May 2015
Contents About Words from Daddy’s Mouth
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Mum Here
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Illustration Update
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TASK: Find an Australian Illustrator
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Undercover Cop
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Fun with Lines – Build Your Own Bookmark
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Coming Up Next in the Words from Daddy’s Mouth Studio…
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Books Available
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About Words from Daddy’s Mouth By Matthew Burgess Being a full time lawyer I needed a creative outlet, and in 2010, began writing business books for other professional service providers.
However there was still something missing. My wife said she married me because I made her laugh with the crazy stories I told her when we first met and that I should write a book. Many years later we began to raise 1, then 2, then 3 and finally 4, precious girls and I started to share stories of my childhood with them.
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It soon became one of our family's favourite pastimes listening to these stories about my childhood. Often embellished and seldom kept on track the girls would be absorbed. What was fact became blurred in the magic of the stories told. A strong undertone in the stories are various life lessons, while also ensuring a healthy
dose of humour and role playing. When my third daughter, Lily, was about four years old, she said �Daddy, please tell me another story from your mouth". From that day on, the stories became known as "Words from Daddy’s mouth". It was therefore a natural progression that Lily Burgess would became the pseudonym for the authoring of my children books to help distinguish them from my other publications. With so many stories, we had to create a list to remember them all (at last count the list was nearing 500). So over time a game developed where the girls would choose a number from the list. Whatever story related to the number chosen would be the story that I would tell. Stories were usually told as the last part of the wind down of an evening, sitting together in a bedroom or on a lounge chair. I hope you enjoy sharing the stories with your children.
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Mum Here For the year 2015, we have decided to take a slightly different approach at the Words from Daddy's Mouth studio. As a side note, "we" being the collective name for our family team - mum, dad, kids, aunties, uncles and grandparents. In 2015, our focus will be on the Words from Mummy’s Mouth program. "Mum" (me) will share my journey as a parent, author and business owner and how I keep my sanity while having loads of fun along the way. Our book series, videos, merchandise, parent and teacher notes will continue to complement this focus (check out who we are collaborating with here).
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Lily’s Family I have a mum and dad. They call each other Matt and Hon (like honey, because Dad thinks she's sweet?!) but it's just Mum and Dad to us. I have three sisters: Stephanie - her nickname’s Steph and she’s 11 years old; Jasmin - has two nicknames: Jaz or Jazzy. I wonder if she is named after music or a flower; Aven - we call her Avey, because she is the youngest, and little kids get all the cute names. She might be called something else after her 5th birthday. I'm Lily, and these are my stories. There's not a lot of me in these stories, because I'm the one telling them.
Illustration Update We have decided to use a different illustrator for each of the next four books in our series. This will give you a fresh perspective for each of the next books. For Book 6 — Undercover Cop, we collaborated with Mariko Francis. Mariko grew up in a hot and dusty country town, 400 km north-west of Melbourne, Australia. Although she's no longer living in the country, she's never too far from getting her hands dirty. Her studies in fine arts have taken her to various instructors and institutions in Melbourne, New York, Singapore, Hong Kong and Tokyo. Combined with cultural influences from her Japanese-Australian heritage, Mariko brings a unique mix of traditional and digital arts together to form her current body of work. Click here to see the feature page of the illustrators who we collaborate with. 6
What Does it Take to Get Words and Illustrations to Make Sense? Here is a an overview of the work that Mariko and I did to bring the illustrations to you. We began our journey with Mariko reading the manuscript. Mariko wanted to interpret the words on the page as well as ensuring that all members of the family were given the opportunity to show their personality. I supplied a number of family snap shots so that we could have a conversation about who we are as well as talking through a number of the intricacies of the story.
TASK: Find an Australian Illustrator
Then I gave Mariko free rein to assess how she would capture the manuscript through
I wanted to utilise an Australian illustrator for her own paradigm. our next chapter book. Very fortunately I was introduced to Mariko Francis through ‘a friend of a friend'.
The end result was something that we are both happy with. One of my huge joys with publishing is seeing an illustrator’s
Mariko and I hit it off straightaway and
perspective of the manuscript. This brings in
started collaborating late in 2014. While
a new facet to the story. It also helps to
Mariko is based in Melbourne and I am in
polish any last inconsistencies in the story.
Brisbane this did not slow the flow of creativity between us. The wonders of modern technology and Basecamp (my favourite project management tool, now in my 10th year of use).
Sign up with our monthly newsletter to hear what Mariko had to say about the process and how she balances her life challenges on a daily basis.
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Undercover Cop Anyone who has been in the Independent Publishing industry will know that things do not always go to plan. The 8th suggestion for success, as penned by H. Jackson Brown, Jr, in the 21 Suggestions for Success is persistence. Mariko and I have certainly had to use Persistence to bring this book to you. Part of the fun, working in this state of extension, is that push and pull. That brain strain that you feel while aiming to get through the barrier of your thoughts, while thinking hard thoughts and finding new and different ways to use our brains. This is mostly referenced as Flow. Made a common term, with the release of the book Flow by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and there is also Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman. Try pushing your brain into System 2. Ouch, sometimes it hurts to reach into that part of your brain, that is, to think slow as compared to thinking fast. 8
Fun with Lines – Build Your Own Bookmark (BYOB) Recently I put together a video for a local school to provide an overview of a 45 workshop that I run about building patterned bookmarks. Putting together a tutorial video was a little more complicated than I had assumed and it certainly gave me new respect for people who do this well. Reflecting on this tutorial, I am certainly aiming to improve next time. Stephen Covey called it sharpening the saw in his Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. I will certainly be sharpening my saw this month, and practicing better video delivery. If you would like a good laugh (at my expense, I admit) watching my eyes move around a lot, please click here to see the five minute YouTube presentation. If you enjoyed the content, please click here to download the free worksheets. Maybe the kids will decide to BYOB for Mother’s Day.
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Coming Up Next in the Words from Daddy's Mouth Studio... Over the next few months, I am interviewing a number of the people who we work with and collaborate with for our books as well as other people who have inspired me, in particular, entrepreneur mums. We will talk about trying to balance growing their business as well as taking care of their families. The interviews will run for about 30 minutes, with general tips about keeping their businesses
on track, as well as the top 3 tips that help to keep balance on a daily basis. Interviews will be available via iTunes, Stitcher and Soundcloud. The transcripts will also be available for those who prefer to read. To keep up-to-date with these interviews, please add your name to our newsletter here and you will get the updates for these interviews as they arrive.
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Books Available Book One - The Big Rusty Nail
Book Two - The Terrible Red Racer
The Big Rusty Nail is an entertaining journey of a day in the life of a primary school sports room monitor, shared between a dad and his young children.
What happens when Dad swaps his yellow BMX bike for his friend’s red racer? Find out in the latest “Words from Daddy’s Mouth”— The Terrible Red Racer. The story also provides a modern take on “Murphy’s Law.” That is, what can go wrong, will go wrong.
The story also provides a modern take on the proverb 'A Stitch in Time Saves Nine'. That is, stopping something before it happens is often better than having to fix things up after the event. Book Three - The Weekend Cash Call
Book Four - The Brandings Game
Find out about some of the things that dad has won from radio competitions in the latest book from the 'Words from Daddy's mouth' series - 'The Weekend Cash Call'. The story provides a modern take on the proverb that 'Fortune favours the brave'.
For Dad, there was something even worse than The Terrible Red Racer, and this was The Brandings Game—the latest book in the Words From Daddy’s Mouth series. The story also provides a modern take on the proverb ‘Look Before You Leap’.
Book Set - The Complete Guide to Books 1 to 4 from the 'Words from Daddy's Mouth' series The team at Words from Daddy's Mouth have developed a book that serves as a complete kit for teachers, parents and tutors to assist with giving young readers a head start. The book contains numerous practical tips, games and insights to learning techniques. Enjoy easy access to the comprehensive and tailored reading collateral, with material for all of the first 4 books in the series conveniently consolidated in one place in the new book titled - 'The Complete Guide to books 1 to 4 from the 'Words from Daddy's Mouth’ series’.
Book Five - The Most Amazing Golf Shot Ever Golf was just another sport that Dad was really good at; or was he? Find out in the latest 'Words from Daddy's Mouth' release - "The Most Amazing Golf Shot Ever'. The Story provides a modern take on 'Practice makes perfect'.
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Undercover Cop Find out how Dad became the centre of a criminal investigation, while working in a city shop in the latest book from the 'Words from Daddy's Mouth' series – ‘Undercover Cop’. The story also provides a modern take on 'Don’t judge a book by its cover'.
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