GRLCEvents

10.45am to 12.15pm

Wurdi Youang South, Level 5, Geelong Library & Heritage Centre, 51 Little Malop Street, Geelong

Books can offer a unique jumping off point for discussing difficult issues with children and adults and for helping us to feel less alone in our struggles. In this session, published picture book authors Heather Gallagher and Stef Gemmill will talk about mental health issues including depression and anxiety, as well as issues such as literacy and reading difficulties, climate anxiety and activism in the context of their books for children. Similarly, author and positive psychology advocate Sally Learey will discuss how books can foster resilience and emotional intelligence in adults and share a strategy around navigating life’s challenges.

Tickets – $20; $10 for GRLC Members

Audience questions welcomed. Book sales and book signings will be offered at the conclusion of the event.

About the presenters: Sally Learey is the author of eight books including children’s picture books which are a combination of fact and fiction; books about food allergies in children; and location books which connect children with community. Her latest, non-fiction, adult personal development book is called Overcoming Problems.
Heather Gallagher is a children’s author and freelance journalist. She is passionate about children’s literacy and has worked as a writer-in-residence for Ardoch. Her picture book Happy Pants – Why is Mummy so Sad? was a recommended title in the Australian Family Therapist’s awards. Her latest picture book Scaredy Cat is based on her anxious dog, Pip.
Stef Gemmill is an award-winning author of children’s books of hope with heart. Her stories empower children to find solutions to problems in interesting ways. She has several issues-based picture books published including Toy Mountain – a story of our war on waste and A Home for Luna – a story of refugees and homelessness which won the 2020 International Rubery Book Award.