Mr. Greg Hoare – Principal St. Clare’s School
Eva visited St Clare’s as an “Author in Residence”. During her time here she visited each class for a day to work with students on writing and illustrating techniques. Students learnt about how she creates her beautiful picture books. Eva dedicated time to reading all of her stories before taking the students through her workshops. Students particularly loved hearing the stories about animals from our region, such as Cassy the Cassowary and Nipper the Crocodile. The students enjoyed Eva’s visit and gained immensely from it as it assisted them in writing their own stories. A great experience!
Thanks Eva for your time out our school it was great.
Vicki Conomo – Principal at St Rita’s School
During last term, St Rita’s students were delighted to welcome local author, Eva Marie Welsh into their classrooms. During her week at St Rita’s Eva shared her published stories with the students, passing on useful writing and illustrating tips. She has inspired many of our children to express their creativity and imagination.
Many students commented, “ I just want to be like Eva when I am older and write my own books.”
I sincerely recommend that every child be given the opportunity to be inspired by Eva.
Andrew Maley – Principal at St John’s School
Eva Welsh attended St John’s School for a week’s visitation as an Author in Residence. Eva facilitated many small group educational interactions with classroom activities such as; writing workshops, authors reading and illustrator workshops. Eva was outstanding as a creative writing advocate and very capably promoted reading in the school. Her professional presence enhanced the educational outcomes of our students as we strive to encourage our students to achieve their literacy potential.
Judy Coulthard / Team Leader Library
Thanks again for coming all the way to Mossman to help us celebrate CBW. Eva-Marie joined Mossman Library’s First5forever Storytime to celebrate Children’s Book Week. The theme of Book Week 2019 was “Reading is my super power” and Eva shared her writing and illustrating journey with parents. The 40 parents and children enjoyed listening, learning and relating to the characters in “Shelly the Sea Turtle” and “Nipper the Crocodile”. Eva joined in the singing and shared morning tea with children and parents. A fun morning was held by all and thanks for coming to Mossman Library Eva.
Kind Regards, Judy
Local Talent
Updated: May 6, 2018
Disclaimer: I was not paid to write about this book, rather I came across it in my local news-agency and couldn’t resist!
Working in my home town has its perks. Lunch dates with family and friends, shopping up a storm in the local boutique stores, borrowing books from my childhood library for inspiration for my sessions, but my favourite by far is stumbling across local talent! I happened to come across some beautiful books by a local author and illustrator, Eva-Marie Welsh, in the local news-agency and couldn’t pass them up!
Eva- Marie lives in Mission Beach (originally from Germany) and has published nine beautiful books all based on animals you would find in Tropical Far North Queensland. For those who haven’t visited this area, you are missing out! Not only that, but we have some stunning animals and Eva-Marie does a fantastic job at showcasing these animals in all their glory!
This post is particularly about “Cassy’s Tale,” Eva-Marie’s first published book! This book ticks all the boxes:
– beautiful illustrations
– well related vocabulary (e.g. crackly, squeak, jump, kick)
– child-friendly definitions of new vocabulary (e.g. cyclone)
– simple and easy to follow story-line
– perfect depiction of cassowaries in the tropics
In Eva-Marie’s words, “…Cassy’s Tale” begins when Cassy, the cassowary chick, hatches from her egg and follows her adventures and lessons about life she receives from her father as he teaches her about her surroundings, cyclones and how to find food in the forest…”
So why was this book special enough to write a post on? Well here goes… When I am looking for books to base my sessions on, I look for all of the things I mentioned above, as well as making sure it’s somewhat relatable to the child. Why is that important you ask? Well without some interest, the child will become disengaged and will likely not enjoy the book nor will he/she retain any of the teachings. This book brings the area we live to life and talks about the destruction our town has been through but how we have rebuilt. Books that not only are enjoyable but encompass life experiences are perfect!
Congratulations to Eva-Marie on producing such wonderful books and showcasing our beautiful part of the world! For all my speechie friends out there, I know what you’re thinking… imagine the craft activities and inferencing questions one could pair with this book. So I guess this is where I tell you I’m already on to it..
