We could not have imagined a better winner for 3 Anna Pignataro’s watercolours, which our team has donated to #AuthorsForFireys auction in support of the bushfire appeal.
Jodie Dawson, who won this lot, is a teacher-librarian from Canberra. She was so excited that the kids at the Rosary Primary School will soon be able to engage with the original illustrations published in “B is for Bedtime” (click here for the review), a fabulous picture book of clever alphabet rhymes for the very young (and young at heart), authored by Margaret Hamilton (Little Hare Books: 2014). In his speech at the launch of the sequel to this book “Counting Through the Day”, Tohby Riddle noted that the elegant simplicity of Margaret’s rhymes was the manifestation of the distilled complexity of her writing. I could not agree more and am as excited as Jodie if not more for the kids at Rosary Primary whose library now owns a wonderful book by this author!
Jodie’s winning bid of $230 went to the NSW Fire Brigades. Now we cannot wait till this package arrives at its new home.
We are glad to have assisted, in whatever little way, the cause that #AuthorsForFireys aimed to support.
I would like to acknowledge hundreds of authors, artists, singers, literary enthusiasts and community members who donated items to this auction and those who bid on them. By the time the winning bidders paid their highest bid’s value to the various bushfire appeals across Australia, #AuthorsForFireys has channelled an impressive $530,000 towards bushfire releif, all of it with little to no fundraising cost!k
This auction was a genius idea of the Australian author Emily Gale, who launched it on Tweeter with the help of a few like-minded supporters, and then watched in amazement the campaign not just take off but going viral.
Donations included signed books, original illustrations, prints, manuscripts review services, unique opportunities (such as dinners at authors’ homes or commitments to name the characters in the next book after the winning bidder) and celebrities’ personal items. An example of the latter was a remarkable $10,000 bid by the children’s book writer Andy Griffiths for the suit donated by the Australian singer Nick Cave. Andy has also donated a signed set of his own books “The Treehouse Stories”, which auctioned for $1,050. There were too many examples of overwhelming generosity to list in a post.
I’m grateful to have witnessed the power of social media harnessed for a greater good in such a brilliant way! ❤
