It's Play Time Qld

**Please note:  applicants for this project have now closed**

The Big Book Club is a not for profit organisation committed to the promotion of reading, literature and Australian authors and illustrators.  The Little Big Book Club (LBBC) is for parents of children aged between birth and 5 years.  

The Queensland Government under the Books for Bubs program will fund and distribute for FREE the 2012 It’s Play Time picture book to every parent/carer of a new born baby at Queensland maternity hospitals and birthing centres from September 2012.   For more details on Flying Start Books For Bubs program please visit the Queensland Department of Education and Training website.

It’s Play Time    

It’s Play Time is based on the current research (please refer to attached document):

Reading aloud to children is the single most important activity in building the knowledge required for eventual success in reading and lifelong learning.

• Play is how babies and young children learn. For play to be meaningful, children need to have the interaction of parents or carers who:
• Provide encouragement and affection
• Are sensitive to their child’s needs
• Provide enthusiasm and social interaction

Objectives

• Encourage parents and carers to use books, share stories, rhymes and music as part of their child’s daily routine.
• Increase awareness by parents/carers as to the importance of meaningful play experiences in a child’s development.
• Support Qld authors and illustrators.
• Promote the benefits of reading aloud to children from infancy.
• Produce a holistic resource that looks at the overall well being of young children and their families.

Concept

Produce a picture book featuring:

• An overview of the benefits of play.
• A collection of commissioned short stories or rhymes that encourage interaction and play between adult and child.
• Traditional rhymes, for example, This Little Piggy.
• Ideas for playing at home.
• Booklist of relevant books for both children and parents.
• Links to supporting agencies, for example, libraries, child development websites, Kindergym etc…

The submission/s need to meet the following guidelines:

• Suitable for babies and young children.

Primary target audience is Birth – 12 months & parent/carer.

Secondary audience is 1 – 5 years & parent/carer.

•  Encourage and promote playful interaction between adult and child ,

And /or

• Role model adults and children playing together.

Essential

PLEASE read the attached document 'Current Theory and Research' to assist with your understanding of the purpose of the project.

Author involvement:     

Qld writers are invited to submit up to 3 individual short stories or rhymes based on play and interaction.  Each story/rhyme to fit across a maximum 2 double-page spreads (approx. four stanzas).  As a guide minimum word count 30 - maximum word count 90. 

Please provide each manuscript as word document, no formatting, include your name, email address and telephone/mobile number.

Deadline

Manuscript/s to be submitted no later than 5pm Wednesday 30 November 2011.  Please note due to the tight timeline we are unable to accept manuscripts after the closing date. 

Fee

Each successful writer will be paid a one off payment of $2,000.00 + GST per story for a non exclusive period of 5 years from the date of publication. This fee also covers audio & digital rights for the same period again under a non exclusive arrangement.  A full contract will be drawn to preserve the rights of the author and publisher (The Big Book Club Inc).           

Submit to:          

PLEASE NOTE we are unable to deal with the large number of telephone enquiries and request that any questions and/or submissions are via email only to:

Sue Hill
General Manager
The Big Book Club Inc
E: sue [dot] hill [at] tbbcinc [dot] com [dot] au

DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS:   Wednesday 30 November 2011 at 5pm.