poetry

Winter

/ jthorndyke / 2 Comments

milk

the thin whistle
of mum’s breakfast kettle
. . . bare toes on lino

school milk
striped paper straws
pleated into submission

half-yearly report
my frosty teacher
thaws

red cheeks
stung by sun and wind
our long walk home

shortest day
dad’s chaffed hands
light the gas fire

Julie Thorndyke

Waiting for the Night Teacher Resources

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felt flying foxesWFTN coverplatypus bookmark

Planning the book launch for Waiting for the Night, I had fun thinking of activities related to the book that children might enjoy.

I’m putting some ideas here that teachers may like to use with their classes, after reading the book together.

Please click on the links below to open the PDF files.

theatre

Hope you have lots of fun Waiting for the Night!

From my Memory’s Treasure

/ jthorndyke / 1 Comment

No automatic alt text available.

tears roll
as pearls spilled
from a string—
an indigo sky
flashed with lightning

well-rounded vowels
of alto melody
ascending—
swaddled in a shawl
of homemade lullabies

silver-topped
milk bottles dotted
with dew—
winter breakfasts
sunlit with sugar grains

even white loops
of baby-yarn slide
on tortoiseshell needles
pale cakes rising
in the gas oven

a child wakes
to the sound of dishes
and quiet footsteps—
morning hymns
on the wireless

Julie Thorndyke

Waiting for the Night

/ jthorndyke / 4 Comments

WFTN cover

Waiting for the Night began as a 195 word student assignment in 2008 for Libby Hathorn’s class on children’s literature in the Master of Creative Writing course at the University of Sydney.

It was only when I was clearing out some old files two years ago that I found the draft and decided it was worth revising. I spent a little time re-writing before sending the manuscript around to publishers.

Interactive Press (IP) responded with a positive email in 2016. The search for a suitable illustrator began. Early in 2017, Anna Seed and I signed a publishing contract with IP, and Anna began creating her vibrant illustrations.

The text went through many further drafts, changes and revisions in consultation with IP editor and publisher Dr David Reiter and illustrator Anna Seed. The flying fox was particularly troublesome! And many rewrites ensued.

At last, in March 2018, ten years after the first version, here is the cover for the published book. I hope that you and your little people will enjoy Waiting for the Night.

How To Order

 

A Stir of the Pudding

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baubles

A String of Christmas Memories by the Tanka Huddle  2017

granny and me
stirring dried fruits
and brandy . . .
one nip for gran
one for the pud
          Marilyn Humbert

at the mall
for photos with santa—
I yearn
for a star-filled night
and choirs of angels
          Jan Foster

it’s forty degrees
and mum’s had enough
christmas
crackers snap
around the table
          Carolyn Eldridge-Alfonzetti

christmas
meant rum and plum cake
childhood memory
of our annual trip
to Cochin bakery
          Rugmini Venkatraman

christmas eve
we toss and turn
quiet . . .
mum fills the stockings
we pretend to sleep
          Karen Lieversz

reindeer puppets
pranced on polystyrene snow
but the tug
on my heart-strings
was absolutely real
          Julie Thorndyke

green icing
on the christmas cake
and a frill
make all the difference—
mum comes home this year
          Laura Davis

sunshine and sleigh bells
holly and magpie song
carols under stars
the customs learned in childhood
swim united in my mind
          Beverley George

broken nails
and roughened hands
massaged
by the sweet balm
of a christmas-ready house
          Anne Benjamin

three-penny
and six-penny pieces
stored all year
polished up in time for us
to polish up the pud
          Carmel Summers

[Copyright of each individual tanka remains with the poets.]