Flytrap
FLYTRAP began through the telling of a ‘tall tale’ at a literary dinner organized by Agnes Nieuwenhuizen from the Australian Centre for Youth Literature.
Earlier that day, my daughter came home from school in a panic. She had no Venus Flytrap. She’d promised her teacher she’d bring one in the next day. She’d been making the same promise for the last three days!
All the way home in the car, this big black cloud hung over her ready to burst. To try and ease the pressure, and to avoid an accident, I started making up stories as to what might have happened to the Venus Flytrap she never had. By the time we got home we were giggling ourselves stupid with a string of silly made-up stories. We tried them on Boori. He added more to the mix.
Then I realized I had no ‘tall tale’ to tell for the literary dinner that night. Now the tables had turned and it was me who was in a panic, daunted by the thought of standing up in front of an expectant crowd of book-lovers with no tale to tell. Then I realized that my daughter had given me a great place to start.
After telling an elaborated ‘tall tale’ – a mix of Venus Flytraps and shearing sheep, teachers and daughters, road kills and Coco Pops and much more – Erica Wagner, an editor from Allen & Unwin came up and suggested it could make a good book.
What started as a simple story has ended up as one of the most complex books Boori and I have written. Don’t be deceived by its size!
Cover Blurb
Nancy is worried. She's said she has a Venus Flytrap, but she hasn't really got one, and now the teacher wants her to bring it in to show the class. It wasn't really a lie, it was more like...a wish.
At home Nancy is grabbing stories out of the air. Maybe the flytrap ate so many blowflies it got sick? She pesters Mum and One-two-three Gee, and their stories help her find something special of her own. What will Nancy tell her class in the morning?Flytrap is a playful and inspiring book about what stories can do.
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