Category: news

Gastronauts book launches (WA)

Hi everyone,

it’s almost time to officially launch the latest book in my ‘S.Tinker Inc.’ graphic novel series – it’s called ‘Gastronauts‘!

Here’s the synopsis:

Sally Tinker – the world’s foremost inventor under the age of twelve – has developed her greatest invention yet. But when Sally’s baby brother Joe swallows it with disastrous (and gaseous) consequences, Sally and her friend Charli must shrink themselves, venture into the very bowels of Joe, and shut down the invention before it’s too late. What could possibly go wrong?

If you’re in my hometown of Perth, there are two book launches: one north of the river and one south. Please come along and spread the word!

Sept 26:  Gastronauts book launch, Fremantle

gastronauts launch bannerCome help me celebrate the release of Gastronauts. The Paper Bird book club kids will preside over proceedings and officially launch the book!

WHEN: Wednesday Sept 26
TIME: 3pm-5pm
WHERE: Paper Bird Children’s Books and Art, 42 Henry St, Fremantle WA
AGES: the book is aimed at 7-10yo (but the whole family is welcome)
COST: FREE
BOOKINGS: essential; click here.

 

Oct 3:  Gastronauts book launch, Perth

This is in fact a group book launch called the ‘Great Big Dark and Spooky Book Read’!

It’s presented by my publisher Fremantle Press, the State Library of Western Australia and AWESOME Arts.

Follow the torchlight to your seat around the ‘campfire’ for a thrilling story time experience with amazing local writers. The Great Big Dark and Spooky Book Read features Gastronauts author and illustrator James Foley (that’s me!), Bush and Beyond  author Cheryl Kickett-Tucker, Off the Track author Cristy Burne, The Hole Story author Kelly Canby, In the Lamplight author Dianne Wolfer, and Ian Mutch, author of More and More and More. From the shadows cast by war to the inside of the human body, from cozy boltholes to the vastness of space, don’t let your fear of the dark discourage you. These fun and exciting stories will light up imaginations of children aged 5 and up!

Each ticket includes your choice of one of the books being launched on the day.

(I don’t mind which book you pick, they’re all good books! But if poo and fart jokes and comics are your thing, then *cough cough* I’d suggest Gastronauts, not biased or anything, of course, ahem).

WHEN: Wednesday Oct 3rd
TIME: 11:15am-12:30pm
WHERE: State Library Theatre, State Library of WA
AGES: 5yo+
COST: $25.20 (includes entry for a family of four, and one copy of a book of your choice); $5.20 for additional tickets
BOOKINGS: essential, click here.

If you can’t make it to a launch, don’t worry: you can already find Gastronauts in lots of bookshops around Australia and online (see links below).

GASTRONAUTS BOOK TOUR – WA, NSW, VIC

Check out my events page for details of my BOOK TOUR!
I’m doing over a dozen events in WA, NSW and VIC between Sep 26-Oct 14.

Buy ‘Gastronauts’

Buy local – find your closest bookshop

Or order online:
– Booktopia (Australia and NZ only)
– Angus and Robertson (Australia only)
– QBD (Australia only)
– Boffins
– Dymocks
– Book Depository

World Change Challenge 2018

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  • Did you know that there are nearly 800 million people in the world who can’t read?
  • Or that two thirds of those people are women and girls?

That’s why I support the amazing charity Room To Read as a Writer Ambassador.

Room To Read is looking for 50 schools around Australia to support 50 girls in the developing world. Each school needs to raise just $365 – that’s enough to send a girl to school for a year.

Two of the schools I’ve visited this year have already got involved. Maybe your school would like to organise a fundraiser around Book Week?

You can read more about the campaign (including more fundraising ideas) on Tristan Bancks’ website.

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get-active-for-education-room-to-read-tristan-bancks

Give your kids Gastro this October!

Hello! I haven’t posted in a while, as things have been very busy at home – my wife and I now have a beautiful 5-month old baby. AND I’ve been working on a new book, which just went off to print today!

GASTRONAUTS is the third graphic novel in the S.Tinker Inc. series, featuring the irrepressible Sally Tinker. She’s the world’s foremost inventor under the age of twelve, and there’s no problem she can’t solve. Unfortunately there’s no problem her inventions can’t cause, either; she’s already built a robot that went completely out of control, and created a giant dung beetle that terrorised her town. In this new story the problem is a lot smaller, in that her baby brother Joe has swallowed a teeny-tiny invention.  Sally and her friend Charli must shrink themselves and venture into the very bowels of Joe to shut down the swallowed invention before it causes some unintended (and very gaseous) consequences.

Gastronauts will be out in bookshops and online on October 1st, 2018. Your kids have probably given you gastro a few times, so now you can return the favour 😉

And here’s the cover! I’m so happy with how it turned out. Big thanks to the awesome team at Fremantle Press for being wonderful, as always.

If you’re super keen to grab a copy and don’t want to forget or miss out, you can pre-order now at Booktopia.

I’ll do some more posts the closer we get to the book birthday.

And FYI, there will be launches in Perth, Sydney and Melbourne, so stay tuned for details!

Thanks for reading,

James

 

Events for Sept-Oct 2017, including the Dungzilla book launch

I’ve got some Perth-based school holiday workshops, and the Perth book launch of Dungzilla!
Plus, some fantastic events in Queensland in early September, including the My Dead Bunny musical.

Continue reading “Events for Sept-Oct 2017, including the Dungzilla book launch”

Upcoming events for April/May/June

I’ve got bunch of workshops and talks over the next three months, including sessions at writers’ festivals in Armadale, Midland, Margaret River and Sydney!

To get email notifications of future events, you can either:
– subscribe to new blog posts via the little box on the right.
– sign up for my newsletter, The James Foley-o, and get all my news and events in a quarterly email.

April 8-23 – Eggsibition

Exhibition,noun = a public display of works of art or items of interest, held in an art gallery or museum.
Eggsibition, noun =  an exhibition about Eggs!

The eggcelent creatives at the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators have cooked up a cracking good collection of work. Come along to Paper Bird Children’s Books & Arts in Fremantle to see what they’ve hatched.

 

Continue reading “Upcoming events for April/May/June”

Upcoming events, January-March 2017

I’ve got bunch of workshops over the next three months, most of them free! But firstly, a public service announcement:

Please check my upcoming events page for updates to these and other events – sometimes new events are added at the last minute, or details can change.

To get email notifications of future events, you can either:
– subscribe to this blog via the little box on the right; you’ll get each post emailed to you.
OR
– sign up for my free newsletter, The James Foley-o, and get all my news and events in a single quarterly email.

Jan 21 – Books From Your Backyard – FREE EVENT

I’m doing a free mini-workshop this school holidays!

Come to ‘Books From Your Backyard’ at the State Library of WA. I’ll be there along with 9 other local authors and illustrators – Frané Lessac, Gabriel Evans, Kelly Canby, Teena Raffa-Mulligan, Bec J. Smith, Cris Burne, Aska, Elaine Forrestal, Dianne Wolfer and Norman Jorgensen. We’re each hosting a little session, giving readings, and running fun activities for kids. And it’s all FREEEEEEE. My session is from 3-3:25pm, after which I’ll be signing copies of my latest book Brobot.

Continue reading “Upcoming events, January-March 2017”

Events for September, October & November

It’s my busy time of the year. Between August and October I’m visiting lots of schools and libraries for private events, but I’m also running some public talks and workshops – including a public launch for my new book Brobot on October 7th as part of the Awesome Festival.

See below for all the details.

Sept 3 – children’s book illustration workshop (for adults)

'The Last Viking' (2011), A New Believer?

A 3 hour workshop for the City of South Perth’s 2016 Evolve development program.

WHEN: Saturday September 3, 10am-1pm.
WHERE: Halo Espresso, 82 Angelo St, South Perth.
COST: $30 + booking fee.
BOOKINGS: essential. Click here for bookings.

 

Continue reading “Events for September, October & November”

Win a copy of my new book, Brobot

It’s almost here!

My new book is called Brobot. It’s a graphic novel for younger readers and it’s coming out with Fremantle Press on September 1st.

Sally Tinker makes machines … and Joe Tinker breaks them. As the world’s foremost inventor under the age of twelve, Sally knows she can build a better brother than Joe. But is her invention – Brobot – really all that a brother should be?

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Want a cheeky sneak-peek? Click here to read the first 16 pages for free.

Want to use the book in the classroom? Teacher notes are available now.

Want to order a copy? Ask at your local bookshop. If you don’t have one near you, Booktopia is taking pre-orders.

Win a copy of Brobot for you and your school

Fremantle Press is offering five lucky schools the chance to win two special Brobot gift packs: one for the classroom and one for the person who designs the best robot. Each gift pack features a poster and bookmark plus a signed copy of Brobot the book!

Want to enter? Visit the Fremantle Press website for entry information.

Entries close October 15th, 2016. Good luck!

Events for June and July

This June and July you’ll find me reading from my upcoming book in Fremantle, running sessions at a kids’ lit festival in Balingup, and giving a free dragon-drawing workshop in Perth.

Come by and say hi!

June 6 – Books Out Loud!

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Come and hear Fremantle Press authors Deb Fitzpatrick, Norman Jorgensen, Paula Hayes, Meg McKinlay and myself doing free live readings on WA Day. I’ll do a few sketches too.

There’ll be a bunch of other activities on during the day: a skateboarding clinic, art classes, a climbing wall, mask making and kite flying. Should be awesome!

VENUE: Fremantle Esplanade
WHEN: Monday June 6th; Books Out Loud is on from 12noon-1pm
(other WA Day activities go from 10am-4pm)
FOR: all ages
COST: free!
BOOKINGS: not required; just turn up. More info here.

July 9/10 – Telling Tales Children’s Literature Festival

Balingup

Join me and a bunch of other children’s authors & illustrators in Balingup for a weekend of talks and workshops for kids. Come for a day or for the weekend. This is one of my favourite festivals to visit because the whole community gets involved – plus Balingup has stunning scenery and great cafés!

VENUE: Balingup (3hrs drive south of Perth)
WHEN: Saturday July 9th – Sunday July 1oth
FOR: 4-14yos
COST: $6 per day per child. Children can attend up to four session per day. No charge for accompanying parents or toddlers seated on parents lap.
BOOKINGS & MORE INFO: visit the Telling Tales website.

July 15 – Making mythical monsters:
watercolour dragons workshop

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In the July holidays join me for a free workshop where you get to create, draw and paint amazing watercolor dragons.
Numbers are limited.

VENUE: City of Perth Library, 573 Hay st (NB: this is NOT the State Library)
WHEN: Friday July 15th, 10:30am-12 noon
FOR: strictly 7-10 year olds only
COST: free
BOOKINGS: email Suzanne at childrens.library@cityofperth.wa.gov.au