November 2, 2011

Author of 'The Wonky Donkey' Craig Smith Tours Australia

I'm so excited to be seeing Craig Smith, the author of the current number one best-selling picture book in Australia, The Wonky Donkey, perform tomorrow at 1:30 pm at the Helensvale Library on the Gold Coast.

  
Craig Smith is a singer/songwriter and was the co-winner of the APRA Children’s Song of the Year award in 2008 for this song The Wonky Donkey which was later published as a picture book by Scholastic.

The picture book, The Wonky Donkey has had phenomenal success. In Australia, The Wonky Donkey as sold more than 250,000 copies making it the biggest-selling picture book in Australia in 2010 and 2011.  The book’s popularity continues to drive its success by currently hitting number one again as the best-selling picture book in Australia.




Craig is touring Australia to help promote another picture book, All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth, in which he has recorded the accompany CD.






"It's vital to make reading fun whether it's through funny illustrations, cheeky rhymes and a rollicking rhythm. I firmly believe that the marriage of song, word and illustration help children learn to read by offering a visual, kinesthetic, and aural experience", say Smith.


Smith has also penned another picture book with CD titled Willbee the Bumblebee, also released by Scholastic. Willbee the Bumblebee is based on a childhood story told by his mother, who is the co-author. And like The Wonky Donkey, Craig turned it into a song.



All I Want for Christmas is my Two Front Teeth which is written by Don Gardner with CD performed by Craig Smith. This Christmas classic is portrayed in the book as a poor monkey with two front teeth missing! The Tooth detective is on the case, but maybe Santa can help. All Monkey wants for Christmas is his two front teeth! The sing-along CD is sensationally performed by Craig Smith with a bonus original track titled, Toothless! 

So, if you're a children's book lover or your children love listening to books and music, then don't miss this wonderful opportunity to see Craig Smith as he tours Australia.

Stay tuned for Craig's interview on Books for Little Hands this Saturday.

Here's Craig's tour dates, just in time for Christmas.
Brisbane           Tuesday 1 November - Friday 4 November
Melbourne        Saturday 5 November - Wednesday 9 November
Sydney                        Thursday 10 November - Saturday 12 November

3 comments:

DimbutNice said...

Have a great time with this tomorrow Renee! Wish I could join you REALLY! Bring me back a donkey or monkey or something.

BTW, are you really going to pen 30 pbs this month?! Go girl! You must have two down by now at least.

Unknown said...

Thanks Dimity. I can't wait! I better take a few books with me-if Craig has time to sign them.

I've had a crack at Piboldmo a few years running. All I have to do is read a post everyday or every few days,and jot down anything I find inspiring or that I can work on. Even if it's just one word, it's still something to get the creative juices flowing.

It's worthwhile signing up and returning to the posts later because the authors and editors posting, know their picture books.

DimbutNice said...

Sounds awesome. I've already tagged it for signing up next time round. Too late to delve much into it now but can't wait. I find this sort of discipline really focuses my aim to write and purge ideas.