Emma Mactaggart
Emma Mactaggart is a mother and an award-winning author and publisher, and she has been teaching the craft of writing and illustrating to children and adults for nearly 20 years via her Child Writes program. Emma now adds the honorific title of ‘The Lighthouse Keeper’ as the founder of The Lighthouse Toowoomba – a new and exciting creative centre, and devotee of the International Alliance of Youth Writers Centres.
Her publishing business Boogie Books is a small press with a big purpose, and it is the largest publisher in the world on Amazon of children’s picture books written by children for children. (For five years, these same books even flew with Jetstar as part of their in-flight entertainment system!) Emma is a regular guest on ABC Southern Queens-land Radio with host Belinda Sanders talking about books, and if she isn’t consuming them herself, she is creating them through The Child Writes Fund. Emma works with children and coordinates success picture book projects for organisation’s wishing to use the platform to communicate with a younger audience. She also the Founder of International Read to Me! Day March 19, which launched as a reimagined digital global event last year encouraging readers to share the love of story via Facebook live.
Website: https://www.emmamactaggart.com.au/
Articles
I am doing it right now – staring at a blank piece of paper, feeling my mouth dry and a lurch in my belly… it is anxiety at is gentlest, but nevertheless distracting enough to make the flow of words… Continue Reading >
Our first daughter was incredibly curious, but honestly, she would not sit still for long enough to have a story read to her unless it was late in the night, and by late, I mean late. Often, I would fall… Continue Reading >
Bear with me as I muddle through this a little! You know that I spend my happy days working with children, mentoring them through a collaborative process of creating children’s picture books. It comes from a circular idea of ‘children… Continue Reading >
This story line, in its simplest form for young children, is about wishing to have attributes that we see in others. For older children, it is about adolescence, pimples, bodies changing… Need I say more! An ordinary, insignificant person, dismissed… Continue Reading >
The magic of a QUEST is the thrill of the chase, the excitement of being thwarted from getting to claim the prize, and the tremendous challenges that come along the way. It is the perfect plot line for any… Continue Reading >
We are back to plots and the exploration of story. This hopefully will serve you when you are trying to find a particular book to start a particular conversation with your child. Last month we explored ‘overcoming the monster’ which… Continue Reading >
Everything about the idea of introducing you to the seven plots used in story is exciting because it is with the intention of giving you a load of ideas about the books you choose for your child, especially when you… Continue Reading >
I can distinctly remember sometimes experiencing the tight feeling in my chest as I contemplated reading at night to my children. Our eldest was like a helium balloon and it took all my energy to get her off the ceiling… Continue Reading >
Hello! I’m smiling as I write, reaching out to you through these words, excited about sharing as much as I possibly can about books! I was thinking of how I would introduce myself and started with conventional ‘I’m a mother… Continue Reading >
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