ETL402 Sally RIppin presentation Monday

Went to hear Sally RIppin speak about her experiences as an illustrator and author and found her fascinating. I noted the following points: She writes for herself that is she does not compose her thoughts by thinking that she is writing for children. She puts herself into the writing using her imagination combined with her experiences in life. Her stories are based on her own memory of her childhood from her early years. She is running out of "B" ideas for Billie B as she thought there would only be 8 or so books and she is now up to 20. She was a tomboy herself so she wrote the character of Billie as something other than a fairy or princesses. Hey Jack! Was written in response to her own son being a reluctant ready unlike her daughter. She felt boys needed to be encouraged to read - the font is large to help the with the skill of recognising the words easily and with themes related to everyday issues boys would face. The sentences are short which she said is a challenge to ensure that the intention of the meaning is maintained. While she is an illustrator she did not want to draw for Billie B And so the illustrator is a Japanese Kiwi! whose drawings look remarkably similar to the lady herself but who has matched the image of what Sally wanted for Billie. Sally's background is so much part of her purpose as an author and illustrator. She talked of being in awe and wonder at the world around her. She lived in various parts of Asia as a child and subsequently went to China (Shanghai) to study art for three years. She spoke Hokkien as a child and learned Mandarin in China. She witnessed political history and started to write about the events. She then returned to Australia and became an English tutor for a Chinese girl whose parents wanted her to continue to speak Chinese while still becoming proficient in English. So she writes Speak Cinese Fang Fang hoping to be able to help children solve their own problems in a constructive way and to provide guidance for those found in sometimes complicated circumstances. Her desire to write for children comes from believing that she will not just entertain them but that she can make a difference to them to encourage them to grow in character and help them to realise that they have the strength to grow wisely.