meeting (kind of) Jackie French, and picking up wonderful quotes, tips and tricks!

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meeting (kind of) Jackie French, and picking up wonderful quotes, tips and tricks!

I recently attended the annual Queensland Childcare Association conference and I was so excited to be going—but my excitement went through the roof when I heard that the keynote speaker was Jackie French, the author of my favourite novel, I think in the world, To Love a Sunburnt Country!

I have always loved Jackie French! Ever since I was little I enjoyed reading—or mainly having read to me—her books. Probably the first one I heard was Stories to Eat with a Blood Plum. I must have been all of three-years-old

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Anna Quindlen on bookshelves—home to an infinite number of worlds

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Anna Quindlen on bookshelves—home to an infinite number of worlds

"I would be most content if my children grew up to be the kind of people who think decorating consists mostly of building enough bookshelves."

Love that quote from The New York Times Opinion by author and journalist Anna Quindlen—maybe you’ve seen it? Two things though:

1.     Is there really such a thing as ‘enough’ bookshelves?
2.    The line that follows the quote is even better, I think. Here it is:

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Muhammad Yunus: when a woman says no....

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Muhammad Yunus: when a woman says no....

Muhammad Yunus is one of the great human enablers of our time. He took micro-loans to the women of Bangladesh at a time when their voices were not heard and their faces not seen. The concept of loans going to them rather than to their husbands was terribly difficult for them to grasp and only Muhammad's break-out understanding and actions were able to make it happen.   

His understanding was clearly expressed last night on ABC Television's Q&A as he said: "When a woman says no [to accepting a loan], it is not her voice. It is the voice of history that created her."

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6 reasons kids need the empathy-building power of books about refugees

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6 reasons kids need the empathy-building power of books about refugees

According to the UN Refugee Agency there were about 21.3 million refugees worldwide in 2015. Now consider that there are round about 7.5 billion people in the world. That means refugees represent somewhere in the vicinity of 0.3% of the world’s population.

Taking into account all displaced persons ..... that percentage rises to ..... represent 1 in 113 people!

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