Elizabeth Honey

Elizabeth Honey[N 1] (born 7 February 1947)[1] is an Australian author, illustrator and poet, known predominantly for her work in picture books and middle-grade novels. Her work has been translated into Dutch, German, Italian, Korean, Chinese, Catalan, Hungarian and Spanish, and has also been published in the United States and Britain.[1]

Elizabeth Honey
Born (1947-02-07) 7 February 1947
Wonthaggi, Victoria, Australia
OccupationWriter, Illustrator, Poet
NationalityAustralian
GenreChildren's literature, Children's poetry, Children's theatre
Website
elizabethhoney.com

She won the Children's Book of the Year Award: Picture Book for Not a Nibble. She also received the Prize Cento and the Young Australians Best Book Award (YABBA) for 45 & 47 Stella Street and everything that Happened. In 2001 she was the recipient of the Australian Wilderness Society Environment Award for Children's Literature.[2]

Life and career

Honey was born in Wonthaggi, Victoria.[1] The third of four children, she grew up on a dairy farm in Gippsland. An avid reader as a child,[2] after high school she went on to study at the Swinburne School of Film and Television in Melbourne (later to become the Victorian College of Arts). After several years working in film production and advertising, as well as extensive travel, she began to work as a freelance illustrator.[2] Illustrating for newspapers like The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald, as well as providing stamp illustrations for Australia Post, she discovered she enjoyed illustrating children's books the most.[2]

In 1988, Princess Beatrice and the Rotten Robber was published, her first book as both author and illustrator. She has since become an iconic voice in Australian children's literature, going on to author and illustrate a breadth of award-winning children's novels, poetry collections, as well as picture books for children of all ages. She is known for writing that is "characteristically humorous and inventive, and features outspoken characters".[3]

Works

Picture books
  • Princess Beatrice and the Rotten Robber (1988)
  • The Cherry Dress (1993)
  • Not a Nibble! (1996)
  • The Moon in the Man (2003)
  • I'm Still Awake, Still! (2008)
  • That's not a Daffodil! (2011)
  • Ten Blue Wrens: And What a Lot of Wattle! (2011)
  • Hop Up! Wriggle Over! (2015)

Poetry
  • Honey Sandwich (1993)
  • Mongrel Doggerel (1998)

Novels
  • Don't Pat the Wombat!, illustrated by Gig Clarke (1996)
  • What Do You Think, Feezal? (1997)
  • Remote Man (2000)

Stella Street series
  • 45 + 47 Stella Street and Everything that Happened (1995)
  • Fiddle-back (1998)
  • The Ballad of Cauldron Bay (2004)
  • To the Boy in Berlin with Heike Brandt (2007)
  • From Stella Street to Amsterdam (2020)

Activity books
  • The Book of Little Books (1994)

Collaborations

Works as illustrator
  • S.C.A.B., by Manny Clarke (1975)
  • The Twenty-Seventh Annual African Hippopotamus Race, by Morris Lurie (1977)
  • Puzzles Galore!, by Meryl Brown Tobin (1978)
  • Snakes Alive!, by Maureen Stewart (1978)
  • So What's New?, by Bettina Bird (1978)
  • Gone Children, by Phyllis Harry (1978)
  • Gino and Dan, by Carolyn Marrone (1979)
  • Us Three Kids, by Bettina Bird (1979)
  • Call It Quits, by Bettina Bird (1979)
  • Fame and Misfortune, by John Jones (1979)
  • Feel, Value, Act, by Laurie Brady (1979)
  • Growing things: Nature Study Ideas for the Primary School, by Brian McKinlay (1979)
  • Mexican Beans, by L. M. Napier (1980)
  • All Change at the Station, by Susan Burke (1980)
  • Barney, Boofer, and the Cricket Bat, by Judith Worthy (1980)
  • More Puzzles Galore!, by Meryl Brown Tobin (1980)
  • Themes through the Year, by Cathy Hope (1981)
  • The Tucker Book, by Jessie Apted (1981)
  • Salt River Times, by William Mayne (1982)
  • Flora's Treasures, by Ted Greenwood (1982)
  • Brave with Ben, by Christobel Mattingley (1982)
  • History Alive: Introducing Children to History around Them, by Brian McKinlay (1983)
  • Melissa's Ghost, by Michael Dugan (poet) (1986)
  • Boiler at Breakfast Creek, by Roger Vaughan Carr (1986)
  • The Prize, by Helen Higgs (1986)
  • I Don't Want to Know: Towards a Healthy Adolescence, by Ted Greenwood (1986)
  • Outdoors for Kids, by Brian McKinlay (1987)
  • Energy for Kids, by Gilbert Tippett (1987)
  • Trees for Kids, by Ian Edwards (1988)
  • Oh No! Not Again, by Linda Allen (1989)
  • Dream Time: New Stories by Sixteen Award-Winning Authors, edited by Toss Gascoigne, Jo Goodman and Margot Terrell (1991)
  • No Gun for Asmir, by Christobel Mattingley (1993)
  • Asmir in Vienna, by Christobel Mattingley (1995)

Theatre

A musical theatre production of I'm Still Awake, Still!, inspired by the songs by Honey and Sue Johnson, toured the US and Australia in 2014. The Age review noted "..the clever blend of comedy and song, which celebrates in the zaniest possible way the playfulness of children, while giving them a rather sophisticated glimpse into the world of music."[4]

Awards and honours

1994

1996

1997

  • Children's Book of the Year Award: Picture Book for Not a Nibble
  • Prize Cento for Children's Literature (Italy) for 45 & 47 Stella Street and everything that happened
  • Young Australians Best Book Awards (YABBA) Victoria: Children's Choice Award – Fiction for Older Readers for 45 & 47 Stella Street and everything that happened
  • Children's Book of the Year Award: Younger Readers, Honour Book for Don't Pat The Wombat!
  • Children Reading Outstanding Writers (CROW) South Australia: Children's Choice Award – years 3–5 for Don't Pat The Wombat!

1998

  • COOL Award, Fiction for Older Readers shortlist for 45 & 47 Stella Street and everything that happened
  • COOL Award, Fiction for Older Readers shortlist for Don't Pat The Wombat!

1999

  • Kids Own Australian Literature Awards (KOALA) New South Wales: Children's Choice Award finalist for Not a Nibble and 45 & 47 Stella Street and everything that happened
  • New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards shortlist for What do you think, Feezal?

2000

  • Kids Own Australian Literature Awards (KOALA) New South Wales: Children's Choice Award finalist for Not a Nibble
  • Young Australians Best Book Awards (YABBA) Victoria: Children's Choice Awards shortlist for Honey Sandwich
  • Kids Own Australian Literature Awards (KOALA) New South Wales: Children's Choice Award finalist for 45 & 47 Stella Street and everything that happened
  • West Australian Young Readers' Book Award (WAYRBA), shortlist for Fiddle-back
  • Kids Own Australian Literature Awards (KOALA) New South Wales: Children's Choice Award shortlist for Don't Pat The Wombat!
  • Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature, National Children's Literature Award shortlist for What do you think, Feezal?

2001

  • The Wilderness Society (Australia) Environment Award for Children's Literature for Remote Man
  • Young Australians Best Book Awards (YABBA) Victoria: Children's Choice Awards shortlist for Don't Pat The Wombat!
  • West Australian Young Readers' Book Award (WAYRBA), shortlist for What do you think, Feezal?

2002

  • West Australian Young Readers' Book Award (WAYRBA), shortlist for Remote Man

2003

2005

2008

2009

  • Speech Pathology Australia Book of the Year Award: Young Children's shortlist for I'm still awake, still!
  • West Australian Young Readers' Book Award (WAYRBA), shortlist for To the Boy in Berlin with Heike Brandt

2012

References

Notes

  1. Her first name in German-language publications is usually given as "Elisabeth" (e.g. Amazon)

Sources

  1. "A Guide to the Elizabeth Honey Paperes" (PDF). Lu Rees Archives, University of Canberra Library. September 2009. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
  2. "About Elizabeth Honey". Elizabeth Honey official website. Retrieved 11 October 2016.
  3. "Elizabeth Honey Bio". Austlit website. Retrieved 11 October 2016.
  4. "Review: Still Awake Still delights little music lovers". The Age website. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
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