Imagination to Paper – Interview with Grace Nolan

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It’s a pleasure to have Grace Nolan grace us with her presence, answering questions about her delightfully lively counting series, One to Ten and Back Again. With the first book, Ten Naughty Numbats, recently released, and the following; Ten Bush Babies and Ten Lively Lorikeets out soon, these handy, clever and engaging books are the perfect addition to your little one’s collection. Let’s learn more about Grace and her counting books! 🙂

Congratulations on the upcoming releases of your adorable new counting series, One to Ten and Back Again! What has been your favourite part of the process?

Thank you so much for your good wishes.

My favourite part of the process so far has been putting the idea that was in my imagination onto paper and from that spark, holding the printed book in my hand – the finished product of months of work by a team of people.

What do you hope readers will gain from reading and engaging with your books?

I hope children will love learning the numbers and seeing how much fun it is to count, add and subtract. I also hope they love learning to recognise and name the different animals and ultimately will be inspired to appreciate and care for our beautiful Australian wildlife and environment.

In what ways can parents and educators utilise your books when teaching children the counting, addition and subtraction processes?

The books are the start of so much children can build on with regard to number. They can be used to read to children like a storybook or used interactively, allowing children to join in with predicting the next number and animal and the answer to each equation. Children can be encouraged to count the animals, to add them and subtract them in a fun way, in a group setting or just one to one with an adult. For each of the three books, stories can be made up about the animals and what they are doing, with the numbers 1-10 incorporated into the story as well as the operations. There are more ideas in the Teachers’ Notes which can be found on my website www.gracenolanauthor.com.

What do you think of Nancy Bevington’s illustrations? Did they come to life as you had imagined?

When the author of a picture book hands over the text to the illustrator it is a moment of trepidation – will they see what you envision? Will they capture the feel of the text as well as the literal content? Big Sky Publishing chose Nancy Bevington as the illustrator for my books. When I saw the illustrations for the first time, it was a real moment of joy for me. Nancy had brought to life the vision I had in my mind – the colours, movement, the expressions on the faces of the animals, the settings – they were all just gorgeous.

Nancy’s illustrations are works of art. They are so beautiful that I look at them in awe and wonder at how brilliant she is as an artist. She has brought the characters to life in exactly the way I love.

Is there any one book in particular or favourite part of one of the books that you love the most?

I love the playful platypus on the very first page of the first book because he begins the whole series. He is so happy in his cute goggles and bathers and sets the cheerful tone so that I smile every time I see him.

Do you have a favourite Australian animal? Which one and why?

The rainbow lorikeet is my favourite because it’s so colourful and chatty and full of life.

What’s next for Grace Nolan? Will there be more fun and educational series for young readers in your collection?

I have plenty of ideas and more writing I want to do. We’ll have to see where this series takes me.

Thanks so much for answering my questions, Grace!

It’s my pleasure and thank you for the interesting interview.

Grace Nolan holds a Graduate Diploma of Education in Children’s Literature and a Master of Philosophy. She is an experienced Primary and Secondary teacher and winner of numerous poetry competitions including the Dante Aligheiri Italian Poetry Competition and the Italian-Australian Writers’ Literary Association for original poem. She was also awarded first prize in the International Festival of Italian Song for an original composition. Grace was also a script writer, composer and performer as well as being a reviewer for the Children’s Book Council of Australia. Grace’s love of nature and Australian wildlife have provided the inspiration for the One to Ten and Back Again series. Drawing on her extensive educational background and her enthusiasm for children’s literature, Grace is now dedicating her time to writing.

Please follow Grace at these links:

www.gracenolanauthor.com | Facebook 

Ten Naughty Numbats is available for purchase at Big Sky Publishing | Booktopia

Counting Ten Aussie Animals for the WIN!

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Join us on a counting adventure across the blogosphere as we take Grace Nolan and her fun, learning picture book series, One to Ten and Back Again on tour, appearing at the following media sources. 

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