Lost In Books and ACLF presents: Midnight At The Library by Ursula Dubosarsky
Read for your life!
LOST IN BOOKS and the Australian Children’s Laureate Foundation are celebrating the joy and the power of reading, throughout our lives from childhood to old age. We are proud to present an online storytelling of ‘Midnight At The Library’ by, critically-acclaimed author and Australian Children’s Laureate 2020-2021, Ursula Dubosarsky, recorded at our multilingual children’s bookshop and community hub in Fairfield.
Midnight at the Library was written by Ursula Dubosarsky and illustrated by, award-winning illustrator, Ron Brooks for the 50th anniversary of the National Library of Australia. It is published by the Library’s publishing house, NLA Publishing, whom we thank for their generous support of our partnership!
This exciting partnership between Lost In Books and ACLF has translated Midnight At The Library into some of the languages spoken by children and families across Australia. Our Forked Tongues Storytelling Collective has translated this beautiful book into Spanish, Arabic, Vietnamese, and Tagalog.
Midnight at the Library is an enchanting children's book that tells the story of a book throughout history. Beautifully written and splendidly illustrated, this is a story about the inception, creation and preservation of books and culture. Brilliantly evocative and exceptionally engaging, Midnight at the Library is sure to captivate the hearts of book-lovers across the nation, encouraging them to find their own book of wonder.
The theme for Ursula Dubosarsky’s two-year term as Australian Children’s Laureate is 'Read For Your Life’.
“My intention wherever I go as Laureate over the next two years is to make an inspiring call to children, parents, teachers everyone to encourage children to join their local library and get their own library card. To create a generation of readers – readers who will continue to read their whole life long – children need access to a lot of books, all kind of books, more books than any one family or even school can ever provide” (Ursula Dubosarsky)
Jane Stratton, Founder of Lost In Books, with Ursula Dubosarsky, Australian Children’s Laureate and award-winning author
The Australian Children’s Laureate Foundation (ACLF) is a not-for-profit organisation with representation from across the field of children's and young adult literature. Founded in 2008 as the Australian Children's Literature Alliance (ACLA), the name was changed to ACLF in 2018 to clarify the focus of the organisation's work. The ACLF's vision is to enrich the lives of young Australians through the power of story. To learn more, visit: childrenslaureate.org.au
LOST IN BOOKS is a creative community hub that promotes multilingualism in many ways, including its kids’ bookshop that speaks your language. Established in mid-2017 by the Think+DO Tank Foundation, we are a cafe, safer space for women, creative learning centre and all-ages community creative hub exchanging languages from our hub in Fairfield, one of Australia’s most diverse multicultural communities. LOST IN BOOKS is working to disrupt monolingual models of creative production in literature and the arts.
A Conversation with Ursula Dubosarsky
In this video, Ursula Dubosarsky reflects on what it means to 'Read For Your Life', the making of Midnight at the Library, and the importance of stories and languages in enriching children’s lives.
About the current Australian Children’s Laureate
Ursula Dubosarsky was born in Sydney and wanted to be a writer from the age of six. She is now the author of over 60 books for children and young adults. She has won many national prizes, including the NSW, Victorian, South Australian and Queensland Premier’s Literary Awards, the Children’s Book Council Book of the Year Award, and has been nominated for the international Hans Christian Anderson and Astrid Lindgren awards for children’s literature. Her books have been published widely across the world and translated into fourteen different languages.
After leaving school Ursula studied classical languages and English literature at Sydney University and then travelled overseas. She married in London, returned to Sydney and had three children. She pursued her writing career while working in various jobs, including some years at the NSW Department of Education’s School Magazine. She completed a PhD from Macquarie University in children’s literature at this time.
Her award-winning work includes picture books, such as 'The Terrible Plop'; novels for older children, including 'The Blue Cat'; and the non-fiction ‘Word Spy’ books about the English language. Three of her works have been adapted for theatre, and her book 'Too Many Elephants in This House' was chosen for National Simultaneous Story-time.
Other highlights include creating the story 'Reindeer’s Christmas Surprise' for the annual David Jones Christmas window display, and writing the picture book 'Midnight at the Library' for the 50th anniversary of the National Library of Australia.
Ursula is a frequent visitor in libraries, schools and festivals around the world, talking about books and reading, and teaching children and adults the art of creative writing. She is currently a member of the Library Council of the State Library of NSW.
For Schools & Libraries
This extended online storytelling of Midnight at the Library is a great resource for educators and librarians to encourage children to read. In this video, Ursula Dubosarsky shares fun stories and trivia about being an author and the making of the book. Video duration (15mins)