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Book Week Q&A with James Foley

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What does Book Week mean to you?

Book Week is my favourite time of year – it’s been like that ever since I was a kid. When I was in primary school, we had a school open night in Book Week, and the whole school was decorated with artwork by each class. I would be so proud to show my parents the things we’d made in school. They also had a temporary bookshop set up in the library, full of amazing books. My birthday is always around Book Week, so I would drop some major hints about which books I wanted while we were in that bookshop.

Who was your favourite book character as a child?

Asterix. I got into those comics in about grade 5 or 6, and devoured the entire set in the school library multiple times.

Who is your favourite character that you’ve written?

It’s like pick your favourite kid… umm… probably Joe Tinker? He’s Sally Tinker's baby brother in the S. Tinker Inc graphic novel series. While Sally is always trying to control everything, Joe is happy having fun and causing chaos. He’s always in the background doing his own thing and mucking around, and although he often causes the trouble, he usually fixes it in the end.

How will you be celebrating Book Week?

I’ll catch up with Perth’s writers, illustrators and librarians at the Children’s Book Council’s Book Week dinner. I’ll visit a bunch of schools in Perth. Then I’ll take a red-eye to Sydney and visit some schools there, and catch up for dinner with some author/illustrator mates. Then I’ll be back the week after to celebrate my birthday with my family.

That sounds like an action-packed week! Oh, and Happy Birthday, James!

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