Dim's Write Stuff

Video games have had quite the bad rap over the last few years. They’ve shouldered much of the blame for the burgeoning literacy crisis and children’s waning attention spans. They’ve been accused of encouraging violence. And while I agree that excessive time spent playing games is not good for anyone, I don’t think it’s all doom and gloom, either. Today, I’m a children’s author and professional opera chorister. Around the turn of the millennium, though, I was simply a kid who played a lot of games. Computer games, PlayStation games … I even had a Pokémon-themed Game Boy. As a primary-schooler, I’d go to my best friend’s house after school and we’d play on her computer. One of our favourites was a game called Storybook Weaver, which helped you write and illustrate your own stories. We wrote about a llama called Lissette. She dinged like a bell whenever you clicked on her, a gimmick we found endlessly funny. Pictured: The author receiving a computer game for Christmas Could we have h...

All of us wish at some point to be someone other than who we are, ostensibly to improve our lot or in the case of our young protagonist in this spirited new picture book by Trygve Skaug  and Ella Okstad , improve the world around him. If I Were Prime Minister invites us to join in the fantasy and appreciate the way a child-run community could be deployed. Pulsing with dynamic prose that weaves whimsically above and throughout each spread, If I Were Prime Minister , delivers a visual eye-fest of stimulating images each dutifully depicting our erstwhile prime minister's litany of promises. These include guarantees of a swimming pool in every garden, libraries open every day, extra screen time (ahem), spontaneous fireworks, cleaner oceans, and my personal favourite, compulsory playtime as a subject taught to adults (who arguably have forgotten how to play).  This fun foray into fantastical, impulsive desire is more than a catalogue of wishful thinking. It subtly reflects the w...

  A day out at the beach evokes a rainbow of emotions. Excitement, anticipation, urgency. How children compress, distil and then express these feelings is the subject of a jolly series of picture books ...! Said Rabbit by European author illustrator, Marjoke Henrichs . This one, Again! Said Rabbit stars the same little roguish Rabbit and his extremely patient and yielding parents.  Like any self-respecting, ego-centric youngster, Rabbit loves being the centre of attention. He possesses big bold feelings and conveys them with equal fervour and assurity. Despite Mum and Dad's announcement that beach time is time to relax, games are immediately launched, kites are flown and sandcastles are constructed. Rabbit thrills from one high energy activity to the next crying out, ' Again!'  to continue play.  It's a refrain recognised worldwide by parents whose soul job it seems is to entertain and engage, incessantly. Until ... Dad needs a little lie down! To change it up...

Do you remember making abstract ink art with your toddler? You know, the type involving splodges and straw blowing? Perhaps you were more into spotting cloud shapes. Maybe finding patterns in chaos is more your thing. The geometry of the natural world and its accidental occurrences is not something we consciously celebrate. These two picture books however standout because of their focus on simplicity and artful creativity. Read on, or better, experience the incisive visual literacy of these books first hand. What's That Splat by Johanna Bell & Amelia Luscombe I love the feel, look and premise of this book. Let's talk about the bevelled, rounded corners first. These give the book a cosy, comfortable feel suggesting there's nothing scary inside here, just a bit of fun. Lusciously thick GSM (page density) guarantees a long life of frequent page turns and reinforces connectivity with the target audience, ostensibly two-year-olds and above, plus it's easy to turn. Colou...

The need to connect and share, align and alight with others is a human condition hard to ignore. Occasionally, we find ourselves on our own. Not necessarily lonely but in situations where the need to diminish that situation of solitude becomes singular. The Little Girl and the Rain by Milena Lukešová and Jan Kudláček is a picture book that highlights this circumstance of want, need and outcome that ultimately arrives at friendship. One day a little girl with no one to play with goes for a walk. It begins to rain. Rather than hurry back to her indoor isolation, she welcomes the plic plic plic drops. The rain whether in over exuberance or naivete increases, forcing the little girl to run for home. The rain persists and follows her but is kept outside by steadfast doors and closed windows.  The rain prevails increasing in need and desperation to continue the play began with the little girl's encounter. But this pursuit, from one umbrella to another only causes discomfort and an...

The National Centre For Australian Children's Literature (NCACL) has travelled into its 52nd year of existence. For those who don't know this powerhouse organisation (formerly the Lu Reeds Archives) houses a vast and carefully curated collection of resources about Australian authors, illustrators, their works and their publishers. It's a mammoth and diligent undertaking which, like so many worthwhile causes that invest in our collective futures, cannot exist on thin air alone. I have been affliated with the NCACL for a number of years now (after forming a collaborative partnership with them and KBR) and ardently agree in the safe-keeping of our creative resources so that we can all continue to  'Keep The Story Alive!' To enable this, the NCACL would greatly appreciate your support for their annual fund-raising campaign which enables them to achieve more. Below is just a smattering of what they aim for and have alread achieved. Please consider helping them reach ...