Christobel Mattingley (from her website)

Who are our Donors

Christobel Mattingley

I was born on 26 October 1931 at Brighton, a seaside suburb of Adelaide, South Australia and for the first eight years of my life the sand hills and the beach were my playground, where I learned to swim and to love and respect the sea.When my family moved to Sydney in New South Wales for my father’s work as an engineer, the big garden around our old house and the bush at the end of our road became my special places.

I began to keep a diary, describing the birds and insects and plants I observed, and by the time I was ten my first pieces had been published in the children’s pages of the Sydney Morning Herald and the nature magazine Wild Life.I also wrote poems on the coloured pages of the album in which my mother collected recipes. When my poems were rejected by the school magazine, I produced my own magazine on an ancient typewriter a friend had given to my sister and me.Nest Egg: A Clutch of Poems was published many years later in 2005.

I was 21 when my first feature article was published in the main section of WildLife magazine. Since then many of my 50 books have been inspired by my love of nature and have been about animals, birds or plants.The feelings for Windmill at Magpie Creek (1971) arose when I was seven and was swooped by magpies protecting their nest – a scary experience.Much later my efforts to save a historic gum tree led to writing The Battle of the Galah Trees (1974). Chelonia Green, Champion of Turtles (2008) was written on an island off the Queensland coast where the turtles which have come for centuries to lay their eggs are now seriously threatened by marine pollution.

In Sydney my father was construction engineer building the first road bridge across the great Hawkesbury River, and its bush and golden sandstone cliffs became another special place for me. There were Aboriginal rock carvings and caves in the sandstone, and I used to sit in one of the caves imagining I was Aboriginal, wondering what life had been like for those Aboriginal people before Europeans came and occupied their country.

I saved my pocket money and bought books about Aboriginal art and language and culture from the Australian Museum, and used to read the lists of beautiful Aboriginal place names which were like music,beforeIwenttosleep.AndsotheseedsweresownforthebooksIwastowritemuchlateron behalf of and at the request of the First Peoples of Australia – Survival in Our Own Land (1988)and Maralinga the Anangu Story (2009), both recounting history in South Australia since European settlement, and Daniel’s Secret (1997), about rock carvings in Tasmania.I wrote Tucker’s Mob (1992) after staying in an Aboriginal community in the Northern Territory and it has the rare distinction of being translated into four Aboriginal languages.

When I was 14 our family moved to Tasmania, again because of my father’s work,Now he was buildingdamsforhydroelectricityandIbecameveryawareofhumanimpactontheenvironment and the need to live in harmony with nature.So I have been a long-time supporter of many conservation organisations in Australia and beyond.

This second uprooting and my work at the Department of Immigration after graduating from the University of Tasmania with First Class Honours in German, assisting the post-WW2 stream of displaced persons from Europe, developed my empathy with refugees and migrants.

Again, without my then realising, feelings were aroused which led to New Patches for Old (1977), an adolescent novel about an English migrant girl; The Angel with a Mouth Organ (1984), about a Latvian refugee family, and the trilogy about a Bosnian family: No Gun for Asmir (1993), Asmir in Vienna (1995), and Escape from Sarajevo (1996).All these books were sparked by people whom I came to know.

As a schoolgirl in 1945, seeing the first photos of the mushroom clouds from the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in the newspaper proved to be the beginning of two books on the effects of nuclear weapons on innocent people. When our daughter was a post-graduate student in Japan we visited her in 1981 and went to Nagasaki for Christmas, as it was the place where Christianity was introduced.After seeing the little museum with its sobering remnants of the devastation, and the trees in the Epicentre Park bright with thousands of strings of paper cranes, I found myself on Christmas night sitting on a bunk in the youth hostel writing The Miracle Tree (1985) in an old exam book my teacher husband David had used to detail our travel arrangements.

When the war in Iraq began, his experiences as a Lancaster pilot in WW2 and our strong feelings about the effects of war on those on active service as well as civilians, led to Battle Order204 (2007).

In 2001 after attending the Yepperenye Festival in Alice Springs in the centre of Australia where people from all the First Nations came together to celebrate survival, I had the idea of helping the survivors of the ten years of British nuclear testing on their traditional lands to tell their experiences. Anangu women worked with me sharing their stories and painting pictures of their life and land, and Maralinga the Anangu Story was published in 2009.It was my 48th book.

Altogether I have written 50 books, 45 for children and five adult books of biography and history, as well as short stories, poetry, articles and film scripts.My 51st book, My Father’s Islands, to be published in 2012 by the National Library of Australia, is about that remarkable Dutch explorer Abel Janszoon Tasman and his amazing voyages of discovery around Australia and the South Pacific, told from his daughter’s point of view.

My husband and I have travelled to many places, camping in many parts of Australia with our daughter and two sons, later visiting them where they lived in Europe, Japan, USA, India, South Africa and New Zealand, and I discovered that I was a writer not just in Australia, but wherever I was. We have lived in England, where I wrote Rummage(1981), Munich in Germany, where I wrote Lexland the Lion Party (1982) and The Magic Saddle (1983), and began writing GhostSitter (1984) on the back of a chocolate wrapper in a train in the Bavarian mountains.We were in Vienna in Austria where I found myself unexpectedly having spinal surgery and writing No Gun for Asmir (1993) in hospital.

As a writer I have spent time in every state of Australia visiting schools, going on camps, giving lectures, speaking at conferences, sometimes a writer in residence, and doing research.I have also done a month-long lecture tour in New Zealand (McGruer and the Goat (1987),travelled in Papua New Guinea, Korea and Bangladesh living with local families, and visited Canada.I am so fortunate to have countless friends across the world, many I know, many more among people who have read my books, either in my own words or in translations in Danish, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Basque or Catalan.

To be a writer is to be rich, not necessarily in money–few writers are–but to be rich in sharing and reaching out across the world, touching hearts and minds, making friends, knowing that my books are threads in the fabric of other peoples’ lives.

Thank you, dear readers!

 And where do I write now? you may be wondering.I live in the foothills of Adelaide and my study overlooks our garden visited by many birds – flocks of brilliantly plumed parrots and lorikeets feasting on our plums and crab apples and the nectar of our yellow gum blossoms and scarlet bottlebrush, magpies bringing their young to our terrace, kookaburras laughing at dawn and sunset, and sometimes a boobook owl or a pair of mopokes calling in the night.Often I can see a koala in the gum trees and always on sunny days, as we walk up the garden path to the compost bins, little lizards skitter and dart away at our approach.

Christobel died in 2019

CBCA Queensland Branch

Who are our Donors

John Moffatt

John Moffatt began working at a bookstore in 1964 and later worked as a sales representative to schools. He worked in the industry until he retired in 2014. John enthusiastically promoted books for children to the schools he visited. He took many authors and illustrators into schools, and he was greatly appreciated by them as he chauffeured them around and looked after them while they were in town. Teacher-librarians were always pleased to see him arriving with book displays and appreciated his willingness to go the extra mile to get materials that they were keen to acquire. John also organised book displays of authors and illustrators featured at conferences and festivals.

John to become an active member of the CBCA Qld Branch in the 1980s and becoming the longest serving member. During this time, he helped to organise Book Week Literary Lunches for children and was Branch President from 1986-7. He worked on the Kaye Throssell Community Project for the Branch delivering donated books to organisations servicing disadvantaged children. He was made a Life Member of the CBCA Qld Branch in 2005.

John also participated in activities of allied organisations including Book Links and the May Gibbs Children’s Literature Trust. John endeared himself to all who knew him through his gracious manner, sincerity and personal warmth.

Myra's niece

Who are our Donors

Myra Doris Lee

As you will see, Myra devoted most of her life to children's literature.  When she retired to New Zealand about 10 years ago, she continued to work tirelessly as a volunteer for the Rotorua Library.  Myra died on June 24th 2023 at the age of 94, and is greatly missed by her family and a large group of friends in the publishing world in Australia.

Myra Lee's lvoe for children's books, evident as an avid reader as a child, evolved into a lifelong passion for children's literature, benefiting generations of young readers throughout Australia.

Trained as a librarian, Myra worked in public libraries and the school library service in New Zealand for ten years before joining the HJ Ashton company in 1967 as Editor of Children's Books.

This was the beginning of a spectacular 35-year career with Scholastic.  In 1971 Myra came to Australia as Director of Ashton Scholastic Book Clubs and through her remarkable creativity and drive establish Scholastic Book Clubs as an institution in schools and families while at the same time igniting children's book publishing in Australia.

Myra's passion and enthusiasm for children's books and her constant dedication to promoting children's literature were celebrated with the prestigious NSW Lady Cutler and Pixie O'Harris awards. Myra was also featured in New  Woman magazine as one of 100 spirited women of Australia whose actions have made a difference to our world.

Over the course of Myra Lee's career her influence on children's literature and reading has meant that she has brought millions of books to Australian and New Zealand children.

Margaret Hamilton AM

75th Anniversary of the CBCA Book of the year awards

We are celebrating the 75th anniversary of the CBCA Book of the Year Awards. In 1946, the winners received a camellia if they were female and a handshake if they were male. This system prevailed for some years, until some generous donors contributed to cash prizes. These did not last so the CBCA AGM in 1996 voted for the establishment of the CBCA Awards Foundation with the intention of funding monetary prizes. The initial goal of $1million dollars was achieved in 2005, securing the ongoing independence of the awards in perpetuity.
 
Since then, the CBCA has been able to present cheques to award winners. Because of the generosity of many donors, we have now raised nearly $2million which is held in trust to fund the awards.
 
Many of Australia’s children’s publishers, authors and illustrators are Major Donors (giving $5000 and over). Benefactors (who have given $20,000 and over) include Scholastic, with an incredible donation of $50,000 and Allen & Unwin ($20,000). We acknowledge the generosity and support of all these donors.
 
We’ve come a long way from camellias. So, I’m thrilled to announce that total prize money this year is $85,000.00. That’s $10,000 more than last year and a fitting celebration of our 75th anniversary.
 
Australian children’s books are world class. We are proud of our brilliant authors and illustrators and we like to think that the CBCA awards have contributed to the success of the Australian children’s book industry. We are still accepting contributions to the Awards Foundation, so that the capital will grow and therefore the prize money. Donations can be made through the CBCA website.

Julie Long OAM

Margaret becomes a benefactor

In June 2022 at the CBCA National Conference dinner, the Chair of the Awards Foundation, Julie Long presented the following speech as Margaret was honoured as a Benefactor of the Awards Foundation.

Ladies and gentlemen, distinguished guests. In our midst this evening is a woman of particular creativity, vision and passion. She didn’t grow up a reader. She didn’t know what she wanted to do when she grew up. Opportunities came her way in life and rather than seeing them as challenges, she accepted them with creativity, vision and passion. She left school and applied for a job at Parramatta City Library and began there as a library assistant. She discovered that she loved children’s books and enjoyed relating to the children who came into the library after school. Soon she was training and studying to become a qualified librarian and developing a real interest in specialising in children’s librarianship. She was attending lectures at Sydney University and was totally inspired by Maurice Saxby, a lecturer at Kuringai College and at the time president of the fledgling CBCA NSW Branch. Maurice said to her ‘You must come to a CBCA meeting’. So she went. The inaugural meeting of the National organisation was held on 1 May 1959 – at School Library Services in Sydney, with Maurice Saxby as president. The first official National Children’s Book Week was held in July 1959, with the slogan Let’s Look at Books. Back then, if you were female, the prize for winning the book of the year was a camellia or a handshake if you were a man.By the time she qualified as a librarian (one of only two people in Australia to achieve a high distinction in the children’s literature component), she was ensconced in the CBCA NSW committee. She rose to become the Children’s Librarian at Parramatta, at a time when it was the largest public library in NSW. She was passionate about setting up Book Week displays and talking to the children. It was while she was at the library that she began reviewing for Reading Time, the quarterly reviewing Journal for CBCA. She continued this for many years and then took on the big job of doing their first cumulative index. In fact, this work was one of the reasons she was later offered a job in publishing – she was known as someone who knew a thing or two about children’s books! Eleven years at the library had given her a head start and a firm base for her knowledge of children’s books. She left to run the children’s department in a bookshop. It was one of the first bookshops to hold promotional events for children’s books and it was there that she experienced first-hand the commercial interest in the annual announcement of the CBCA Winning books. She passionately promoted them to customers. Her next job was with Hodder and Stoughton Publishers as production manager, without knowing anything about what that task entailed. She soon became a director on the Australian board of the company – the only female. She set about making her presence felt and although she was responsible for the entire publishing program, her passion was always children’s books and her vision was to be the leading publishing house for children’s books. At the same time she continued to work on the NSW CBCA committee.By the time she left Hodders in 1987 they had a thriving children’s list with authors consistently winning CBCA awards for fiction. She went on to create her own publishing house, with her husband as a full-time partner. They were one of the few publishers specialising in children’s books and were thrilled that one of their first picture books The Very Best of Friends by Margaret Wild and Julie Vivas, was the CBCA Picture Book of the Year. This set a trend of regular appearances in the annual CBCA Children’s Book of the Year awards lists. In 1996, her publishing house became a division of Scholastic Australia. One of the comments, when they were negotiating for this to happen, was ‘there doesn’t seem to be a year when you haven’t had a book on the CBCA Shortlist’. This gave her an enormous boost because she could see that Scholastic was a company whose entire staff was devoted exclusively to children’s books.Throughout the life of the Awards, a number of valued sponsors assisted with funding the monetary prizes. The challenge to secure commercial sponsorship for the Awards prize money led to a decision, at the end of 1995, to set up a CBCA Awards Foundation with the aim of raising $1 million to enable the CBCA to support the Book of the Year Awards prizes in perpetuity. It was the vision of this woman and her good friend June Smith. They presented the proposal, which was accepted and were appointed managers of the CBCA Awards Foundation and heads of the National CBCA Awards Foundation Committee. To many it seemed like an impossible goal, but they had overlooked this remarkable woman of creativity, vision and passion.What followed was a decade of creative fundraising. Raffles, silent auctions, CBCA branded mugs, illustrator T-shirts, decorated bears, campaigns to honour prominent authors and illustrators in Memoriam. It was this person’s task to approach Publishing Houses and ask them to be either Major donors or Benefactors. Their respect and admiration for her lead to them agreeing. Scholastic led the way with a $50,000 donation, then she challenged others to follow suit. She was friends with Patrick Gallagher, of Allen & Unwin and he donated $10,000.The future of the Awards is now secure, but diligent financial management and growth of the capital investment with further donations are vital, to ensure their ongoing viability. Prizes for the CBCA Book of the Year Awards are now funded from the interest earned by the investments of the CBCA Awards Foundation. The fund is now up to $2 million because of this woman’s push to keep fundraising. She is part of a Committee of Responsible Persons that oversees the growth of the funds and ensures that the money is available for the Awards each year.The CBCA Book of the Year Awards ceremony has indeed come a long way from the early days of a camellia or a handshake. In 2008 it was a significant recognition when this woman received an honour in the Order of Australia awards ‘for service to the arts through the promotion of children’s literature and literacy and through support for authors and illustrators’. There is no doubt at all that this person has voluntarily provided her personal resources of creativity, vision and passion to the work of the CBCA Awards Foundation over many years and continues to do so. Thus, it gives me the greatest pleasure to announce that Margaret Hamilton AM is to be named as a Benefactor of the CBCA Awards Foundation.

Chair of the Awards Foundation Julie Long