Kids, get ready to join Dr Cameron Stelzer on a journey of discovery this summer.
He’s a Doctor but you won’t find him hanging around a doctor's surgery. He’s surrounded by creatures all day but you won’t find him in a veterinary surgery. With a Doctorate of Visual Arts, you will most likely find Dr Cameron Stelzer in his studio, a primary school, a public library and this summer, online. The award-winning author and illustrator has been selected to be a guest author and blogger in the 2018 Summer Reading Club.
The national Summer Reading Club will return online at summerreadingclub.org.au and in more than a thousand public libraries across the country from 1 December 2018 to 31 January 2019.
Created for children and young people pre-school age to 17, the Summer Reading Club is a free program led by State Library of Queensland (SLQ) that inspires imaginations and instils a love of libraries and reading. The 2018 theme, Curious Creatures, encourages eager young readers to discover new worlds as they explore and connect with a curiosity of creatures through a r
ange of interactive activities available in libraries and online.
Over 43,000 children registered with the Summer Reading Club in 2017, reading over 360,000 books between them over summer, and organisers are hoping participants will crack half a million books in 2018. Participants can post their book raves and artwork online, win great prizes, and lots more. Summer Reading Club members can also meet Dr Cameron Stelzer online and read his creative hints and tips, and preview exclusives of his up and coming work.
Cameron is very humbled, and excited to be promoting reading.
“It is such an honour to be involved with the Summer Reading Club. I travel for over four months of the year on book tours, and summer at home is my favourite time to read, write and illustrate. Through the Summer Reading Club I have the privilege of chatting with the children of Australia as they embark on a journey of reading, and discovering curious creatures. I look forward to sharing some secrets about the curious creatures in my books, and tips and encouragement, too,” Dr Cameron said.
Known for his Pie Rats and Scallywags book series, all Dr Cameron’s adventures feature anthropomorphic characters that are on adventures of curiosity and discovery.
“After completing my Doctorate of Visual Arts, I began working at the Natural History Museum in London. It was here that I began writing and illustrating stories inspired by the animals in the museum. I have been writing and illustrating stories about curious creatures ever since,” said Dr Cameron.
The Summer Reading Club is delivered in partnership in partnership with the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA), the Australian Public Library Alliance (APLA),and public libraries across Australia, including Queensland’s Indigenous Knowledge Centres.