I decided last night to attend another ASLA webinar and it was because I was guaranteed a good presentation if Paul McDonald was the presenter.
He own's The Children's Bookshop, a specialist bookseller catering to schools and school libraries in NSW. It originally began as a physical bookstore at Beecroft, trading between 1971 and 2019. McDonald had run the store for its final fifteen years.
I enjoyed listening to his insights into the Children's Book Council of Australia (CBCA) shortlists for 2022, predicting who is likely to win and their suitability for various audiences.
As a bonus, we were also treated to some of the latest trends on Young Adult and Children's reads. He is always "on the ball" with the latest developments and he does it with alot of passion. It was surprising to hear that Historical Fiction is gaining some appeal. I guess people either want to explore a different world from that of 2022. As a history teacher, this is encouraging, because it allows the reader to learn about different historical periods through fiction texts.
Not surprised about Graphic Novels and Manga continuing to gain a broader appeal. I see it at school myself as fans of Graphic Novels crave the next set of books in the series in that they may be interested in.
