Category Archives: Middle Grade

Award season

It’s been a very long while between blog posts, apologies!

The good news is that I’ve been busy writing and have some exciting projects in the pipeline. More about those soon.

In the meantime, I’m thrilled to share that Scout and the Rescue Dogs has been honoured with a Children’s Book Council of Australia shortlisting. For those not working in KidLit, it’s a huge and wonderful thing.

In the buildup to Children’s Book Week, schools across Australia make amazing library displays that will include Scout. Young ‘shadow judges‘ will discuss the stories, choose their own winners, and do fun activities based on each book.

But that’s not all… Scout and the Rescue Dogs has also been shortlisted for the West Australian Young Readers’ Book Awards. And, one of my favourites, Granny Grommet and Me, is back.

Fremantle Press has brightened the cover and published this story about surfing grannies in a smaller format that’s perfect for small hands. Since it was last in print, there are dozens more Granny Grommets braving the surf in Kinjarling Albany, and dozens more young grommets as well. Check out some of the clips and photos of the real GGs on this page.

Between all this excitement, I’ve been writing and editing, and early next year, I’ll have three new titles coming out. Two picture books, each with an amazing illustrator, and a biography/novel about an inspirational Australian. I’ll be posting about them soon.

In other news, I’ve jumped on board Shepherd, a great site where authors recommend five books linked to a topic. My first list is called The Best Books with an Important Octopus Character. It’s inspired, of course, by the octopus characters in my novel The Shark Caller. One is a giant gatekeeper, and the other is Izzy’s frightening adversary. Browsing Shepherd is addictive, in that one link leads to another and another and another … I’ve added so many titles to my reading stack!

Well, back to the editing for me. My next post will focus on Anzac books and activities. All the best for now.

The Dog with Seven Names has a new Adventure

Horrie the War Dog

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Like my fictitious WWII story about The Dog with Seven Names, Horrie was a beloved and very special war dog, so special that two books have been written about him. The first, Horrie the Wog Dog by Ion Idriess was published in 1945. A subsequent book, Horrie the War Dog (2013) written by Roland Perry, explores aspects of Horrie’s story which were raised by Anthony Hill’s research and book Animal Heroes. Each title adds to the mystery and controversy surrounding this beloved WWII mascot.

Horrie was an Egyptian terrier, adopted by Private Jim Moody and the men of the First Australian Machine Gun Battalion. He is credited with saving the lives of many Australian soldiers. When Horrie heard enemy aircraft he barked, giving men time to run for the trenches before their camp was strafed. Horrie was smuggled on board a troopship bound for Australia, that much is agreed. The next chapter in Horrie’s life is steeped in controversy.

One account reports Horrie being destroyed by quarantine officers, another claims an elaborate ruse was carried out with Horrie being substituted by a pound dog on death row. Two weeks ago I was in Corryong (where there are said to be many Horrie lookalikes) and visited a beautiful statue dedicated to this enigmatic mascot. The statue was unveiled during the 2016 Anzac Day service and shows Horrie in an alert pose on a kerosene tin in Egypt. He looks happy.

Besides reading the books dedicated to this little terrier, there are interesting accounts from the AWM here, on a site dedicated to Ion Idriess here and ‘The Australian’ here. Aspects of the varying reports can be compared here. I like to think Horrie survived. What do you think happened to him?

If you’d like to read more about the adventures of a dog in WWII, I’ve written a book called The Dog With Seven Names.

WINNER, 2019 Speech Pathology Australia awards
SHORTLIST, 2019 NSW Premier’s Award Patricia Wrightson Prize for Children’s Literature .
2019 CBCA Notable Book
2019 Readers Cup novel.
soon to be published in Chinese

Buy the paperback
Buy local: find your local bookstore
Or order online:
Dymocks | Angus & Robertson Bookworld | Readings | Collins

The Shark Caller – students’ artwork

Year of the Earth Dog

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Happy Chinese New Year.

For me celebrating the Year of the Earth Dog is timely as I have been hunkered down this week, completing a final (I hope) edit of The Dog with Seven Names. It’s a young YA novel set in the Pilbara during 1942 told from the POV of a dog. Yes, I can’t seem to get enough anthropomorphism!

While I’m a boring old buffalo, those lucky people born in dog years are honest and loyal with a strong sense of duty, just like my main character; Flynn/Princess/Gengi + 4 other names.

Welcome to Dianne Wolfer's Website

The research for this book has been fascinating and I’ve learnt so many things about WW2 Australian history. My dog character is a terrier cross, smaller than Harry (pictured above) and writing a story using dog senses has been both fun and challenging.

The Dog with Seven Names will be published by Penguin Random House in August 2018 (assuming I finish this draft!) and I’ll post more news and a sneak peek of the gorgeous cover in a few months. In the meantime, may your Earth Dog celebrations be joyous.

The First Review

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… and it isn’t even out yet! random cover pix

Thank you Joy Lawn for the wonderful early review in Australian Bookseller + Publisher:

‘The Shark Caller breaks new ground in junior YA fiction. [I]ssues of conservation and identity, as told from Izzy’s dual-cultural perspective, with a scattering of creole Tok Pisin words, will intrigue readers aged 11 and up.’ Joy Lawn, Australian Bookseller + Publisher

Here is a link to their website with the full review.

shark book uncorrected And, my very first uncorrected proof copy arrived this week.

As I read through it for the multi-hundredth time, I couldn’t help getting out a pencil and making just a few more changes. How did I miss 2x ‘massive’ on pg 80 ? And why didn’t I delete ‘suddenly’ on pg 208?

Too late for this edition, but fingers crossed for a second print run. In the meantime, I think I need to channel Elsa and let it go…

More details closer to the publication date (1st August).