Getting postered

Penrith Public School students feature in the 2010 poster
promoting the NSW Premier's Reading Challenge.

Where are all the Trek book tie-ins for kids?

Over on TrekBBS, some fans of JJ Abrams' recent "Star Trek" are pondering the total lack of book tie-ins aimed at children.

Putting my teacher-librarian hat on here:

As children in the 60s, my brother and I both read his copy of "Star Trek: Mission to Horatius" by Mack Reynolds. We enjoyed it, and my brother's book secretly made its way into my growing ST collection in 1980, but the book's content wasn't anything Earth-shattering. At least not for us, although it may have piqued our curiosity for TAS when we found that in b/w on Saturday mornings in the 70s.

Having met many members of ST's "first fandom", those who were watching ST as kids and who also craved reading about ST were devouring the James Blish (TOS) and Alan Dean Foster (Filmation's TAS) episode adaptations. The selection of ADF as writer of the 2009 ST novelization was met with much enthusiasm from those ST fans who'd learned to read with "ST Logs" 1-10.



Although I have the delightful Lawrence Weinberg "ST III Storybook" in my collection, and have bought additional copies for all three school libraries I have taught in over the years, it never gets borrowed. Likewise, child interest in the Pocket/Minstrel YA books for TNG, DS9 and VOY has been minimal compared to the war SW kids devour SW YA books.

If you look back at other seemingly YA ST books, they are also more appealing to adults (as collectibles) than to kids (as reading material). "ST II Biographies", the matching short story collections and choose-your-own-adventures for both ST II and ST III, the ST IV YA ("Young Adult") novelisation, the TNG movie YA adaptations... how many sold to/for kids, and how many went straight into adults' collections? Ditto the old TOS and TMP pop-up books, and Daniel Cohen's "The Monsters of Star Trek".

I do know some kids who collect all the "Star Wars" YA books, but (like "Goosebumps" books and "Ben-10" books), they collect them as they would gum cards, and they don't necessarily use the books as reading matter.

Both SW and ST can appeal to young kids, but the ones inspired by ST seem to have no problem becoming consumers of the regular ST novels, thus skipping the YA stage completely.

Simultaneous sheep

"Pete the Sheep"

The annual National Simultaneous Storytime happened today at 11am: "Pete the Sheep" by Jackie French & Bruce Whatley, as a PowerPoint presentation on my school's new interactive whiteboard! Thanks ALIA for a fun event!

A capital idea

There's something rather ironic about me calling this blog "Have Phaser, Will Travel" and the only time it goes dormant is when I'm travelling.

One reason is that I don't have a laptop (yet) and, when on vacation, the last thing I really want to do is race off to an Internet cafe, and do hilarious and/or witty blog entries on-the-spot, live from the scene. While the concept is exciting, I guess, I'm not so sure it's a good idea to announce to the world, "Hey, I'm on vacation, so's the housemate, the abode is unattended - and I even have the watchdog on holiday with me, not guarding the house, while I blog to you daily from this poky cafe!"


We are taking the
blankie, aren't we?"

A complete break from the Internet is not a bad idea, either. If I had a laptop, I just know I'd never get anything else - but a little blogging - done. I almost cherish time away from emails and web surfing so I can get some Star Trek novels read!

We departed on Saturday morning and were at our Downer (ACT), dog-friendly bed 'n' breakfast by the afternoon, having spent a brief time in beautiful Berrima on the way. We bought some pumpkin bread there, that will taste scrummy, and some sweets from the good ol' Lolly Swagman to keep us munching along the way.

On Friday night, before we left, I'd paid a few bills via the Internet. Then I realised during the car trip south - to my horror - that I'd forgotten to organise payment for some vintage Star Trek metal miniatures I'd won from a US seller on eBay earlier in the week. Thanks to the wonders of the Internet and public libraries, I effortlessly booked 30 mins Internet time at Dickson Public Library yesterday afternoon, just before closing. I even managed to check my emails online, change my PayPal password and send $$$$$ to my toy seller. Whew!

And no, despite the date and time on this entry, I didn't write it (or the next five entries) in the library, although i was tempted. I did it the old fashioned way - handwritten notes on a scrap of paper. Yay post-vacation "Post Options" hyperlinks!

Sunday's magic number: 91.0. Yeah, the French food and red wine did it, I think.

Rockin' readin'

Western Sydney had a powerful thunderstorm yesterday afternoon, with lots of wind and hail - and about 10,000 homes were without power for well over twelve hours.

I spent the first hour trying to keep plastic drop sheets stretched over the two spare lounge suites still sitting on the front patio after the delivery of my new suite a few weeks ago.

The warm water hitting the pool in the back yard, on an already humid day, started green algae blooms almost immediately, and the deep, bilious colour spread swiftly across the depths as the wild wind filled the pool with bark, leaves and luckless spiders and frogs.

As the evening grew darker, I lit some candles, and began cursing the fact that I couldn't cook, boil water for coffee, or even read. I tried to read by candle-light, but it just wasn't strong enough to light the page. Sigh. In the failing daylight, I did briefly take my book out onto the front patio and, of course, sat right underneath a drip. Ick. (So much for keeping the book in mint condition.)

As night rolled on, a brainwave struck! I braved the rain to retrieve four solar-powered, imitation rock, garden lights from poolside, and set them up on the lounge room floor so I could keep reading. All to the tune of the electric burglar alarm, setting off its annoying whining signal every five minutes, to warn that its power supply had been unexpectedly cut off. And the screaming - oh the screaming! - of the local frogs, celebrating the day's unexpected precipitation.



Fred Flintstone would be so proud of me!

Fighting the inevitable

Book readers are up in arms again. It seems that there's a new trend in mass market paperbacks in the USA, with a move to slightly taller, wider, thinner "prestige" paperbacks, with wider margins, bigger typeface, higher quality paper - but a slight price increase that has everyone worried that this move to a new format is being pushed solely by the desire of publishers to charge a few dollars more.

I just can't see it. Would the many publishers of the USA really plot together to make MMPB books a little bit bigger just so they can charge more money per unit? There must have been some call from the buying public for a "new format". These so-called "prestige" books - which seemingly have whiter, cleaner, thicker paper that won't yellow as easily, plus bigger type, larger cover art, or whatever - are being issued to give the customers a better reading experience. Surely?

More likely, with populations of avid book readers getting older and older, and with failing eyesight, that many people were increasing annoyed by the small size of "pocket" paperbacks. A lot of market research goes into book publishing, marketing and distribution. Many people do judge books by their covers.

I understand that some novel series are changing format in mid-stream, which for those collectors must be Really Annoying. But, if sufficient customers don't like these improved MMPBs, and fail to support them, they'll die out. Certainly in the 80s "prestige" comic books - with whiter, thicker paper - quickly doomed the acid-filled newsprint versions to start to vanish. Most customers were happy to pay a little extra to get something that improved the look of the art and wouldn't turn brittle after only a few months.

Meanwhile, I can't say I've even noticed a new size of MMPB here in Australia yet, although there must be some examples at Galaxy Bookshop, who get a lot of American imports every week. I do know that there has been a trend for many top-selling books to get a hardcover, then trade paperback, and then MMPB set of staggered releases, which again must be Really Annoying for people eagerly awaiting only the MMPB version.

Oh, and speaking of Fighting The Inevitable, I was finally able to gain access to the clever little link that enables me to Change The Dates on my blog entries. Now that I'm finally able to retro date stuff, I'm finding myself shirking my daily responsibilities for writing posts! Dammit.

Mind you, I've managed to have some early nights this week - and feeling much better for it - and Jack's even had some extra walks around the block. I just have to keep disciplining myself to write Every Day. Sigh...

Born to read

Tonight, our school was part of the official launch of a local initiative to improve literacy potential of students entering Kindergarten through early intervention: books from birth.

An interesting array of speeches from an equally interesting array of speakers, with the keynote address being from Dr Robin Morrow, a former bookseller and Children's Book Council of Australia (CBCA) judge.

Dr Morrow, whom I know briefly from numerous teacher-librarians' meetings and conferences over the years, spoke fondly and knowledgeably of her documented efforts of reading iconic picture books to her grandchildren in their pre-school years, fostering a love of literature through repetition, anticipation, shared experiences, and even plenty of cuddles.

Our choir attended and made us all proud, not only with their singing, but with their exemplary behaviour through long speeches aimed mainly at adults.

It was a great evening all round and gave us all reassurance that what we do every day at work/school really makes a difference.

Tomorrow: the Pedlars' Fair! (I have my red velvet cloak and jester's cap at school, ready for the big day. In other words, I'll be there with bells on.)

Non-drivers unite!

You know, I had about six driving lessons - at age 18 or so - and decided then and there that driving a motor vehicle was like every other sport I ever tried to do as a kid, and had all the same skill requirements: hand/eye coordination, outwitting your opponent, etc.

The world is a safer place without me behind the wheel.

And the money I save not running a car buys more books and toys, and pays for the three or four cabs I might need per year. Otherwise, yay public transport and a book to read until I reach my destination (train+walk chosen over a bus any day, though).

After all, the newly re-elected Premier has promised to fix the trains.

And Tellarites might fly.

"They do not like it, not one little bit."

The title quote is adapted from the hapless fish's catchcry in "The Cat in the Hat" which, after today's national read-aloud at school to celebrate The Cat's 50th birthday, is at the forefront of my (temporarily) feline brain.



Over on the TrekBBS, someone has once again claimed that, rather than JJ Abrams helm a young-Kirk-and-Spock-at-the-Academy Star Trek film, he should be revisiting "the carnage of the Earth-Romulan War, right before the birth of the Federation (circa 2156-60) and have the entire film be one huge sendoff for Captain Archer".

Well, I'm sure something like that was Paramount's intention for the first ST motion picture after seven successful years of "Star Trek: Enterprise" on TV. But it wasn't to be. For four years (before cancellation), the "Enterprise" telvision audience was miniscule compared even to "Deep Space Nine" and "Voyager", and hardly a good starting point for a new set of films.

As someone who actually enjoyed "Enterprise" - and has enjoyed "Forbidden Planet", "Master and Commander", "Galaxy Quest", Daniel Craig in "Casino Royale", and JJ Abrams' "Lost", most of which have been mentioned in the TrekBBS posts as "good" entertainment - I am confident that the new ST film will be a critical and financial success.

I am utterly disappointed by some ST fans' incredibly negative attitude, so ready to quash any and all new ST production(s) before anything's even started filming. In the old days, they'd say it was 'cos Executive Producer of 18 years or so, Rick Berman, was still around at Paramount... But now, they reject new ST even without quoting that excuse. Whatever happened to IDIC (Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations") and ST fans' famous positive outlook for the future?

You know, if I was sitting through episodes of "Lost" every week and coming out of them saying, "Well, that was crap", I could understand their hesitation and lack of faith, but "Lost" is consistently strong on acting, writing, directing, sets, storytelling strategies and use of interactive advertising (via its website). JJ Abrams, director of ST XI, knows what he's doing.

The Cat in the Hat turns 50, how's that?

On Friday 2nd March, at precisely 2.36 pm, school students all over the nation (and perhaps the world?) will celebrate the 50th birthday of the famous book character, The Cat in the Hat in a nationwide read-aloud. Famous for its rhyme and repetition, the original book by the late Dr Seuss (Theodor "Ted" Geisel, aka Theo LeSeig), contains only 236 different words. This wonderfully wacky picture book, and its sequel The Cat in the Hat Comes Back, influenced children in many parts of the world to develop good reading habits over the past fifty years.

Happy birthday, Cat in the Hat. Have a purr-fect day!

(The photographic evidence)

Because I read...

On Monday, I was invited to join New South Wales Premier, the Honourable Morris Iemma, to a presentation for the conclusion of this year's Premier's Reading Challenge at Sydney's Powerhouse Museum. My principal graciously let me attend, in my capacity as a member of the reviewing panel, even though there wasn't much direct benefit to my school.

An innovation of the previous premier, Bob Carr, the first Premier's Reading Challenge's caused a bit of a scramble at Scan, when I worked there, digging through all our old book reviews to find the best of the best in children's literature, both classic and new, to help the coordinator draw up a reading list for school students in time to meet a tight deadline. Since then, the PRC has become a well-oiled machine, and I'm really enjoying being part of the review panel, which meets numerous times each yea, both in person and via email.

5900 students successfully completed the PRC in 2001, but 119 796 did so this year: a 40% increase! The number of students (Years K-9) signing up to take part in the project was almost 260 700. Between them, 3.6 million books were read.

All attendees, big and small, were asked to bring their "favourite book". I took my well-loved Cole's Funny Picture Book No. 1, a uniquely Australian publishing phenomenon, which still carries my paternal grandfather's handwritten inscription inside: "to Ian, aged 6." Whenever I riffle through it, being aged six years old seems like only six months ago...

My friend and fellow book review panellist, the prolific author Libby Gleeson, was a guest speaker at Monday's presentation, and I loved the quote she used during her speech. Quoting another Australian children's author, Paul Jennings, she recalled that when Paul was asked by a young fan, "Why do you read, and why should we value reading?", he replied:

"Because I read, I don't bash people up."

So eloquent! Reading allows us to see the world through the points of view of other people, and this helps children (and adults) to realize that all "other people" have thoughts, feelings and actions - whether they are the same as our own thoughts, feelings and actions or not. Reading literature grants us unique and valid perspectives that are not our own.

It would be difficult to sit through such an inspiring day and not be affected by the fact that everyone in that room - and many thousands of others who weren't - have made astounding differences in the lives of 260 700 NSW students in 2006. Amazing stuff.

Next weekend, 410 new book titles will be added to the already-impressive existing PRC booklist.



(ed. E. W. Cole, 70th edition, purchased December, 1964. Originally published: 1879.)

Wallowing in the crucible

A "Star Trek" novel, "Crucible: McCoy: Provenance of Shadows" was my vacation reading of choice last week. 628 pages, on super slim paper to keep the chunkiness to a minimum, it was indeed an excellent selection!

I was staying with some old ST friends in Brisbane, in sunny Queensland. The sun was up at 5.15am every day, light streaming into my room. Nothing else to do but read, until the household was awake for breakfast. One of my hosts is also about to give birth to her first child and needed lots of naps, so I had David R George III's literary company, off and on, for a whole week. I got totally sucked into the universe that is "Star Trek: Crucible", greedily sneaking off for extra chapters at every opportunity.

The events stretch from the end of "The City on the Edge of Forever", one of the most popular TOS episodes, until several years after retired Admiral McCoy's visit to Picard's Enterprise in "Encounter at Farpoint" (the premiere episode of "The Next Generation"). Even though the "Crucible" trilogy purposely works in its own continuity, as regarding other ST novels, it seemed to me that David George purposely worded his description of the Enterprise's return from "Out there, thataway" (in ST:TMP) to include wiggle room for a recent and popular novel set in that time period, "Ex Machina".

That Filmation's animated ST series of the 70s (TAS) is so well referenced was a delight to me! Many more aspects than I expected: first names for (Paul) Bates and (Jimmy) Clayton, welcome cameo appearances by Randi Bryce and M'Ress the Caitian, and cheeky references to Mantilles, Dramia II, Edoans, Phylosians, Vedala, Aquan surgo-ops and even practical joking computers!

I'm very curious how much the upcoming "Spock" and "Kirk" instalments of this new trilogy will intersect the "McCoy" novel, and how much will focus on new events, and events barely hinted at in "McCoy". The three covers will make a triptych mural, too. A very cool 40th anniversary event!
Captain's Log, Supplemental: Too cool. Over on TrekBBS, David R George responded to my review thusly.

I've just spent the morning updating my Toon Trek pages to include all the "Crucible" TAS references.