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Growing Bookworms – Meet children’s author and blogger, Norah Colvin, creator of Readilearn #childrensfiction #childrenseducation #Growingbookworms

Posted: April 12, 2023 | Author: | Filed under: Children's Books, Growing Bookworms, Interview | Tags: , , , , , , , |127 Comments
A fondant figure of a girl covering her eyes Text: Open your eyes to the joy of reading with Growing Bookworms Presented by Writing to be Read and Robbie Cheadle

Today, I am delighted to introduce you to children’s author, Norah Colvin. Norah is a retired teacher and runs a marvelous educational site called Readilearn which is packed with wonderful teaching aids and ideas for promoting learning among children. Welcome Norah!

I have read and enjoyed a few of your children’s pictures books. They comprise of delightful age appropriate stories and lovely illustrations. Is there any particular children’s book author whom you admire and consider to be a role model for your writing?

Robbie, thank you so much for inviting me here to talk about my books and favourite authors. There are so many authors whose work I love, it’s hard to know where to start, but I guess if I had to pick just one, I’d have to say Mem Fox.

Mem has written so many wonderful picture books that touch my heart. Each one is a gem. She is enormously prolific and writes in many different styles. Possum Magic, her first picture book, was published in 1983, too late for my son and a few years before my daughter was born. I fell in love with this book and Mem as soon as I read it. But I love so many others of her books too, especially Koala Lou (I can’t read it aloud with tearing up), and Whoever You are (same thing). For others of her books that I love, it’s best to just go to her website and check out her full list. I love them all!

One book of Mem’s that I found especially inspiring was her memoir Mem’s the Word. I had always wanted to be a published writer but had never been successful in having any of my submissions accepted. In the memoir (great name for a book about Mem, eh?) Mem revealed that she’d had her first book published when she was forty or almost forty. That gave me hope. I was not yet 40 at the time, only almost. Not only that, Possum Magic had been rejected nine times and had gone through many changes and edits before it was published. Possum had even started life’s journey as a mouse. I thought maybe there was hope for me yet. It took decades after that for me to have these little picture books published with Library For All, but I have been a published educational writer since the early 1990s (last century!)

Mem has also written a brilliant book for parents called Reading Magic. It is all about the importance of reading aloud to children and I just love it. Whenever I know someone who is becoming a parent for the first time, I gift them this book and one of Mem’s picture books as well, usually Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes if I can find it, or Possum Magic. While I can talk (and write, which I often do) about the importance of talking with, reading to and playing with children, a message from Mem gives extra authority to the message. While we’re talking about Mem – although she is an Australian and was born here, she grew up in Africa, Zimbabwe, I think.

You can read more about Mem Fox on Norah’s blog here: https://norahcolvin.com/2015/09/25/a-celebration-of-australian-picture-books-mem-fox/

Where do you find inspiration for your children’s picture books?

This is a tough one to answer, though it should be easy, as stories are everywhere. One of my favourite sayings to children I was teaching, my own children and now my grandchildren is “There’s a story in that”. A story can arise from almost any situation, and be triggered by a thought, a word, a scent on a breeze, a sound. A story is taking a moment, a thought, and turning it into something magical that resonates with others. Of course, if I’d had more success with that latter part, maybe I’d have more stories published and would be more confident in answering this question. But I guess, in fact, children are my inspiration. I love spending time with young children. They are just the most amazing, joyful, full of wonder wonderful little humans with huge hearts. When I’m writing stories for or about children, I try to capture what it means to be a young child and release the six-year-old that still resides within me.

How do you go about ensuring the language and flow of ideas in your children’s books are appropriate for the target age group?

I hope the language and flow of ideas in my stories is appropriate for the young children in my target audience. I have spent a lot of time with young children. I was one once myself and am still a six-year-old at heart (see above). I was a teacher of 5 – 7 year-olds for almost 30 years, had two children of my own, and two grandchildren. A day never went by in the classroom or at home when I didn’t read at least one (often many more) stories to my children. I think all these things – talking with children, spending time with children, and reading stories and books to them (and to myself) – have helped me write in language that is age appropriate.

Do you include specific messages for young children in your picture books? What are your aims with these books?

I try to not be didactic in my stories but to allow messages of empowerment come through the events and character development, encouraging children to love themselves, to be confident, to be friendly towards and respectful to others, to be courageous and curious and try new things, and … I often consider my stories to be ‘a slice of life’, an incident that could occur in any family, an incident that children may identify with. I avoid the darker emotions and try for something lighter. There’s too much darkness. Let there be light, I say. Learning and life are meant to be fun after all.

Your books are part of the Library for All initiative. Could you please share a bit about the objectives of Library for All and why you are a participant in this project.

I’m so pleased you have asked about Library For All (LFA). It is Library for All that has published these first picture books of mine that you have mentioned. I am absolutely delighted and feel extremely honoured to be able to contribute to the Library For All collection. It is such an amazing organisation with a mission that is close to my heart – to make knowledge and books accessible to all equally. Authors and illustrators donate their stories and illustrations to LFA. It’s a great way to be able to support their work. I have fifteen books published with LFA. The first one to be published Wombat Digs was written in a workshop run by LFA with the aim of expanding their titles. I was lucky to have this story written and accepted in that workshop. Most of my stories are nonsense phonics stories written at the request of LFA. Two of the stories have been translated, one for Timor-Leste and one for Kiribati. I was so surprised to receive the one for Kiribati this week. I didn’t know it was being translated. How exciting. You can see all the titles on my Amazon author page. While I receive no income from sales, I’m delighted that the funds contribute to the good work of LFA.

You have a website, Readilearn, Digital Resources for Teachers. Please tell us a bit about your objectives with this website and how teachers and other caregivers can benefit from your digital resources.

Readilearn has been a labour of love. When I was teaching, as most teachers do, I spent many hours away from the classroom preparing lessons to not only encourage learning but to make learning fun. I was/am never in favour of handing out worksheets just to keep children busy. I’ve never considered that respectful of their intellect or a good use of time. I believe that children learn through trying things for themselves and through discussions with the teacher and each other.

When I left the classroom, I wanted to support teachers by doing some of the preparation for them, preparing lessons that were ready for them to teach, lessons that gave the children opportunities to interact with and discuss what they were learning. I wanted to make the lessons a bit more fun and meaningful than just filling out numerous worksheets filled with repetitive exercises. I also wanted to make it affordable so that teachers didn’t have to spend a lot of their hard-earned money (as most of us, especially early childhood teachers, do) on quality resources.

As most of my teaching days were spent working with 5 – 7-year olds, that’s the age group I’ve targeted. Teachers of children in that age group don’t have to scroll through oodles of resources to find something age appropriate. However, as I said, they are lessons ready for teachers to teach (including home-schooling parents). They are not designed for children to use on their own. It is the interactions and the discussions that are important. This is especially so for the interactive lessons which are accessed online. While there are some downloadable worksheets (many of them free), they usually provide follow-up support for the online lessons or provide other teaching ideas. Teaching is an amazing job. It has enormous rewards, but it has its challenges too. If I can make a teacher’s day a little easier and learning a little more fun and meaningful for the children, I’m happy.

Thank you, Norah, for being a wonderful guest and sharing all this amazing information about your writing and Readilearn.

My review of Wombat Digs In by Norah Colvin

This is an adorable book for small children about a wombat who is struggling to keep up with some of the other animals including the kangaroos who can bounce, the possums who can climb, and the fruit bats who can fly. Wombat is feeling a little dejected, but when Baby Koala falls out of the tree, Wombat’s own special skill of digging comes to the forefront. This little book is illustrated with simple and bright pictures that small children will love.

Purchase link:

Amazon Au: https://www.amazon.com.au/gp/product/192596003X

Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/Wombat-Digs-Norah-Colvin/dp/192596003X

My review of Let’s Move by Norah Colvin

This is a delightful little book for teaching very young children about animals and movement. The illustrations are adorable and I particularly liked the snails that slide and the snakes that slither.

Purchase link:

Amazon Au: https://www.amazon.com.au/gp/product/1925960064

Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/Lets-Move-Norah-Colvin/dp/1925960064

About Norah Colvin

Norah Colvin is a passionate educator and writer.

She is a published educational writer and freelance author for publishers such as Jacaranda Wiley, Greygum Software, Blake Education, Pascal Press, MacMillan and ITC Publications.

She has two children’s books published with Library For All, a ballad included in the Share Your Story Tell ‘Em They’re Dreaming anthology and flash fiction in the Carrot Ranch Rough Writers Anthology Vol 1. She loves to write picture books manuscripts for the six-year-old in her own and others’ hearts.

She belongs to the following writers’ groups:

SCBWI

Queensland Writers Centre

Book Links

Write Links

Writing NSW

Creative Kids Tales

and other Facebook writing groups.

She blogs at www.NorahColvin.com and produces teaching resources for her educational website www.readilearn.com.au.

About Robbie Cheadle

Award-winning, bestselling author, Robbie Cheadle, has published thirteen children’s book and two poetry books. Her work has also appeared in poetry and short story anthologies.

Robbie also has two novels published under the name of Roberta Eaton Cheadle and has horror, paranormal, and fantasy short stories featured in several anthologies under this name.

The ten Sir Chocolate children’s picture books, co-authored by Robbie and Michael Cheadle, are written in sweet, short rhymes which are easy for young children to follow and are illustrated with pictures of delicious cakes and cake decorations. Each book also includes simple recipes or biscuit art directions which children can make under adult supervision.

Robbie’s blog includes recipes, fondant and cake artwork, poetry, and book reviews. https://robbiesinspiration.wordpress.com/

127 Comments on “Growing Bookworms – Meet children’s author and blogger, Norah Colvin, creator of Readilearn #childrensfiction #childrenseducation #Growingbookworms”

  1. robbiesinspiration says:
    April 12, 2023 at 1:22 am

    Reblogged this on Robbie's inspiration and commented:

    My Growing Bookworms children’s author for this month is Australian children’s author, blogger, and educationalist, Norah Colvin. Norah shares her thoughts about writing for children and her involvement with Library for All and Readilearn. Thanks for hosting, Kaye Lynne Booth.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply
  2. Darlene says:
    April 12, 2023 at 1:50 am

    A great interview with Nora. I love that she includes messages of empowerment in her books. So important.

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply
  3. beth says:
    April 12, 2023 at 2:47 am

    wonderful interview with Norah! she’s great –

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply
  4. Norah says:
    April 12, 2023 at 4:24 am

    Thank you so much for this interview, Robbie, that allowed me to discuss some of my favourite topics (no not me) – children, books and reading. They give me much joy. You have presented the interview so beautifully. I am touched. I also appreciate your wonderful reviews of two of my Library For All books on Amazon and sharing them again here. The collection is now 15, and I have updated my Amazon author profile to match. (Thanks for the nudge. 😉)

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply
  5. Norah says:
    April 12, 2023 at 4:28 am

    Reblogged this on Norah Colvin and commented:
    Thank you so much to Robbie Cheadle for this fun interview about children’s authors and books I love.

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply
  6. D. Avery @shiftnshake says:
    April 12, 2023 at 4:54 am

    What a wonderful start to my day, reading about author and educator Norah Colvin. I have enjoyed sharing her books with my young friends. I look forward to Norah’s flash fiction every week, which often features the age group that she continues to honor and serve through her writing and learning materials development.
    Thank you Robbie and Norah!

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply
  7. Dave Astor says:
    April 12, 2023 at 5:18 am

    A wonderful conversation between two talented and prolific writers!

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply
  8. Liz Gauffreau says:
    April 12, 2023 at 7:49 am

    What a fantastic interview! I enjoyed reading it and learning from it. The Library for All project is a very impressive endeavor.

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply
  9. D.L. Finn, Author says:
    April 12, 2023 at 9:22 am

    Great interview! I love giving books as gifts especially to this age group 🙂

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply
  10. OIKOS™- Art, Books & more says:
    April 12, 2023 at 10:25 am

    Reblogged this on https:/BOOKS.ESLARN-NET.DE.

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply
  11. OIKOS™- Art, Books & more says:
    April 12, 2023 at 10:28 am

    Thanks for sharing this great interview with Norah, Robbie! She is fantastic with her work on picture books, and also readylearn. I can’t remember similar material for Germany. It’s great what possibilities your kids have, to get fun also by learning. Best wishes, Michael

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply
  12. memadtwo says:
    April 12, 2023 at 6:15 pm

    I’m always pleased to read about someone who perseveres in their creative passion and finds success. I also admire Norah’s work providing resources for teachers. (K)

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply
  13. Miriam Hurdle says:
    April 12, 2023 at 9:40 pm

    I enjoyed reading this wonderful review, Norah and Robbie. I learned something new about Norah. I didn’t know you donated all your children’s books to the Library For All. What a great idea. I know you always tell children’s stories, Having children and grandchildren keeps us young!

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply
  14. singlikewildflowers says:
    April 12, 2023 at 11:47 pm

    Robbie, thank you for this informative and inspiring interview with Norah Colvin! I’ve been her reader for a while, and I enjoy her passion for children’s literature and her lesson resources for young children. I wish I knew about them when my kiddos were younger so I could’ve used them.
    It was great to hear about her writing process and how she finds inspiration for her stories! We love wombats and I call my older kid “Womby” as his nickname. lol. Norah, the story is too adorable and has a great lesson. So glad to learn more about you through this interview.

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply
    • robbiesinspiration says:
      April 13, 2023 at 1:42 pm

      I am so pleased you enjoyed this interview with Norah. I have never seen a real wombat but enjoyed learning about them through Norah’s book. I’ve learned a lot about Australia, it wildlife, school system, and authors from Norah 💚

      Liked by 3 people

      Reply
    • Norah says:
      April 29, 2023 at 11:37 pm

      Thank you for popping over to read, Esther. Yes, we have been blogging friends for a while, haven’t we? I didn’t know you called your older son ‘Womby’. It’s a cute nickname. Does he like to burrow into places?

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply
      • singlikewildflowers says:
        April 29, 2023 at 11:54 pm

        Yes, we have been! I met you through Yvette’s interview.
        When he was a struggling reader, he read a story in “all About Reading” series about a wombat rescue center in Australia and it described how the rescue volunteers took care of their wombats. After that, he loves them. There’s also a great story called “Wombat’s Diary.” So he’s my Womby. lol. Yes, he does like to burrow into cozy spots.
        My pleasure to read your interview! Hope you have a great weekend and all is well with you. 🙂

        Liked by 3 people

        Reply
        • Norah says:
          April 30, 2023 at 12:00 am

          I’d forgotten we’d met at Yvette’s. I was thinking it was at Kate’s.
          That’s a very cute story about the reason for the nickname. Those Wombat stories by Jackie French (another of my favourite Australian authors) are great too. There are so many of them now. How many have you read? Jackie posts videos of her wombats on Twitter and Facebook (or used to). Have you and Womby watched them?
          All is well, here, Esther. I hope you and your family are recovering well too. 💖

          Liked by 3 people

        • singlikewildflowers says:
          April 30, 2023 at 12:09 am

          Yes, we met at Yvette’s! Her interviews are wonderful for meeting other bloggers.
          I’m glad you like the story of how Elliot started liking wombats. We did not read other stories by Jackie French besides that one and we read a little bit about how she wrote her stories. We need to read more of her work and check out her wombats’ videos. Thank you for letting me know!
          We are also big fans of the Australian Disney show “Bluey!”
          So good to reconnect with you again!

          Liked by 2 people

        • Norah says:
          May 1, 2023 at 3:46 am

          I’m sure you’ll love the wombat videos if you can locate them. While I’m aware of Bluey, I haven’t watched many shows – no one in the age group any more. 😦 I know it’s very popular.

          Liked by 2 people

        • singlikewildflowers says:
          May 2, 2023 at 12:08 am

          We will look for them! Wombats are one of our favorite animals. If you get a chance, try out Bluey for one show or two. It’s a fun show for adults too…lots of family, parenting, and play themes. The music is phenomenal!

          Liked by 3 people

        • Norah says:
          May 2, 2023 at 11:28 pm

          Thanks for the tip, Esther. I’ll try to make the time.

          Liked by 3 people

        • singlikewildflowers says:
          May 3, 2023 at 1:07 am

          I hope you do! You’ll be pleasantly surprised and you might become a “Bluey” fan. 🙂

          Liked by 3 people

        • Norah says:
          May 9, 2023 at 4:42 am

          I might! I just watched 2 episodes. Thank you for the recommendation. I might have to have a dose of Bluey every day. 🙂

          Liked by 1 person

        • singlikewildflowers says:
          May 10, 2023 at 12:01 am

          This comment made me so happy! Bluey is not appealing just for kids, but also for grown ups.
          Womby’s suggestions: Rain, Fairy, Work, Curry Quest, The Doctor, Rug Island, and mainly just all of them, he says.
          Ellis’ suggestions (her nickname is Opup for otter pup): The Weekend, Omellete, Fairy Tale, Facey Talk, Escape, Wagon Ride, and Hammerbarn

          Liked by 3 people

        • Norah says:
          May 12, 2023 at 12:52 am

          Thank the children for their recommendations, please. That lot will keep me going for a while. 🙂

          Liked by 2 people

        • singlikewildflowers says:
          May 12, 2023 at 1:24 am

          I will! They’ll be happy to hear that. When I asked them for their suggestions, I didn’t expect them to go and on and on. They even told me which episodes in each seasons. My memory doesn’t go that much into detail.
          We’re waiting for your Wombat book to arrive soon in the mail. We ordered it last week on Amazon. Excited to read about wombats and your story!

          Liked by 2 people

        • Norah says:
          May 13, 2023 at 12:11 am

          That’s so kind of you. Thank you, Esther.

          Liked by 3 people

        • singlikewildflowers says:
          May 13, 2023 at 12:14 am

          You’re welcome!

          Liked by 3 people

  15. TanGental says:
    April 13, 2023 at 1:01 am

    So grand to find out more of Norah and hercwork
    She’s an early adopter of yours truly back when I dipped my toes in blogging and has been the perfect encouragement. We even met face to face rather too many years ago to recall!

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply
  16. Annette Rochelle Aben says:
    April 13, 2023 at 9:29 am

    I loved learning more about Norah and her books here, Robbie! I found both to be enchanting. Thank you, I wish her every continued success.

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply
  17. dgkaye says:
    April 13, 2023 at 10:15 am

    I just saw this post on FB and hopped over. So great to see Norah getting the spotlight here. Norah is one of those ‘teaching angels’ as I like to call them. Her Readilearn program is an amazing gift, both informative and entertainment for children. ❤

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply
  18. olganm says:
    April 13, 2023 at 12:18 pm

    It is great to meet Norah, and I love her attitude toward books and reading, and the fact that she shares her resources with other teachers. It is always useful to be able to focus more on the interaction with the children and less on preparing materials. Thanks, Robbie.

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply
  19. Stevie Turner says:
    April 14, 2023 at 6:28 am

    A great interview, Robbie. It’s so important to get young children interested in books. So often now you see them glued to iPad games instead.

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply
  20. Toni Pike says:
    April 14, 2023 at 7:16 am

    It’s wonderful to learn so much more about you, Norah. I’m glad you love Mem Fex, she’s so popular in Australia.

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply
  21. Prior... says:
    April 14, 2023 at 8:11 am

    Great post!
    The interview flowed so well
    And my fav takeaway:
    “often consider my stories to be ‘a slice of life’, an incident that could occur in any family, an incident that children may identify with. I avoid the darker emotions and try for something lighter. There’s too much darkness. Let there be light, I say. Learning and life are meant to be fun after all.”

    Earlier this year I bought the book Wombat Digs in and plan to refi twitch my step grandkids next time I see them!
    / prior
    😉

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply
  22. Baydreamer - Lauren Scott says:
    April 14, 2023 at 4:42 pm

    What a great interview, Robbie, and so much to learn from Norah’s experience. Her books sound delightful. I love that she includes important messages in her stories as well. Congrats to her for being featured here.

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply
  23. D. Wallace Peach says:
    April 16, 2023 at 8:17 am

    What a lovely uplifting interview, Robbie and Norah. Norah’s love of “amazing, joyful, full of wonder wonderful little humans with huge hearts” comes through loud and clear. And I liked learning about The Library for All. What a cool organization supporting literacy and a love of reading. Thanks to you both and thanks to Kaye for hosting. 🙂

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply
  24. Resa says:
    April 17, 2023 at 3:11 pm

    Adore that Wombat.
    This is a very interesting interview. Congrats to Norah, and to Robbie!

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply
  25. Jennie says:
    April 29, 2023 at 2:47 pm

    Oh what a wonderful interview with Norah! This was a joy to read, especially talking about Mem Fox.

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply
  26. Norah says:
    April 29, 2023 at 11:54 pm

    Hi Robbie and Kaye, Thank you so much for featuring me in this interview. I am honoured. I do apologise for taking so long to get back and respond to comments. I’ve only just discovered so many of them today. WP did begin notifying me, but then they cut out, so I hadn’t realised. What a joy it was to read them today. Thank you once again.

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

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