December2013_SpeakOut_web

Book of the Year Awards

2013 Awards Ceremony and call for 2014 nominations

Claire Saxby won the Young Children’s category for Seadog .

Author Ursula Dubosarsky showed her favourite childhood books.

Book of the Year 2013 ceremony

W hat do you get it if you cross five authors, 90+ excited Grade 1 children, a rascally Seadog and great books that promote children’s oral language development? The 2013 SPA Book of the Year Awards Ceremony. When almost 16% of Australian children have difficulties learning to read, these awards are as important as ever. As announced in the October edition of Speak Out , four deserving books were awarded for their contribution to language and literacy development: Seadog by Claire Saxby – Young Children category (2–5 years) Sophie Scott Goes South by Alison Lester – Lower Primary category (5–8 years) After by Morris Gleitzman – Upper Primary category (8–12 years) Two Mates by Melanie Prewett – Indigenous Children category Ursula Dubosarsky was also inducted into Book of the Year’s Hall of Fame for sustained and excellent contribution to Australian children’s language and literacy development. Visit our Facebook page to see the ABC News interview about literacy and the awards with Ursula and SPA’s Dr Tanya Serry, as well as a Herald Sun piece containing Ursula’s thoughts on quality children’s books (and Book of the Year). Thank you to everyone who has been involved in this year’s awards – they have been highly successful and we continue to increase awareness about the role of speech pathologists in literacy, the awards and forge relationships with partner organisations. An even bigger thank you must go to the shortlisters and judges who have spent their valuable time poring over the books to make sure that the winners serve as valuable tools to promote oral language and literacy. If you would like to suggest a book for the 2014 Book of the Year Awards, nomination forms will be available from the Book of the Year webpage from January 2014. Tennille Burns National PA Coordinator

SPA’s Tennille Burns awards Alison Lester for Sophie Scott Goes South .

We learned Sophie Scott was inspired by Alison Lester’s trip to Antarctica.

Morris Gleitzman’s book After won the Upper Primary category award.

Bridie McKay and Glenda Strong from the RCH helped support the event.

Maggie and Melanie Prewett with their award-winnning book Two Mates .

Some attendees took the time to read shortlisted books after the ceremony.

Joanna Wood Communications & Marketing Manager

The award-winning titles at this year's Book of the Year Awards.

Rascally Seadog!

Speak Out December 2013

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www.speechpathologyaustralia.org.au