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Photo by Tohby Riddle

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Actors Michael Laity as “Clive”
& Jacqui Levitas as “Humphrey”

Full-Day Workshop with Tohby Riddle

Tohby Riddle will be giving a full-day workshop titled 'Creating an Original Picture Book' at the NSW Writers' Centre on Sunday 12 February 2012. More details at the NSWWC website.

CBCA 2011 Honour Book & Winner

Tohby Riddle has won two awards at the 2011 Children's Book Council of Australia's Book of the Year awards. His picture book My Uncle's Donkey has been been awarded Honour Book in the CBCA Picture Book of the Year category, and The Return of the Word Spy (written by Ursula Dubosarsky and illustrated by Tohby Riddle) has won the Eve Pownall Award for Information Books.

Brisbane Writers' Festival 7–11 September 2011

Tohby Riddle will be appearing at the 2011 Brisbane Writers' Festival on Wednesday 7 September and Thursday 8 September. He will present two sessions titled "Every Picture Tells a Story" and run a workshop, "The Art of Illustrating". For further information and bookings visit www.bwf.org.au

My Uncle's Donkey on Play School ABC2

Tohby Riddle's picture book My Uncle's Donkey will be featured on Play School on ABC2, Wednesday 6 July at 9.30 am.

2011 ALEA National Conference, Melbourne

Tohby Riddle will be appearing with Ursula Dubosarsky when they present a session, The Word Spy: Making Grammar Fun for Primary School Students, at the Australian Literacy Educators' Association (ALEA) National Conference on Sunday July 10 at the Hilton on the Park, Melbourne.

CBCA 2011 Shortlist

Two titles by Tohby Riddle (one of them written by Ursula Dubosarsky) have been shortlisted for the Australian Children's Book Council Book of the Year Awards. Tohby Riddle's latest picture book, My Uncle's Donkey, has been shortlisted for Picture Book of the Year, and The Return of the Word Spy (written by Ursula Dubosarsky and illustrated by Tohby Riddle) has been shortlisted for the Eve Pownall Award for Information Books.

PRC Most Popular Reads of 2010

Three books by Tohby Riddle feature prominently in the NSW Premier's Reading Challenge's top-25 lists of the most popular reads of 2010. The Great Escape from City Zoo, Nobody Owns the Moon and The Singing Hat appear on both the Year 5 and Year 6 Girls lists, and The Great Escape from City Zoo appears on the Year 5 and Year 6 Boys lists. The lists can be viewed here.

Iconic Images seminar, March 2011

Tohby Riddle and Shaun Tan will be delivering a seminar titled Iconic Images (chaired by Helen Chamberlin). The event, which is being organised by the CBC Victorian Branch, is on 24 March 2011, 6–8 pm at Zart Art, Box Hill North, Melbourne.

Tohby Riddle online store: prints, books etc.

For signed limited edition prints (left) and signed selected edtions of Tohby Riddle books etc. visit this website's newly created STORE.

Illustrated Radio, ABC 702 Sydney

To see the reults of this experiment in radio broadcasting, courtesy of James Valentine's afternoon show on 702 ABC Sydney (1–3pm), go to these links: photos or video.

New "resources" page at tohby.com

A page dedicated to resources on Tohby Riddle books has been created. For resources in the form of links or downloadable PDFs featuring illustrated author notes and units of work, visit the newly created resources page.

Resources on My Uncle's Donkey available

Downloadable, illustrated author notes on My Uncle's Donkey are now available. This resource also includes a unit of work on My Uncle's Donkey compiled by a NSW primary school teacher.

Artist-in-residence, University of Melbourne

Tohby Riddle has just completed a residency at the Graduate School of Education, University of Melbourne. Speaking to Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Education students (Third Year and up), his focus was on the thinking and techniques employed to express ideas visually and verbally. Emphasis was on his picture books The Great Escape from City Zoo, Nobody Owns the Moon and new release, My Uncle's Donkey.

WA Premier's Awards

Nobody Owns the Moon has been shortlisted for the Western Australia Premier's Literary Awards.

Edinburgh International Book Festival

Tohby Riddle will be Illustrator-in-Residence at the Edinburgh International Book Festival (August 14–30, 2010). His presentations include a session on his books The Great Escape from City Zoo (featured in 1001 Children's Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up) and his soon-to-be-released picture book, My Uncle's Donkey. More information, including the festival programme, is available at the festival website.

Here in September!

My Uncle's Donkey, a long-awaited new picture book by Tohby Riddle. Will be released in Australia in September 2010 (30 August, actually) by Penguin Books. More details soon.

Bundanon Trust residency, August 2010

Tohby Riddle will be Bundanon Trust's 2010 Book Week artist-in-residence, which includes presenting sessions to the public on the 4th and 9th of August. For more information about this and the Bundanon Trust (Arthur Boyd's NSW south coast property and estate gifted to the Australian people) visit their website.

Cairns Ukulele Festival

As part of a fund-raising initiative for the Duchenne Foundation, Tohby Riddle has painted a ukulele featuring the character from his upcoming book My Uncle's Donkey (September 2010). Ukuleles painted by a range of artists and illustrators will be auctioned on Ebay after 25 June. More information here.

GO! TV

Tune into GO! TV (7 AM, Sunday 20 June) to see Tohby Riddle and Ursula Dubosarsky appear on Kid's WB Sunday, in separate segments and together, being very Word Spy-ish.

NEW BOOK! The Return of The Word Spy

The hugely popular Word Spy returns in a journey that goes
deeper still into the funny and fantastic realms of language.
By boat, pony or bi-plane, she explores the big ideas about language: what is language? How do we make meaning with it?
How do we write it? And more! The Return of the Word Spy is a
collaboration between Ursula Dubosarsky (writer) and Tohby Riddle (illustrator) and is published by Viking/Penguin. Released 4 May 2010.

Word Spy presentations

Ursula Dubosarsky and Tohby Riddle will be giving their unique
Word Spy presentations at the Centre for Youth Literature, State Library of Victoria (3–4 June 2010), more info here, and the CBC Conference, Sydney (19 June 2010). Stay tuned for further Word Spy events as they are confirmed.

New Dog and Bird board book

The third book in the Dog and Bird board-book series, Dog and Bird
and the Caterpillar (Puffin Books), is out 31 May 2010. This time a clingy, big green caterpillar crawls from Bird to Dog and back to Bird again, and no matter what they do they can't get it off! Finally they find a solution that everyone is happy with.

Symbols of Australia

Tohby Riddle's picture book The Royal Guest is cited in a new book titled Symbols of Australia edited by Melissa Harper and Richard White (New South Books, 2010).The Royal Guest is referred to at length, including a reproduced illustration, in a chapter titled 'Crown'.

ABC Classics CD artwork

Tohby Riddle has created the cover and booklet artwork for a new ABC Classics CD released in November 2009, titled Carnival of the Animals: A Parade of Kids' Classics. It features the music of Saint-Saens (Carnival of the Animals), Prokofiev (Peter and the Wolf), Poulenc (Barbar the Elephant) and Australian composer George Dreyfus (Sebastian the Fox), with narrations by Justine Clarke, Jay Laga'aia and Georgie Parker. To find out more, visit the ABC Shop. See the cover artwork come to life in the TV promo here.

New book on Australian children's literature

Tohby Riddle's picture book The Great Escape from City Zoo is featured in a new and richly illustrated hardcover book titled Bottersnikes and Other Lost Things: A Celebration of Australian Illustrated Children's Books by Juliet O'Conor (Melbourne University Press, 2009).

1001 Children's Books …

Tohby Riddle's picture book The Great Escape from City Zoo
is included in a recently released book, 1001 Children's Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up by Julia Eccleshare,
the children's editor of the Guardian Review.

New Dog and Bird board book

Dog and Bird Water the Garden (Puffin Books), a 24-page board book for the very young, is out now (October 2009). This title is the second of four Dog and Bird books scheduled for release in this format. The next one, currently titled Dog and Bird and the Caterpillar is scheduled for release in 2010.

Nobody Owns the Moon stage show

The hugely enjoyable stage show of Nobody Owns the Moon,
created and performed by Tony Bones Entertainment, will be
touring throughout NSW/ACT during the October 2009 school holidays. To find a show in a town or suburb near you visit
Tony Bones Entertainment.

Visual Literacy Seminar, State Library NSW

Tohby Riddle will be presenting a seminar on his work, titled "Imagining Worlds" at the State Library of NSW on Wednesday
16 September 2009. Also presenting at the one-day seminar on visual literacy are: Shaun Tan, Mark McLeod, Nikki Greenberg
and Dr Karen Brooks. For more information and bookings visit
Booked Out .

Board book series launched

Dog and Bird Follow a Butterfly, a 24-page board book for the very young, was released August 2009 by Puffin Books (Penguin). This title is the first of four Dog and Bird books that will be released in this format. The next one, Dog and Bird Water the Garden is scheduled for release in late October.

Nobody Owns the Moon wins design award

Nobody Owns the Moon has won Best Designed Children's Picture Book in the Australian Publishers' Association Awards for Book Design 2009 (announced on 21 May). This is Tohby Riddle's second APA award for book design.

The Word Spy wins Premier's Literary Award

The Word Spy (written by Ursula Dubosarsky and illustrated by Tohby Riddle) has won the Patricia Wrightson Prize at the 2009
NSW Premier's Literary Awards (announced on 18 May).

Sydney Writers' Festival 2009

For those interested in learning more about creating picture books, Tohby Riddle will be running two full-day workshops at The State Library on 16th and 17th of May, as part of the Festival. He will also be making two other appearances. Check the program for details.

Children's Book Council of Australia Awards

Nobody Owns the Moon has been shortlisted for the 2009 CBCA Picture Book of the Year Award, and The Word Spy has been shortlisted for the 2009 CBCA Eve Pownall Award for Information Books.

Young adult novel is now out!

The Lucky Ones, a novel by Tohby Riddle, was for released at the end of March 2009 (published by Penguin Books). More here, including special extras and reviews.

NSW Premier's Literary Awards 2009

Nobody Owns the Moon and The Word Spy have both been shortlisted for the Patricia Wrightson Prize for Children's Literature in the NSW Premier's Literary Awards for 2009. The announcement was made on 24 March.

Junior Library Guild Selection

Ahead of its release in the United States, The Word Snoop (aka The Word Spy in Australia) has been designated a "Junior Library Guild Selection" for Spring 2009.

APA Book Design Awards

Nobody Owns the Moon and The Word Spy have been shortlisted in the Australian Publishers' Association Awards for Book Design 2009.

Somerset Festival

Tohby Riddle appeared at the Somerset Celebration of
Literature from 17–21 March 2009.

High quality limited-edition prints

High quality limited-edition prints from Tohby Riddle's
Nobody Owns the Moon are now available at Books Illustrated.

New picture book

Nobody Owns the Moon was released in September 2008
by Penguin Books Australia. Further information:

Illustrated Notes on Nobody Owns the Moon
Reviews (periodically updated)
Sun Herald feature profile on Tohby Riddle
Australian Book Review's Best Books of 2008
Adelaide Advertiser's Best Books of 2008
Reading's Best Kids' Books of 2008

Korean picture book festival

Nobody Owns the Moon has been selected as a finalist in an international picture book festival in Seoul, Korea. The CJ Picture Book Festival is exhibiting 100 finalists chosen from 1426 books entered from 46 countries. The exhibition is being held at the Sungkok Museum till early March.

Keynote address

On 14 November 2008, Tohby Riddle gave the keynote address
to the School Library Association of Victoria conference at the
Museum of the Moving Image in Federation Square, Melbourne.
For a blog entry on the presentation by one of the delegates go here.

Premier's Reading Challenge

Tohby Riddle appeared at the reception for the 2009 Premier's
Reading Challenge. His new picture book Nobody Owns the
Moon has been added to the 2009 PRC list, joining his earlier picture books: Irving the Magician, The Singing Hat and The Great Escape from City Zoo.

Recent re-issues

The Royal Guest

This 1990s cult favourite about the Queen being billeted on a royal tour of Australia by a friendly and hospital Mrs Jones of Padstow has finally returned in a new softcover edition, published by Penguin Books Australia.

The Great Escape from City Zoo

Before Madagascar there was The Great Escape from City Zoo:
a"silver screen" adventure about four animals that escape from City Zoo and end up on the run in the big, exciting, but confusing world outside.The new softcover editon is published by Penguin Books Australia.

The Great Escape from City Zoo has also recently been published by Marubol in South Korea. A Chinese edition is also due for release.