Jeffery E Doherty - Author / Illustrator
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Book Review - Sounds Spooky

4/17/2013

1 Comment

 
Picture
Sounds Spooky (Picture Book)
Christopher Cheng & Sarah Davis

Random House Australia.
www.sounds-spooky.com
ISBN: 9781864718805

Now, this isn’t a new book. It was first published in 2011 and was chosen as a Notable Book by the Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA). The reason I am reviewing the book now is that I took it along to Vacation Care this week to read to the kids and they keep asking me to read it again.

There is no better recommendation than that.


The kids were also impressed that my copy has been signed by Sarah Davis along with one of her delightful 30 second bat sketches.

Sounds Spooky is a twist on a haunted house story where the ghost is being frightened by all the spooky sounds being made by three children who sneak into the old house at night. Christopher’s text is atmospheric and flows musically off the tongue, offering the reader plenty of scope to screech and growl at their young listeners during the story.  



"Plinketty Plunketty Plonk Plink Plunk Twang!"

Picture
The illustrations by Sarah Davis, my personal favourite children’s book illustrator, have been created from individually crafted 3D models for this book. Sarah even built the entire haunted house set for the characters to live out their adventure.  There is so much detail in each scene that you find something new hidden there each time you read the story. The characters are quirky and appealing, especially the vulnerable young ghost girl.

Picture
My favourite scene in the book is where the children are tentatively listening at one side of the bedroom door and the ghost girl is listening at the other. The amount of expression and emotion displayed by the characters fits the scene perfectly.

Sounds Spooky is a delightfully fun book to read aloud to younger children. It leaves the children asking for more. It is also great for newly independent readers.


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The Year of Jeffery

2/5/2012

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I was swapping emails with my writing friend Mo Johnson over the New Year break. We were catching up with what we had been up to. I mentioned a couple of thing that I was excited about, finishing the first draft of my new novel, winning some prizes with two of my stories published in Narrator Magazine, selling quite a few pieces of my art and getting some illustration work.

Her reply was, "It sounds like it's going to be the Year of Jeffery."

I thought about Mo's comment and decided that she was right, and that I was going to make 2012 the Year of Jeffery.

I have a number of manuscripts that I am sure are ready to find a home. I have a new manuscript with a storyline that turned out much better than I originally planned - with some serious editing it could be something special. And I have been doing some artwork that I am really delighted with. So this year is definitely the time to do something serious about it.

While looking at some publisher websites researching the best fit for my stories, I found one publisher based in Melbourne that publish speculative fiction novels, a magazine and a small number of children's book each year. One interesting thing about IFWG Publishing's site was that they have a list of their artists. I queried to see if they were interested in considering my chapter book ' Paper Magic' when they opened their books for submissions in March, and I also asked how to apply to become one of their illustrators. I left a link to my web gallery just in case.

I received a reply the same afternoon with an offer for an illustration job. It was an internal colour illustration showcasing a serial novella, 'Avoiding the Searchers' which will feature in all five issues of SQ Mag this year. The Editor loved the illustration and asked if I wanted to submit a illustration for the cover of the May edition. 


SQ Mag is a speculative fiction magazine that prints science fiction, fantasy and horror stories. The last few covers have been sci-fi and fantasy oriented so I thought I would do an atmospheric horror based illustration. I emailed a copy off today and received a reply about ten minutes later. They loved the illustration and if approved by the magazine's Chief Editor, it looks like I'll have another illustration credit to my name.

Hopefully, they will also love 'Paper Magic' when I send it through at the end of the month.
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Thanks to PASS IT ON newsletter

2/1/2011

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My thanks have to go out to Jackie Hosking from the PASS IT ON newsletter. In the opportunities section of issue 321, back in December2010, Jackie listed a new on-line children's magazine 'Literature For Kids' was seeking stories, poems and reviews. The magazine has themed issues and although I had no stories that matched the current theme, I contacted the editor and offered to submit a cover illustration for consideration.

Happily, the cover was accepted for the February Issue of the magazine with the theme of Love and Friendship. You can see a copy of the cover art in my Illustration gallery or visit the magazine ste at; http://www.literature4kids.com/

I recommend to all the writers out there, if you don't already subscribe to the PASS IT ON newsletter, it should be the next thing on you To-Do list.

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    Author

    Jeffery E Doherty is an children's writer and artist who writes chapter books, picture book texts, junior and young adult novels.

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