PETAA National Conference

October 28, 2025 by Sally

How fortunate I am feeling after a whirlwind trip to the Gold Coast to attend the Primary English Teacher Association of Australia (PETAA) Conference.

The conference featured a line up of academics, educators and creators all passionate about building writing skills in and out of the classroom through pleasure, purpose and pedagogy. I filled notebooks, soaked up new learning, talked, laughed and made new friends while also spending time with long standing ones (including my big sister). Here I am, just before I spoke, trying to blend in with the Storybox banner in my fabulous Jericho Road dress.

I was tasked with delivering the closing keynote and shared the value of using verse novels as mentor texts and more. Although I used my own as examples, I hope I also got across the message that there are a plethora of gold standard verse novels educators can use.

I was particularly pleased that the analogy I used to talk about mentor texts allowed me to talk about my beloved Fremantle Dockers, and especially David Mundy. It isn’t a Sally Murphy presentation if I can’t sneak in some mention of Freo. I also managed to make people laugh, cry and nod their heads approvingly (not all at the same time).

I’m back at my desk today, filled with determination to keep doing what I do, to ensure that young Australians have books (and poetry!) in their hands, homes and classrooms, and that educators have the tools to make sure this happens.

To that end, if you’d like me to visit your school, festival or professional learning event, let me know.

Busy (But Happy) Times

April 15, 2025 by Sally

In the past month I have had SO much going on that I have sometimes felt a little overwhelmed. Fortunately, I have good friends and family, and furry companions, who remind me to regularly stop, take some deep breaths and enjoy what I’m doing.

And, today, I am taking some of those breaths as I share some of what has been keeping me busy.

Firstly, my friend and peer Rebecca M. Newman and I are busily working on a follow-up anthology to Right Way Down. We are delighted that Fremantle Press has asked us to produce a second anthology, which will be filled with poems from Western Australian poets, and again illustrated by the amazing Briony Stewart. Submissions have closed, Rebecca and I have finished the difficult job of narrowing down our selections and now we are working through the editing process. No title yet, but you will see this book in stores and on shelves in 2026 and we cannot wait.

Secondly, and staying with the topic of poetry, I had my first poetry publication for the year, in a brand new online magazine. You can read Freedom at the Nimblewitlit site and, if you want to hear my voice, can also hear me reading the poem.

Thirdly, an honour. As you may know, the Children’s Book Council of Australia is celebrating its 80th year, and I have been named one of the Western Australian branch‘s Ambassadors. This means I’ll be joining a bunch of other amazing creators in shouting from the rooftops (and here on my website, on Instagram, Facebook and at events) just how wonderful the CBCA is. Not a hard gig at all.

And, last but not at all least, I was fortunate enough at the start of the month to join other creators and hardworking Form staff to visit Western Australia’s Goldfields as part of Scribblers on the Road. Working with Zeno Sworder, Brenton McKenna, Shane McCarthy, as well as creatives from the Goldfields, we visited:

Kambalda Primary School
Coolgardie Primary School
Leonora District high School
Menzies Community School
John Paul College, Kalgoorlie
Kalgoorle-Boulder Community High School
St Joseph’s School and
East Kalgoorlie primary School

as well as talking via video-link to students in remote communities at the Ngaanyatjarra Land School campuses, and running a writing workshop for adults at the Kalgoorlie library AND appearing at the Scribblers Family Fun Day at the Kalgoorlie Arts Centre.

Phew! If that sounds a lot, it was, but it was amazing – and you can see some of the fun in this photo reel which I shared on Instagram.

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Now I’m back at my desk, writing and smiling, and thinking how very lucky I am to get to do what I do.

Books to Use in Your Upper Primary Classroom in 2025

January 17, 2025 by Sally

This is the fourth post in this series – each one focussing on a different level of schooling. the idea is that, if you are a teacher preparing for the 2025 school year, you might find some ideas for using one or more of my books in your English or other lessons. Today I’m focussing upper primary, so if you are teaching Year 5 or Year 6, this post is for you.

Turns out that upper primary is really the sweet spot for a lot of my books, so this post will be longish.

First up, novels, including verse novels.

1. 1. 1. Bushfire (Published by Scholastic). Part of the My Australian Story series, this tells the story of the dreadful 2009 bushfires which ravaged Victoria, from the viewpoint of a fictional girl called Amy, who experiences the fires first hand. It obviously deals with natural disasters, but also focusses on notions of bravery, family and the topic of climate change.How it can be used: Bushfire is useful for studies of narrative, as well as HASS and Science themes. I have heard of several school using it a unit of work on natural disasters, including Clyde Primary in Victoria, who you can read about here. You can find publisher teaching notes here, and a great complementary title The Bushfire Book by Polly Marsden also has excellent teaching notes, which you can find here. Another truly excellent resource is the Black Saturday Museum in Marysville (where much of the book is set) and its website. This song (and its video) by Greg Campion) provides an audio-visual link which can be very powerful.
      
      Bushfire is still available from good bookstores and online and appears on the reading lists for the Victorian, NSW and SA Premier’s Reading Challenge.
    2. Worse Things (illustrated by Sarah Davis, published by Walker Books) is a multi-voice verse novel about sport, belonging and unexpected things. It was an Honour Book in the 2021 CBCA Book of the Year Awards, which I’m pretty proud of, but I’m even more proud that young readers seem to really engage with it, both for inclass study and individual reading. There are a plethora of resources for teaching Worse Things, including publisher teacher notes here, and a unit of work from PETAA here. The NSW Department of Education has a comprehensive unit of work available here. You might find this video introduction featuring yours truly helpful.
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      Worse Things is still in print and available in print and ebook versions in bookstores or online and appears on five Premier’s Reading Challenge booklists – in WA, Queensland, South Australia, Victoria and NSW.
    3. The Riding Gallery (illustrated by Martina Heiduczek, published by Walker Books). My most recent book, this is the story of the homefront during WW1, focussing on the events surrounding a real merry go round (riding gallery) on the St Kilda foreshore. Told using free verse from the viewpoints of two children, the merry go round operator, and the newspapers of the times.What it Can Be Used For: As mentioned, there are HASS and history tie-ins, but, being a verse novel, this one can also be used to teach poetic forms (including found poems), figurative language and more. If you are in the ACT, you might link the story to the merry go round located in the Civic centre – as this is the very ride which features in the book – and, if in Victoria, the book again has strong links to local history, taking place in St Kilda. You can find teacher notes at the Walker site here and PETAA has an excellent unit of work aimed at the year 3 (which could be adapted for upper primary) classroom and linking not just to HASS but also to HPE. You can find that here . The Riding Gallery is available in good bookstores in both print and ebook formats, as well as in libraries and appears on the SA Premiers’ Reading Challenge booklist.
    4. Toppling (illustrated by Rian Nest James, published by Walker Books). A story of friendship, it also delas with childhood cancer, giving it applicability in the HPE classroom as well as a class read aloud. Teacher’s notes for Toppling are available on the Walker Books website and further suggestion, aimed specifically at Year 6, are here.Toppling is still in print and available in good bookstores or online and appears on the booklist for the Premier’s Reading Challenge in WA, NSW, Victoria and SA.
    5. Pearl Verses the World (illustrated by heather Potter, published by Walker Books) is a story of belonging, of family and also of grief. Told using the verse novel format it again has links to HPE as well as making an excellent class read aloud.What it Can Be Used For. Because it uses free verse poetry (as well as some shorter rhyming poems), there is lots of opportunity to address poetic and language devices. among many other uses. The wonderful Kirwan Primary School in Queensland has used Pearl and some of my other verse novels for a year six unit of work for many years,, including studying author’s style, poetry and more. Teacher’s notes for Pearl Verses the World are available on the Walker Books website, and my ideas for using the book in a year five classroom are available here.
  Speaking of poetry, I love writing and teaching poetry, and these two books are ideal for upper primary:
  1. 1. Right Way Down (edited by Rebecca M. Newman and myself and published by Fremantle Press) is aimed chiefly at middle and upper primary students and is suitable both for in class use and private reading, with poems in a wide range of of forms, and on a variety of topics, all written by contemporary poets. You will find teaching notes here and printable poetry activities here. Right Way Down is still available in good stores or online in hard copy or ebook format.
    2. Teaching Poetry for Pleasure and Purpose ( Published by PETAA) is, as the title suggests, designed to help you in teaching poetry in pleasurable ways, but also with the purpose of supporting the demands of the curriculum. There is a chapter for each primary school year, including Years 5 and 6, unpacking key terminology, suggesting activities both in reading and writing, and including poems and suggestions for further resources. Teaching Poetry for Pleasure and Purpose is available directly from PETAA in both hardcopy and digital formats. PETAA also offer an online professional learning module of the same name, where you can hear more from me on the teaching of poetry.

This is just a portion of what I have written suitable for this age group. There are also several reading series titles and novels including Looking Up and Doggy Duo as well as my historical picture books Do Not Forget Australia and Meet Mary Mackillop, featured in earlier posts in this series.

And, if you’d like to see me in person, I am available to visit your school for author visits or to run professional learning. Feel free to contact me to find out more. You can also do the same if you’d like some advice on using my books in your classroom.

Books to Include in Your Middle Primary Classroom in 2025

January 16, 2025 by Sally

So far in this series of posts, I’ve offered suggestions for books for Early Childhood and Junior Primary classrooms. Today, if you are a teacher of Middle Primary – years 3 and 4 – this post is for you. The goal is to highlight books I’ve written which you can use in your classroom, linking up with resources which can support you. I hope you find it useful.

Firstly, if you are looking for fiction to help you explore history, notable Australians or to link to the subject of HASS, then I have the following titles suitable for this age group.

1. The Riding Gallery (illustrated by Martina Heiduczek, published by Walker Books). My most recent book, this is the story of the homefront during WW1, focussing on the events surrounding a real merry go round (riding gallery) on the St Kilda foreshore. Told using free verse from the viewpoints of two children, the merry go round operator, and the newspapers of the times. <P>What it Can Be Used For: As mentioned, there are HASS and history tie-ins, but, being a verse novel, this one can also be used to teach poetic forms (including found poems), figurative language and more. If you are in the ACT, you might link the story to the merry go round located in the Civic centre – as this is the very ride which features in the book – and, if in Victoria, the book again has strong links to local history, taking place in St Kilda.<P>You can find teacher notes at the Walker site here and PETAA has an excellent unit of work aimed at the year 3 classroom and linking not just to HASS but also to HPE. You can find that here . You can see and hear the organ from The Riding Gallery , as well as glimpses of the ride, still operating in Canberra, in this video.<P>The book is available in good bookstores in both print and ebook formats, as well as in libraries and could be used alongside the next book, also set in WW2 and also with links to Victoria.

Do Not Forget Australia (illustrated by Sonia Kretschmar and published by Walker Books). Telling a story of friendship between two boys and between two countries, through the events at the French village of Villers-Bretonneux in and after World War 1.
What it Can Be Used For: Because the battle of Villers-Bretonneux happened on ANZAC Day, this is an excellent resource leading up to ANZAC Day, but also Remembrance Day.).Do Not Forget Australia is included on the Victorian Premier’s Reading Challenge booklist. You will find publisher teaching notes here and some suggestions for using the book in the Year Five classroom, here. Although aimed at junior primary these suggestions may also be helpful.
Do Not Forget Australia is still in print, and available in good bookstores or online.
Meet Mary Mackillop (illustrated by Sonia Martinez, published by Random House). Part of the fabulous ‘Meet…’ series from random House, this is a fictionalised story of the life of Mary Mackillop, with a back of book timeline of her life.What it Can Be Used For: Because it features a famous Australian, there are obvious HASS uses, as well as use in Catholic schools, with Mary Mackillop being Australia’s first saint. But this is also the story of a strong woman, and highlights social justice and history, so is suitable for all classrooms. You will find publisher teacher notes here and suggestions for the year 4 classroom here. Meet Mary MacKillop appears on the booklist for the Victorian Premier’s Reading Challenge and is still available in good bookstores or online.

Secondly, as well as The Riding Gallery, I have four other verse novels suitable for middle primary.

Pearl Verses the World (illustrated by heather Potter, published by Walker Books) is a story of belonging, of family and also of grief. Told using the verse novel format it again has links to HPE as well as making an excellent class read aloud.What it Can Be Used For. Because it uses free verse poetry (as well as some shorter rhyming poems), there is lots of opportunity to address poetic and language devices, including covering ACELT1600 (Discuss the nature and effects of some language devices used to enhance meaning and shape the reader’s reaction, including rhythm and onomatopoeia in poetry and prose.)and ACELT1604 (Use metalanguage to describe the effects of ideas, text structures and language features of literary texts), among many other uses.Teacher’s notes for Pearl Verses the World are available on the Walker Books website, and my ideas for using the book in a year five classroom are available here The book appears on the Premier’s Reading Challenge booklists in WA, Victoria and South Australia.
Roses are Blue (Illustrated by Gabriel Evans and published by Walker Books). As with Pearl, this can be used to adress HPE, poetry and other English outcomes, as well as making an excellent class read aloud. You’ll find Teacher’s Notes here and suggestions for using the book in a year four classroom can be found here. Although Roses are Blue is currently out of print, it can still be found in many libraries. and it appears on the NSW Premier’s Booklist.
Queen Narelle (illustrated by Simon O-Carrigan and published by Walker Books) is a verse novel told from the alternating viewpoints of Maddie and her cat, Narelle. The use of the cat’s voice makes it fun, but the issue Maddie is facing – about friendship challenges – is very real, and very important. The exploration of friendship and bullying, as well as of family, makes it also an excellent text for HPE classes. You’ll find a simple teaching suggestion, pairing Queen Narelle with a stand alone poem, here.Queen Narelle is available in good bookstores or online, as well as in many school and local libraries and Narelle also features on the SA Premier’s Reading Challenge Booklist.
Toppling (illustrated by Rian Nest James, published by Walker Books). Although I would normally recommend this book in upper primary, I am including it ehre because it is included in the NSW, Victorian and SA Premier’s Booklists at this level. A story of friendship, it also delas with childhood cancer, giving it applicablity in the HPE classroom as well as a class read aloud. Teacher’s notes for Toppling are available on the Walker Books website and further suggestions are here. Although these are aimed at a year 6 classroom, they can be adapted for younger students.

And, while verse novels are a wonderful resource for teaching poetry, I also have three poetry-specific books suitable for middle primary.

1. Right Way Down (edited by Rebecca M. Newman and myself and published by Fremantle Press) is aimed chiefly at middle and upper primary students and is suitable both for in class use and private reading, with poems in a wide range of of forms, and on a variety of topics, all written by contemporary poets. You will find teaching notes here and printable poetry activities here. Right Way Down is still available in good stores or online in hard copy or ebook format.
2. Teaching Poetry for Pleasure and Purpose ( Published by PETAA) is, as the title suggests, designed to help you in teaching poetry in pleasurable ways, but also with the purpose of supporting the demands of the curriculum. There is a chapter for each primary school year, including Years 3 and 4, unpacking key terminology, suggesting activities both in reading and writing, and including poems and suggestions for further resources. Teaching Poetry for Pleasure and Purpose is available directly from PETAA in both hardcopy and digital formats. PETAA also offer an online professional learning module of the same name, where you can hear more from me on the teaching of poetry.
3. Assembly (published by Ready Ed Publications) is a collection of printable poems for use for performing, recitation or just having fun with, including poems suitable for middle primary. Each poem is printable, and is supported with a page of teaching notes. Available in hard copy or ebook format directly from the publisher .

Last, but certaily not least, I have three more books suitable for middle primary.

Looking up (Published by Fremantle Press) is a novel about a boy who gets more than he imagined was possible for his tenth birthday. With topics of family and communication, and suitable for studies of narrative, as class read aloud and for private reading. You can read a Sample Chapter Here, Teacher’s Notes are available Here and some suggestions for Year Three teachers HERE.
The Floatingest Frog (illustrated by Simon Bosch, published by New Frontier). The story of two frogs who spot a cow and wonder if they can be bigger than it, it is based on an Aesop’s Fable, the Frog and the Ox, and also delas with competitiveness and sibling rivalry.<p>What can it be used for: Because it is retold fable (you can see one version of the original fable here) there is the opportunity to explore fables and also link to science and the topic of frogs. You’ll find a collection of frog related videos used in a unit which followed on from reading The Floatingest Frog here .Although it is a little hard to find in stores, The Floatingest Frog is still held in many school and public libraries and available for sale directly from me, posted anywhere in Australia for $20. It is also perfectly accompanied by my nonficton title:
Frogs: Awesome Amphibians (Published by Ready Ed) A handy classroom/library reference, or as private reading, it can be purchased online direct from the publisher. This excellent science unit of work could also be a useful resource.

This is just a portion of what I have written suitable for this age group. There are also several reading series titles and novels including Doggy Duo.

2024 The Best Bits

January 3, 2025 by Sally

Happy New Year! I know I’m not the only one who is wondering just how could 2024 be over so quickly, but it happened, and so as I sit down to plan the year ahead, I want to look back at the year that was.

2024 was a bit of a packed year for me, professionally and personally, but, writing-wise, I want to highlight the best bits. I tried to put them in some kind of order – could I rank them from a bit wonderful to very wonderful (turns out no, because these are all very wonderful things), could I stick to chronological order (almost possible, but some of the best bits occurred over several months), could I group them in some other way (no – but I did manage to write a list on a sticky note so that I hopefully don’t miss something big I should mention). So, in no particular order, here’s my list of the best bits of my writing life in 2024.

The release of Right Way Down, which I co-edited with my amazing friend Rebecca Newman . Illustrated by another amazing friend Briony Stewart, this book is one of my favourite projects ever – in part because it was the culmination of a dream Rebecca and I had had for ages about seeing an anthology of West Australian children’s poetry in print and in the hands of young readers, but also because of the sheer wonder of being able to include so many poets, from first time poets to very established names. The launch was just sheer joy, and I still smile every time I think of it.
The release of The Riding Gallery , and the knowledge that the story of Anton Weniger is finally out in the world. This book was a little while coming, because it took me a while to figure out how to tell the story, but I am so grateful that Walker Books published it, and have loved sharing the story in schools, at festivals and other events – including, magically, a trip to Canberra, the home of the merry go round at the centre of the story.
Being awarded the Muriel Barwell Award for Distinguished Service to Children’s Literature. This still blows my mind – that the CBCA WA Branch saw me as worthy of this, just for doing what I love, means soooooo much and makes me determined to live up to it. The photo was taken at the CBCA WA Bookweek dinner where it was an honour to be in the presence of Muriel Barwell herself, as well as several other ‘Muriels’ (past recipients).
Being given six months Academic Study Leave from my day job, to research and write. What an absolute privilege that time was – and very productive, with a new verse novel drafted, a stack of poems written, a book chapter submitted AND a trip to Europe and Singapore where I presented at two conferences, saw amazing sights and made new friends.
Poems! Lots of poems written and, pleasingly, lots accepted and published. I had poems published in Right Way Down, The School Magazine, The Toy Magazine, Picture Perfect Poetry, and The Birmingham Arts Journal. Also, I worked with PETAA to build on the success of Teaching Poetry for Pleasure and Purpose with a self-paced course of the same name. It makes me really happy to think that I am doing something to help teachers spread a love of poetry.
And, speaking of spreading the love, I was really lucky to get to spread the love myself, with festival visits, school and library events. Hard to choose highlights, but Scribblers on the Road, which saw me visit the Pilbara with awesome fellow creatives, was pretty darned special. And speaking of special, while the most special part of any book event is, without a doubt, the young readers and writers I get to meet, I was also really aware this year of the wonderful friendships I have with fellow creatives and with the many children’s literature advocates and enthusiasts I get to hang out with.
Last, but never least, I wrote – some of this has been mentioned already, including the verse novel I drafted, and lots of poems, but I also wrote a new historical picture book, which is under contract (hooray!), revised and polished and dabbled and wrote whenever I could.

I know I will think of something I’ve missed about five minutes after I post this, but suffice to say, 2024 was productive and fulfilling and if I have missed something, that’s because I am so lucky to have had so many wonderful writerly happenings in the past year. How lucky am I?

And, as for 2025, what am I planning? More of the same – more writing, more speaking, more reading, more spreading a love of reading, writing and poetry wherever and whenever I can. See you there!

Right Way Down is launched – with Aplomb

March 21, 2024 by Sally

Happy World Poetry Day to you! I love that there is a day dedicated to celebrating poetry, though of course I think we should celebrate poetry every day.

Speaking of which, last weekend I had a glorious time celebrating the launch of Right Way Down.

First, at the CBCA WA’s annual Night With Our Stars event, Rebecca and I had three minutes to talk about the book to a room full of teachers, librarians and industry peers. This annual night sees twenty creators given the opportunity to share their latest works, sign books and generally have a wonderful time.

Then, taking advantage of the fact that so many of the poets would be in Perth for that event, the following day we held the launch for Right Way Down at the State Library.

I’ve been to a lot of book launches over the years, some for my own books, lots for other people’s, but I can’t think of any other launch which has been so joyful. The room was buzzing!

This was because it wasn’t just a book by Rebecca, myself and illustrator Briony. It was a book full of poems by West Australian poets, most of whom were there for the launch, with family and friends. For many of the poets this was their very first publication and, for others, their first poem, or first time in an anthology.

You can see some highlights from the two events here:

What a fabulous weekend. I am still smiling.

If you haven’t seen Right Way Down yet, it is available for sale now from good brick and mortar bookstores across Australia, or online.