Mem Fox – 25 years on from Possum Magic and still enthralling audiences

The presentation was part of Mem’s national tour to promote her latest book “Ten little fingers and ten little toes” and to spread the word on the importance and benefits of reading aloud to children from birth. In Western Australia the tour was sponsored by the Sunday Times Little Big Book Club in partnership with Better Beginnings, and supported by Dymocks Garden City and City of Melville Libraries.

Published 25 years ago, “Possum Magic”, Mem’s first book, has gone on to sell more than three million copies in Australia (highest ever selling Australian children’s book). In the USA “Time for Bed” and “Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge” have each sold more than a million copies. Mem has now written 32 picture books for children and five non-fiction books for adults.

Mem lectured at Flinders University for 24 years, where she was an Associate Professor in Literacy Studies. She has received two honorary doctorates as well as many civic awards and honours and is an influential international consultant in literacy.

Mem spoke passionately to the audience about the vital role that reading aloud plays in the development of a baby’s brain, and how important that development is for the child’s future. She read with great enthusiasm and expression, from her latest book “Ten little fingers and ten little toes”, as well as “Koala Lou“ and “Tough Boris” insisting the delighted audience join in.

Mem says “The more expressively we read, the more fantastic the experience will be. The more our kids love books, the more they’ll pretend to read them, and the more they pretend to read, the more quickly they’ll learn to read. So reading aloud is not quite enough—we need to read aloud well.”

After her talk Mem stayed on to meet audience members and sign copies of her many books.

For more information on this inspiring Australian author visit www.memfox.com.