A most special honour. Jetty Jumping has been awarded the 2023 Speech Pathology Australia Book of the Year (5-8yrs) for contributions to language & literacy development.
That’s all Hannah Sommerville and I can ask for, that together we created a valued book that helps children and grown-ups walk together with connection, awareness & skills development.
Learning that Jetty Jumping is a book that speech pathologists and families reach for to enhance the language, vocabulary and literacy skills of children, and foster focus, non-literal interpretation, interactive communication, emotional connection and awareness is something so very special.
Walking together with stories that scaffold skills in young children so that they can be their best in a big world is so special.
Hannah and I are thrilled that a book we created as a team, supports learning and development concepts for teams of folks who encourage and engage with children. That’s all we could ask for as an author and illustrator – that we created a story that helps others, and engages with children.
We are also extremely grateful to our publisher Hardie Grant who brought us together. They recognised how we could complement each other and, thankfully, they took a chance on me as a debut author. I am indebted to Hardie Grant for that. We would especially like to thank Alyson O’Brien who nudged our book into being, and to our publisher Chren Byng and the entire editing, design, marketing, sales and publishing crew who work as a team to cultivate the most remarkable books that make a difference.
Hannah and I are now on to our 6th book together and we appreciate and value how all of these skills and contributions connect to support us, and help a book become its best story-self.
Which is just like the work of Speech Pathologists really – you help children and their carers access and explore communication with deep consideration and joyful cheering. So really, as corny as it sounds, we are all winners.
Congratulations also to fellow winners Sally Rippin & Eliza Hull; Neridah McMullin & Astrid Hicks; Adam Goodes and Ellie Lang, and Anna Walker.
Thank you to all the amazing speech pathologists who connect children with books & literacy & development pathways.
Thank you Speech Pathology Australia for this honour – we are humbled to be supporting speech pathologists with stories that help.
– Andrea and Hannah