 7-10, The Fastest Ship in Space.
The new edition, out in May 2018, features lively new cover and internal illustrations by Yvonne Low. Cover reveal coming later!
About the book:
For Katie, exploring the far reaches of the Solar System in her family spaceship is just ordinary life – but living on Earth, now THAT would be exciting! There seems no way she and her brother, Sam, will ever see Earth, until they accidentally end up on the fastest Ship in space, on its way to the Moon. But will they ever get there? Space Station security, smugglers, space pirates – not to mention their parents – all see ready to stop them. Katie and Sam aren’t going to be pushed around. Neither is their gran…
Originally published under the title of Ship-Born by Koala Books in 2002.
About the author:
Pamela Freeman is an award-winning author of more than 30 books for both adults and children. Her children’s books include the much-loved Victor’s Quest and its sequel Victor’s Challenge (Aurealis Award for Best Children’s Fantasy) and the Princess Betony series which is set in the same universe, as well as science fiction, family drama and non-fiction picture books. Her most recent children’s book, Desert Lake, won the ASO Librarian’s Choice Award, was highly commended in the Educational Publishing Awards, and was shortlisted for four other awards. Pamela also writes historical fiction for adults as Pamela Hart.
About the illustrator:
Yvonne Low is an illustrator, writer, and award-winning artist. Her book illustrations have featured in Sophie Masson’s Jack of Spades(Eagle Books), and in the anthology A Christmas Menagerie(Christmas Press), edited by Beattie Alvarez. Her work 
has also featured in The School Magazine, she has illustrated for ABC Commercial and her work can be seen at http://www.scbwi.org, http://www.thestylefile.com
and on her website http://www.yvonnelow.com.
Website: http://www.yvonnelow.com
Twitter: @YLcreate
Release day for The Sorcerer’s Tower!
Today is the official release day for our new title, a brand new omnibus edition of Ian Irvine’s fabulous fantasy quartet for younger readers, The Sorcerer’s Tower. Internal illustrations by D.M Cornish, new cover illustration by David Allan. Available in all good bookshops, and distributed by Dennis Jones and Associates.
Cover reveal of The Sorcerer’s Tower!
It’s our great pleasure to reveal today the gorgeous cover of the brand-new omnibus edition of Ian Irvine’s fabulous fantasy quartet for young readers, The Sorcerer’s Tower.
The cover illustration is by David Allan.
Internal illustrations are by D.M. Cornish.
The book will be launched on September 15 in Armidale.
Second Look Publishing 