The Protected - Q&A with author Claire Zorn

In The Protected Claire Zorn has written a heart-wrenching story about family, the death of a sibling and the horror that high school can be. Whatever your life experiences have been there is something here that will touch a chord within you!

Claire, who was CBCA short-listed for her previous book The Sky So Heavy, was kind enough to answer some questions about how she came to write The Protected.

The Protected took you 9 years to write, why was it such a long process?
It was my first serious attempt at a novel, so it had a lot of problems that came from inexperience. Hannah’s voice was inconsistent and it took me an entire re-write to realise she was actually three characters in one. It also took me a long time to work out how important a character Hannah’s sister, Katie, was. It wasn’t until I had her character totally fleshed out that the narrative began to work. The manuscript spent a lot of time untouched in my bottom drawer and I wrote The Sky So Heavy and had two babies in the time between starting it and getting it published. I just couldn’t give up on Hannah, it was her that kept me coming back and trying to nut out the problems.

In The Protected you deal with high school experiences, as well as sibling relationships. Were you inspired by your own experiences? 
Definitely. My experience wasn’t quite as brutal as Hannah’s, but I was miserable at high school. There are certain things that happen to Hannah which I experienced and things that I watched other people go through. I also wanted to touch on the flip-side of bullying through Katie: the pressure that comes from being at the top of the pile, the feeling that you have to behave in a certain way or you risk slipping down and becoming the victim. It’s not as simple as the bully and the bullied. As far as the sibling relationship goes, I don’t have a sister, but I do have an older brother. We didn’t get along at all growing up, there was always tension between us. Now that we’re adults we get a long really well and I’m so grateful that we got to grow up and get over ourselves and have a good relationship. I wanted to explore what would happen in a family that didn’t get that opportunity.

Was it confronting to write about a family dealing with an unimaginable tragedy?
Yes. Another reason it took so long to write was because I wasn’t digging deep enough to get at what it would be like to experience that kind of tragedy, particularly from the mother’s point of view. No parent wants to imagine losing a child. The character of Hannah’s mother didn’t become as well drawn as she is until I became a mum myself and forced myself into her shoes

You have young children – how important is it to you that they grow up with a passion for books?
It’s important because no other medium puts the audience in someone else’s shoes the way books do. Other mediums like television and film can sometimes get there, but I think it’s more direct with books, it’s more intimate. Reading a story and getting to know characters and how they look at world is essentially an exercise in empathy. The ability to empathise with others is the most valuable skill a person can have. Humans have an innate desire and ability to connect with each other through stories and it’s never more evident than in childhood. Every child loves a good story.

How can parents encourage their children to develop a love of reading and writing?
I can only draw on my own experience to answer this one. My Mum always read to us as kids and she let us read whatever we were interested in reading. Any reading was good reading as far as she was concerned. Adults tend to get quite hung up on what kids should and shouldn’t be reading but kids are very good at self censoring and working out the kinds of stories that they will enjoy themselves. When I was about eleven and Babysitters’ Club books weren’t cutting it anymore I read her books: Ruth Rendell, John Grisham whatever was around.The other important thing is, kids imitate what they see. My Mum was always reading and reading widely anything from Jackie Collins to Tim Winton, she didn’t care who the author was she just liked a good story. What’s interesting from my own experience is that while I have become a writer and obviously am embedded in a creative industry, my brother who is a fire fighter in the armed forces lives in a totally different environment and culture, is still a voracious reader. I’m pretty sure that’s down to my Mum.

Who'll love this: Teenagers will relate to it and teacher/librarians will love it!
Price: $19.95
Publisher: University of Queensland Press

Dummie the Mummy and the Golden Scarab by Tosca Menten - book review

I really liked Dummie the Mummy, which is why I was so annoyed that it has swearing in it.

Believe me I'm not holier than thou about swearing, and despite my best intentions I do occasionally swear in front of my kids but I believe that there is a big difference between saying a 'naughty' word when a car pulls out unexpectedly in front of me and writing swear words in publications for kids.

It's just so unnecessary - after all there are lots of other words you can use.

I struggled with this recently when K-Zone used the words 'cr*p' in a comic (in fact I channelled my inner old lady and wrote angry letters to the editor) and I wasn't any happier that Dummie the Mummy has words like 'sh*t', as well as 'damn' and 'hell's teeth' in a book for 9 year olds.

And it is even more ironic because the Dad in Dummie the Mummy doesn't like swearing and invents weird and hilarious phrases like 'Whumpy Dumpman' to use instead!

Anyway, excepting the swearing issue, I really liked Dummie the Mummy. Its a funny, light-hearted, totally unbelievable story about a boy mummy who is hit by lightning, comes back to life and ends up living with with Angus and his father, Nick.

Instead of calling the authorities Angus and Nick decide to pretend that Dummie the Mummy is a distant relative who has lots of bandages because he was burnt in a fire, and keep him. When he starts going to school with Angus pandemonium ensues!

My favourite thing about this story is the way Angus and Nick approach the fact that Dummie is decomposing, ugly and smells... they sit and stare at him until they get used to what he looks like and don't even see it any more, all they see is their friend.

Its a nice thought to leave with kids.

For the most part this the kind of comic novel that 8-11 years olds love, especially boys, Its silly and funny and very light-hearted... if only it didn't have those swear words!
  
Who'll love it: 8-11 year old boys (with parents who are more relaxed about swearing then me!)
Price: $14.99
Publisher: Penguin Australia

I Am Cow, Hear Me Moo by Jill Esbaum, illustrated by Gus Gordon - book review

Nadine is a cow with character and she's isn't afraid of ANYTHING... at least that's what she tells her friends.

But when her friends challenge her to go in to the woods Nadine has to discover whether she really is brave, or if she was just pretending.

Nadine is hilarious and this is a funny, clever story about the lies and exaggerations we tell each other.

It is truly perfect for kids who are at that 'of course I can read by myself, but only in my head' exaggerating stage. Its also a nice way of gently talking about being scared and telling fibs.

I really loved the rhyming text - it definitely added to the hilarity although it was occasionally hard to read out loud because the rhythm of the text changes from page to page, which can catch you out on the first few read throughs.

Gus Gordon's pictures are an incredible mixture of drawing, painting and collage, that is so full of life and perfectly portrays Nadine's cheeky character!

Overall this book is just good fun and can be neatly summed up by the double page spread of Nadine and her friends, up a tree in the woods, and yelling at the top of her lungs... "I am cow, hear me moo!".

Who'll love this: 3 and 4 year olds will enjoy it the most but older kids will giggle too!
Price: $24.99
Publisher: Penguin Australia

 

Ode to the hose

The single thing that entertains Wild Man the best, without any input from me, is our garden hose so I've written a poem in its honour.  (And yes, I am hysterical with sleep deprivation - thanks Princess!).

Ode to our hose
I'm sorry to Sydney's water supply
But so grateful for your help in making the day go by.

Whenever I have something I need to do
I send Wild Man out to play with you.

Time for myself or a cup of tea,
"I'll turn on the hose" I say with glee.

In the sandpit, in the paddling pool,
If I turned it off, I'd be a fool!

A change of clothes is a small price to pay
For something that uses a big chunk of the day.

And its a healthy and outdoorsy kind of pursuit
And from the veranda it looks really cute.

Halo building sets for 8 years olds ... you're kidding me!

Am I the only person that thinks it is profoundly inapporpriate that Mega Bloks makes Halo building sets for children aged 8 and up?

Yes, that's right ... Halo, the violent war game that is for adults.

For 8-year-olds.

Honestly, I'm appalled.

Now computer games don't really float my boat (although I did get quite caught up in Farmville for a while) and I don't generally like violent things so I'm not Halo's target market.

But I do believe in freedom of speech and choice so if you are an adult and want to play war games on your computer, knock yourself out.

But that shouldn't apply to kids.

Commonsensemedia reviews the Halo 2 computer game thus;
"Parents need to know that this game is not for kids -- hence the PAUSE rating and recommended age of 16 years and older. It's a moderately challenging first-person shooter game with lots of blood, gore, and scariness. You will use guns, swords, grenades, and other weapons to inflict death. Some torture is shown and you can also hijack cars. Online play will likely expose players to foul language."

Oh good, I'll get my 8-year-old nephew the Halo building set then.

I know that as parents we are all our children's gatekeepers and need to set appropriate boundaries but, frankly, I am stunned that this product exists.

I know that the Mega Bloks sets are just about building the models and playing with little model people, and perhaps it isn't so different from playing with those tiny army men that boys love.

But do we really want our 8-year-olds to play with a toy that is based on such a violent game?

It's that link to the game which bothers me so much ... if they love the model tank they have built how long is it until they want to play the game, or they go to online and watch clips of the game.

It just seems like we might be opening a pretty scary gate and once opened it's pretty hard to shut it again.

What boundaries do you draw for your kids? and do you think Halo building sets for kids as young as 8 are appropriate?

The kids and I are off to the pub ...

Today I found myself chatting to a girl I used to know at University. It's 10 years since I've seen her but the strangest part of the encounter was that we were both with our young children, in the very pub where we used to party (and got up to a fair bit of pash-and-dashing) in our misspent youth. 

And we weren't alone.

If you duck down to your local pub on a rainy weekday morning there is every chance that you will find it crowded with Mums and their kids.

It's a phenomonon that I have no doubt would shock my grandmother and, to some extent, I do agree that it's a strange world when you take your kids to the pub for the morning. But, on a wet day (and there have been a few lately and all us Mums are going a bit crazy), a pub is often my venue of choice.

A couple of the bigger pubs near us have installed fantastic inside play equipment, they sell coffee, and it's free. What more could a hassled mother and two kids who have been stuck inside want ...

The other things that makes the pub such a good choice for Mums is that the seating area is much bigger than in a 'proper play centre'.

Because normally the pub is all about the seating area. And from the perspective of supervising your children while they play at an indoor entertainment centre that's pretty unusual. Normally the seating is cramped, hot and wedged with strollers.

Now that pubs are non-smoking it's a nice place to sit, with only a touch of that 'beer split on the floor' smell.

And the staff tend to be incredibly helpful - clearly pathetically grateful mothers are nicer than drunk people. Just this morning a lovely bar tender rushed to hold the hotel door for me while I pushed my stroller into the hotel (goodness, that's such a strange sentence to type!).

I don't think that the pubs were aiming at the 'Friday at 10am' market, I think they were trying to make themselves more welcoming to families on the weekend.

The weekday thing is just a very happy side-effect that has worked out well for everyone!

The pub would have been open anyway and is being utilised at a time when it would have had few customers. The Mums are desperate for something active for their kids to do, and indoor entertainment centres are expensive.

And despite the temptation I've only once found myself drinking wine and eating cheesecake at 10.30am. I can only imagine what my Grandma would say ... actually she had four children so perhaps she would understand!

Whatever your child is like, you'll worry

It's funny, the things that worry you about your kids.

I have two close friends who have boys the same age as Wild Man but with completely different personalities from my small ruffian. In both cases the boys tend to give in when another kid wants the same toy. They don't feel the need to be in the 'pack' of kids at preschool and are really happy to do their own thing.

Both Mums are worried.

Worried their kids will be bullied, won't get anywhere in life, can't stand up for themselves.

I'm jealous.

Obviously I adore Wild Man and all the chaos he brings with him but placid he is not.

He'll fight to the death for a toy he wants and then have an epic melt-down if he loses, and he not only has to be in the 'pack' ...  he has to be in charge of it. 

This is not a relaxing personality to have and sometimes I worry for him.

I don't think he'll be a bully - he's very tender and kind with babies and kids that are smaller or more vunerable than him - but I do worry that his need to be in charge will lead to him fighting a million battles in his life over issues that his friends would have been able to ignore.

There a six billion people on the planet and life is easier if you are able to be a bit flexible.

In the case of the two little boys, I really admire how self contained they are.

If another kid doesn't want to do the same thing they do they're happy to just wander off and play with something else. Happy in their own company. If someone doesn't want to play the same game as Wild Man he drags them back by their hoodie.

Every kids has their strengths and their weaknesses, but overwhelming the lesson I have learned from my experiences parenting and watching my friends is that we are all terrified for our children.

Worried they won't have friends, or that they'll have the wrong kind of friends.

Worried they'll won't be good enough and everyone will tease them, worried they'll be too good and everyone will tease them.

It's hard to let them go out into the world where we can't protect them.

But I think in the end Alvin Prince had it right when he said:

'Parents need to fill a child's bucket of self-esteem so high that the rest of the world can't poke enough holes to drain it dry.'*

And then we need to be very, very brave and let them go.

What do you worry about for your children?  

*special thanks to Naomi Hart for putting me on to the quote. It's a cracker!

 

Whatever your child is like, you'll worry!

It's funny, the things that worry you about your kids.

I have two close friends who have boys the same age as Wild Man but with completely different personalities from my small ruffian. In both cases the boys tend to give in when another kid wants the same toy. They don't feel the need to be in the 'pack' of kids at preschool and are really happy to do their own thing.

Both Mums are worried.

Worried their kids will be bullied, won't get anywhere in life, can't stand up for themselves.

I'm jealous.

Obviously I adore Wild Man and all the chaos he brings with him but placid he is not.

He'll fight to the death for a toy he wants and then have an epic melt-down if he loses, and he not only has to be in the 'pack' ...  he has to be in charge of it. 

This is not a relaxing personality to have and sometimes I worry for him.

I don't think he'll be a bully - he's very tender and kind with babies and kids that are smaller or more vunerable than him - but I do worry that his need to be in charge will lead to him fighting a million battles in his life over issues that his friends would have been able to ignore.

There a six billion people on the planet and life is easier if you are able to be a bit flexible.

In the case of the two little boys, I really admire how self contained they are.

If another kid doesn't want to do the same thing they do they're happy to just wander off and play with something else. Happy in their own company. If someone doesn't want to play the same game as Wild Man he drags them back by their hoodie.

Every kids has their strengths and their weaknesses, but overwhelming the lesson I have learned from my experiences parenting and watching my friends is that we are all terrified for our children.

Worried they won't have friends, or that they'll have the wrong kind of friends.

Worried they'll won't be good enough and everyone will tease them, worried they'll be too good and everyone will tease them.

It's hard to let them go out into the world where we can't protect them.

But I think in the end Alvin Prince had it right when he said:

'Parents need to fill a child's bucket of self-esteem so high that the rest of the world can't poke enough holes to drain it dry.'*

And then we need to be very, very brave and let them go.

What do you worry about for your children?  


*special thanks to Naomi Hart for putting me on to the quote. It's a cracker!

 

It's not medicine, it's a milkshake! and other lies I tell my kids

I have no problem lying to my kids.

I know some people do but I really, really don't.

And my fibs are not necessarily restricted to my kids ...

I generally don't agree with telling big lies, for example "I did not have sexual relations with that woman", but I do think that white lies are the social lubrication that make the world go around just that bit more easily.

Afterall, there are a lot of us on the planet and we need to get on.

For that reason I really can't see a problem with telling someone you like their haircut when they look like the have a pudding bowl on their head. I just can't see what is accomplished by telling the truth. It's not like they can fix their hair.

This is particularly true when dealing with small children.

God knows you can't reason with them so sometimes it just makes the day easier if you tell a small lie.

I was thinking about lies and lies by omission recently when I was trying to pursuade my three-year-old to take some medicine.

He was sick, he needed it to feel better, I needed him to take it so I could get some sleep and he just wouldn't swallow the stuff.

Luckily my son loves milkshakes so I waited a decent interval so he wouldn't realise my deception and then lovely Mummy very kindly offered to make him a blue milkshake. With a straw and icecream and everything.

Half an hour later, feeling much better, my son was sound asleep thanks to the curative effects of the Demazin hidden in the milkshake.

To my astonishment, my husband was not altogether approving of my deception (which was irritating because I thought I deserved praise for my genius parenting).

He acknowledged that my son needed the medicine and he didn't have a better idea of how to get him to drink it, but some part of him didn't like the way I tricked our son.

This week I was reading Mrs Woogs hilarious blog about the scary lady (made up by Mrs Woog in an attempt to control her kids) who lived around the corner and took the kids who were too naughty for their parents to handle, and it got me thinking about the lies we tell our kids ... including, but not limited to, its not medicine, it's a milkshake!

What lies have you told your kids?

Ideas for getting kids to eat vegetables

It is a universal parenting truth that at some point in their lives kids realise that they aren't supposed to like veggies. All of a sudden your little darling who used to devour pumpkin, beans and mushroom all pureed together won't even eat sliced tomato.

At various times all my kids and step-kids have disliked veggies. Princess is being particularly painful about it at the moment.

I have pretty high expectations of  their veggie consumption so here are a few tricks that I have come up with to make sure they eat even just a little bit

Please post any tricks that you have in the comments section. The more veggies the merrier!!

Hide them: Well-cooked, pureed veggies can be hidden in most things, just choose a mild flavoured vegetable like pumpkin or sweet potato, steam well, puree and add them to your favourite recipe.

If you are making a curry or spagetti bolognaise you can add peeled and grated eggplant, pumpkin or sweet potato and then simmer it for a long time. The veggies will decompose and just become part of the sauce.

One of my favourite versions of this involves cheese sauce - cut some florets of cauliflower and thoroughly peel a zucchini (there should be no green left at all), steam them both until they are very soft and then puree them well. Add to cheese sauce when making lasange or macaroni cheese. No one will ever know. 

Frozen peas: If Wild Man is hungry in the lead up to dinner I often let him have a little cup of frozen peas, still frozen. He loves them and eats heaps.

Grated or finely diced onion: It counts as a veggie but your kids probably won't think of it take way. Same with tinned tomatoes.

Meatloaf or rissoles: I include half a zuccini, two carrots and half an onion when I make meatloaf. I grate them all as finely as possible and mix them in with the mince. When the big boys were in their anti-veggie phase I would act as though there were no veggies in the meatloaf and encourage them to eat some salad too.

Mushrooms added to taco mince: Finely diced mushrooms are undetectable in taco mince. I only use two thirds of the beef mince I used to use when making tacos or burritos and I make the rest up with very finely diced mushrooms. Seriously, the taco flavouring means no one can tell the difference (and most of my kids HATE mushrooms).

Creamed corn: If you are making scrambled eggs or an omlete add a tablespoon or two of creamed corn. The corn is the same colour as the yolk and the kids will never know. My Mum also used to make corn fritters using creamed corn, just make a savoury pikelet batter and add a couple of tablespoons of creamed corn.

Baked beans on pizza: If you are making pizza or cheese on toast for the kids use mashed baked beans instead of tomato paste. They have more fibre and less sugar.

Tofu mince: OK, this isn't exactly a veggie but if your child is all about meat and carbs it might provide an alternative. I just make it into spagetti bolognaise sauce and none of my family can tell the difference (yes, I did run an experiment to see if my meat-loving stepsons would notice and they didn't).

A volcano: Sometimes I make Wild Man a 'volcano' for dinner. It is often made of meatballs on the bottom but if can be whatever you like. The important part is the lava on the top which is made of diced tomato, grated carrot and grated cheese all mixed together.

A herb garden: Grow some parsley in a pot and encourage your kids to grab a handful when they are playing outside (or perhaps forbid them from eating them, whichever works!). Weirdly, for Wild Man and Princess this has worked so well that they can regularly be found eating handfuls of basil and corriander!

Do your kids eat veggies? And if not, what have you done to try and hide them?

Fireman Sam, my hero!

Today is just one of those days.

Wild Man is being incredibly naughty and driving me insane. I'd like to say I have handled this brilliantly, but in fact I have a sore throat from screaming at him and am currently drinking a glass of wine, despite the fact that it is only 4pm!

Princess isn't much better. She is impossible to please today and cries every time I put her down. Ahhh!

Sometimes, on bad days, I day dream about going back to work but today has been so grim that I am dreaming of a live-in job.

In total desperation I have turned on the TV in the hope that it will put them both in a coma. It is only half working on Wild Man, but Princess is enthralled.

As a pathetically smug first time mother of a 4 month old I once swore that I would never use TV as a babysitter. In fact, I think my policy was going to be that my kids could watch Playschool once a day and that was all. Ha ha ha. How ignorant was I!

Thank goodness for TV, and expecially for ABC 4 Kids. I know too much TV is bad for kids but I really think that the occassional afternoon in front of the box is less damaging to my children than having their mother screaming hysterically at them for hours on end.

Some days you just need a circuit  breaker and in our house that currently comes in the form of the 'hero next door'.

Thanks Fireman Sam! You're cool, calm and today you're my saviour! 

Camping with Kids

I've spent my whole life camping. My parents met in a mountaineering society and it pretty much set the tone for most of our family holidays. It was great, us kids had so much freedom and my Mum subscribed to the idea that there should be one camp fire for each kid and one for cooking. It was brilliant.

When Wild Man was 4 months old Spunk Rat, Blackie and Strummer and I took him camping at Glenbrook in the Blue Mountains National Park . We only went for one night and it was great, although we did struggle a bit with getting food prepared because one of us was also holding the baby and I discovered that sleeping on the ground is less comfortable if you haven't been drinking wine around the camp fire because you are breastfeeding. I also lived in constant terror that the huge goanna who lived in the campsite viewed my beautiful baby as his next meal!

This Easter we decided to be really brave and take the two little kids to Wombeyan Caves. It was a big call because Wild Man is super adventurous and proan to roaming at will, and Princess can't walk yet and is an erratic sleeper at the best of times.

But you know what, it was great.

Wild Man thrived in the outdoors, it really played to his strengths. It took him about 20 minutes to hook up with the kids in the next tent over and he spent hours at 'their place', he tramped along on bushwalks, loved going through the caves and was suprisingly sensible about the camp fire (no, I didn't let him have one of his own).

Princess did disgrace herself by crying for an hour and a half one night and no doubt keeping all the other campers awake but was otherwise pretty happy to be carried around or watch everyone from the safe confines of her playpen. Amazingly, she really loved going through Figtree Cave and spent the whole time underground cooing in delight.

I think the best thing about camping with young kids is watching them experience the freedom of the great outdoors. Wild Man just blossomed and really didn't abuse his freedom at all. All the fresh air meant the kids glowed with health and sitting 'round the camp fire with your family, chatting and toasting marshmallows must surely be heaven.

So, a few tips for camping with kids (in no particular order):
- Think about where you are going - somewhere you can take bikes, that has flat grass, where other families camp, that has toilets, take allows fires and that has something appropriate to do each day will make for a better holiday.
- Get head torches, ideally one for each person. Its so much easier at night if you can see what you are doing but have your hands free.
- If you have a baby or small toddler consider taking a playpen and picnic rug. That way you'll know they aren't crawling into the camp fire! 
- Wrapping potatoes in wet kitchen paper and foil, then carefully popping them in the fire will occupy the kids while you get the rest of dinner ready.
- Cook and freeze spagetti bolognaise before you leave home. It will last for a couple of days in an  esky and if you only have to cook pasta and reheat the mince it is a really easy camp dinner.
- Take a hammock. I'd like to tell you that you'll be able to lie in it and read a book but actually it makes a fantastic play thing for kids. Part swing, part boat, part cubby, part wild fun park ride, it will provide hours of entertainment.
- Take a drink bottle for each child, keep them full and have a special spot where they 'live'. Getting a drink can be hard when you're a kid who is camping.
- Spitting the froth out of your mouth onto the nearest bush makes bruching your teeth fun.
- Long-life milk poppers are fantastic
- Trust them to be responsible, they'll probably suprise you
- Keep a clean change of clothes in a bag in the car and change the kids into them right before you leave. That way they won't smell of smoke for the car trip home.
 - Take marshmallows, lot of marshmallows.

I'm going to review some great camp grounds for families so watch this space...