Sally Tinker, the world’s foremost inventor under the age of 12, is back with a new adventure in invention. When Sally’s nemesis hatches a fowl and poultry plot – turning chickens into dinosaurs – there’s no room for the lily-livered. The chickensaurs are let loose, and Sally and co will need all their pluck to return the world to its rightful pecking order.
Sally Tinker – the world’s foremost inventor under the age of twelve – has built a growth ray. But when she tries resizing a slice of pizza, she accidentally enlarges a dung beetle to scary proportions. As the hungry beetle rolls itself a dung ball large enough to crush an entire town, Sally races to shrink down the monster before it’s too late!
And in the bonus storyOne Small Step for Mammoth, Sally and her team are off to Mars! Rav is taking scientific experiments; Charli is taking a vegetable garden. And baby Joe is taking … a woolly mammoth? Where on Earth did he get a woolly mammoth, and how is it going to fit in the overhead compartment?
I’ve got a couple of workshops and book launches coming up – details below!
Feb 10 – free virtual school session
Join me for a digital event on Feb 10. I’ll read Stellarphant and Happy Barry Capybara, as well as lead a quick draw session and engage in a live Q&A.
DATE: Monday February 10th WHEN: 10:00 – 10:45am AEDT WHERE: online AGES: early stage 1, stage 1, stage 2, stage 3 COST: free BOOKING:log in to book your place
March 15 – Bigfoot Vs Yeti book launch (WA)
Get ready for a fun-filled celebration of imagination, rivalry and unexpected friendship! Join us on Saturday 15 March at The Literature Centre for the highly anticipated launch of Bigfoot vs Yeti: A Love Story.
From participating in a fun tug-of-war or ‘snowball’ fight (no risk, all fun!), this event is packed with exciting, hands-on activities for all ages.
Whether you’re a lifelong fan of James’s work or new to his world, this event is a perfect opportunity to dive into the adventure and joy of Bigfoot vs Yeti. Bring your family, friends and love for reading – there’s something for everyone!
DATE: Saturday March 15 TIME: 11am-1pm AWST WHERE: The Literature Centre, Cnr Knutsford St & Hampton Rd, Fremantle WA REGISTRATION:essential, via Humanitix
March 17 – Harmony Week with James Foley (Free virtual session)
I’ve got a FREE virtual primary schools session coming up in March!
NB: If you can’t make it to the live session, you can still register and get access to a recording for two weeks afterwards.
March 29 – Bigfoot vs Yeti + Dungzilla double book launch (NSW)
I’ll be in Sydney at the end of March to celebrate the release of Bigfoot vs Yeti and the new colour edition of Dungzilla! Join me at Gleebooks in Glebe for a ridiculously fun double book launch.
DATE: Saturday March 29 TIME: 10:30am WHERE: Gleebooks, 49 Glebe Point Rd, Glebe, NSW REGISTRATION:rachel@gleebooks.com.au
April 9 – The Art of Illustrating Books (workshop)
Learn how to break into the arts as an illustrator with some practical advice from a professional writer, illustrator and cartoonist – me! Join me for this evening workshop.
DATE: Wednesday April 9th WHEN: 6 – 7:30pm WHERE: Wanneroo Library and Cultural Centre, 3 Rocca Way, Wanneroo TICKETS:essential. $10 per person
I love seeing how words and particularly sound effects get translated into other languages. My graphic novel Gastronauts has been released in Türkiye as Gastronotlar, which means we get to find out how farts (and burps) sound in Turkish!
Earlier in Feb I got to chat with Gregory Dobbs from the Good Reading podcast, all about my picture book Stellarphant and the upcoming colour rereleases of Brobot and Gastonauts.
As Greg puts it, we chat about “the great characters [James] has created – Sally Tinker (the world’s foremost inventor under the age of twelve), Joe Tinker (full-time baby) and Charli Stevenson (foremost biologist under the age of eleven). We explore the hilarious and often quite smelly adventures they get up to, along with Sally’s amazing range of inventions. There’s also a few Dad jokes along the way.”
Sally Tinker, the world’s foremost inventor under the age of twelve, is back!
She first appeared in my debut graphic novel – Brobot – released in 2016. The book was printed in black and white and just 112 pages long. Three sequels followed: Dungzilla, Gastronauts and Chickensaurus – each longer and more ambitious than the last – plus some full-colour short stories in The School Magazine. And that was it … or so I thought.
Then the wonderful team at Fremantle Press said, “Hey James … how about we rerelease the Sally Tinker comics in full colour?”
My instant and highly professional reply was, “heck yes!”
Then I looked at my diary and saw how busy I was already. I wouldn’t have time to colour them in. “Oh bottom,” I exclaimed in measured tones.
So Fremantle said, “what if we get some artists to help?”
And I remarked, “that’s a flippin’ excellent idea!”
So Freo asked an up-and-coming artist called Paulina Gamez to do the colouring, and the ever brilliant Rebecca Mills to redesign the covers. I reformatted the School Magazine stories to fit inside the new editions. And before we knew it, we had four revamped and beefed up graphic novels to release!
First up is Brobot on April 3rd, followed by Gastronauts on June 1st. Both feature new covers and extra stories. (No official release dates on the colour editions of Dungzilla or Chickensaurus, but rest assured they’re in the works). If you enjoyed Secret Agent Mole then you should love these comics too!
Pre-order your copies at the links below.
Brobot: now in colour!
Published by Fremantle Press, 3rd April 2024. ISBN: 9781760993115 (paperback)
I managed to spend some free time on my recent Sydney trip visiting bookshops with my friend (& carpool bud), author Cristy Burne. We managed to get to 12 bookshops in one day, and I visited 21 in total.
James Foley 