Speak Out December LOW RES FINAL 2017

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December 2017 Speak Out 9
Speech Pathology Australia
BOOK OF THE YEAR
The BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARDS ceremony in November was
a resounding success. The ceremony was again held in Brisbane
and hosted and supported by the State Library of Queensland.
The event was professionally facilitated by Jo Hayes, radio
journalist and newsreader from Brisbane Radio Station 4KQ. Ms
Hayes is a former speech pathologist.
The ceremony was opened by the Association’s National President
Gaenor Dixon, who also presented the awards.
The highlight of this year’s ceremony was the playing of the
Didgeridoo by Gregg Dreise, the winner of the Indigenous
Children category. An activity that the school children present
enjoyed immensely. Gregg also opened proceedings with an
Acknowledgement of Country. Gregg is a teacher, author and
illustrator and grew up in St George, South West Queensland. His
mother is Lyla Knox, daughter of Ted Knox (Toomelah) and Lulu
Simpson (Brewarina). The Knoxes are proud Kamilaroi Murris, and
Gregg’s grandma’s family are Yuwaalaraay people.
There were a number of winners in 2017 who were returning after
success in earlier years. Gregg Dreise is a previous winner of the
Indigenous children category, while Gus Gordon was an earlier
winner in the Five to 9 years children category as an illustrator!
Similarly, illustrator Karen Blair is a previous winner of the Speech
Pathology Book of the Year awards for her drawings.
As announced in the October edition of Speak Out, five deserving
books were awarded for their contribution to language and literacy
development.
Birth to 3 years – Noisy Nature , written by Mandy A Kuhne;
Illustrated by Alex Kuhne
Three to 5 years – Me and You, written by Deborah Kelly;
Illustrated by Karen Blair
Five to 8 years – Somewhere Else, written and illustrated by Gus
Gordon
Eight to 10 years – Artie and the Grime Wave, written and
illustrated by Richard Roxburgh
Indigenous children – Mad Magpie, written and illustrated by
Gregg Dreise
Thank you to everyone involved with the Book of the Year Awards
in 2017. A special thanks to the staff at the State Library of
Queensland for helping to make the event such as success.
Speech Pathology Australia remains a proud supporter of the
library’s First 5 Forever program to improve the outcomes for
children aged 0-5 years by supporting confidence around
communication and learning through simple, everyday
experiences. First 5 Forever directly supports parents and primary
caregivers as their child’s first and most important educator, and
provides families with increased access to the resources they need
through public libraries and online
Michael Kerrisk
Communications and Marketing Manager
FROM TOP: The winners of
the SPA Book of the Year
with National President
Gaenor Dixon (pictured
right). Authors Gus Gordon,
Gregg Driese, Deborah
Kelly and Mandy Kuhne.
Allen and Unwin
representative Margaret
Lanvizer accepted
the award for Richard
Roxburgh.