It’s May in Melbourne, and that means the Melbourne Writers Festival is rolling into town. Readings is a festival partner and the festival’s bookseller, so for many weeks before the festival, a small group of people feverishly source the stock for our booksellers to take to the many venues of the festival. It’s no small feat and requires significant powers of organisation and crystal-ball-gazing, and so here’s a little shout-out to the ordering finesse of Claire and Andras, and the stock wrangling prowess of our amazing receiving team and van drivers who ferry the stock around: thank you one and all for your contributions to this epic endeavour, and congratulations on another amazing year!
For many years, Angela Crocombe has been synonymous with children’s books at Readings. She started her time in Readings St Kilda before moving to Carlton and eventually becoming the inaugural manager of Readings Kids when it opened next door to our flagship shop in Lygon Street in 2016. Angela recently made the decision to step back from her buying role to focus on her work as manager of The Readings Prizes and Foundation, as well as mentoring the Teen Advisory Board (an initiative she began). Thanks so much for all your contributions to children’s bookselling at Readings, Angela!
It’s a real pleasure to introduce you now to Kim Gruschow, our new children’s book division manager, though you may recognise her already because she’s been working with Readings since 2011: she’s pictured below with a giant cannoli! (If you’re wondering why the cannoli, it’s a prop from the recent picture book, My Nonna Loves, plus, just between you and me, I reckon Kim could make a pretty mean cannoli, giant or otherwise – she was the joint winner of the most recent staff bake-off for Emelia Jackson’s book, You Had Me at Cake!).
Alison Huber, our Head of Buying, celebrates the appointment of Kim Gruschow to Children’s Book Division Manager with a quick Q&A!
AH Kim! Congratulations on your new role as Children’s Book Division Manager at Readings. It’s great to have you on board. You have been a children’s bookseller for over 20 years, and I’m sure our readers would love to know a bit more about your career trajectory. How did you start out in books, and when did you decide to specialise in children’s bookselling?
KG Thanks Alison! It may go without saying, but books have always been a big part of my life. When no clear path appeared for me after I finished a politics and philosophy degree, I applied for a job at The Children’s Bookshop in Wellington; a great specialist bookshop and the perfect place for me at the time. I studied publishing ahead of my 2011 move to Melbourne; I’d planned to head in that direction, but I started at Readings and I’ve stayed in various roles and locations since.
I love bookselling because of the direct connections with people. Understanding the impact books have had on my life, I find it so rewarding to introduce readers to books they love, and to encourage something as vital as literacy. Kids’ books are the most fun!
AH What is the biggest change you’ve noticed in children’s books over this time?
KG There are so many books being published and more being translated, too. To me, bookselling feels more global than a few decades ago, and the books available to us better reflect the experiences of a broader array of young readers.
AH What was your favourite book as a kid, and do you still love that book now?
KG I was completely obsessed with witches as a child and that shaped my tastes. I loved Margaret Mahy’s book The Witch in the Cherry Tree and when I was a bit older, her novels, particularly The Changeover and The Haunting. Spike Milligan’s Badjelly the Witch was disproportionately popular in New Zealand because the recording used to be played on national radio sometimes. It was out of print when I was a kid, but I was obsessed enough that my mum was compelled to photocopy the entire library book and paste it into an exercise book for me. Mahy’s books have stood the test of time well. I re-read The Changeover not long ago and I think she was ahead of the curve with that one!
AH What’s the best book you’ve read in the last few years? Do you think people will be reading this book 40 years from now?
KG There are so many books I’ve loved recently, but of the children’s novels I’ve read in the past few years Katherine Rundell’s Impossible Creatures and its follow-up, The Poisoned King, have been real highlights. She understands so well how to create the immediacy and pace that are important in writing for young readers. These books are so clever. I think she will be known, if she is not already, as one of the greats. She also advocates eloquently for children’s literature. I’m excited to see what she does next.
AH What do you think are some of the challenges facing Australian children’s publishing at the moment?
KG It can be very difficult for more interesting and unique titles to gain traction in a crowded market. Publishing can be quite focused on branding and celebrity, and some books seem to cater to search terms ahead of young readers. Media coverage of children’s books is rare now and often negative, even though there are so many amazing Australian books being published and loved.
Nostalgia is also a big factor, too – naturally people immediately recognise and want to share the books they loved as a child. It’s totally understandable, but I always hope we can also connect people with more recent beautiful books and living authors that I think they might love just as much, if not more!
AH I know you’re a big fan of graphic novels for kids, and it has been exciting to watch this category grow in recent years. Tell us why you think these are important in a child’s reading journey.
KG I think many of us love and respond to visual languages. Images can add another layer to the reading experience. Comics often have a very broad appeal, so graphic novels sometimes offer a way in that isn’t perceived as ‘babyish’ for readers who might be struggling.
It’s been fantastic to see Australian graphic novel publishing for kids develop over the past decade. Hardie Grant’s new dedicated kids’ graphic novel imprint, Figment, has already published four excellent and unique books, and we have great authors doing interesting things with other publishers, too – Remy Lai, Jason Pamment and Renée Treml spring to mind. Reading for enjoyment is so important and no one is ever too old for pictures!
AH What are you reading and loving right now?
KG I loved Sara Pennypacker’s historical adventure The Lions’ Run, illustrated by Jon Klassen. Josephine by Chloé Alméras is a board book about a giraffe that is only 32 pages long but is a profound and funny epic. It brought a tear to my eye. Imanka nurna laakinha nitjaarta / Old Days is published by the wonderful Magabala Books. It’s a bilingual picture book by Marjorie ‘Nunga’ Williams, a senior Western Arrernte woman and artist. Her childhood memories are depicted in her incredible paintings. Omnibird by Giselle Clarkson is a nonfiction book that is great for bird lovers of all ages. I’m just diving into a couple of very fun recent translations of books by Italian author Gianni Rodari, who came to writing for children by way of communism and the avant-garde: The Grammar of Fantasy and The Adventures of Cipollino, which is an anti-authoritarian adventure starring an onion!
Keep your eyes peeled for Kim's column in next month's Readings Monthly, where she'll be sharing news and insights about the wonderful world of kids' books. 📚
