I started 2020 watching a friend broadcast live as he and his family fled one of the hundreds of bushfires that were burning around the time of New Years Day. He returned to find is house completely destroyed. With the rolling news coverage and the escalating disaster and lack of empathy from the Prime Minister … Continue reading The way 2020 panned out for me …… (in pictures)
He was big for an 11 year old. He sat at the front of class, just off to the side, by himself. It was the second day of my school workshops for Children’s Book week and the last school I was visiting for the day. We were up to the activity part of the session … Continue reading The Courage to Stand Up
I love going to writers festivals and doing school visits. I get to meet so many amazing people and there are always moments that rest gently in my heart, reminding me why I'm lucky to be doing what I'm doing. Last weekend was no exception. I was doing a Magnificent Mistakes workshop for primary school … Continue reading The little girl who wouldn’t speak.
Even if you don't know what you're doing.Show up. If you don't know where to start or how to do something… ask.Show up. Don’t post or write about your anxiety or how bad life is unless you've pushed through or learned something from it that day.Show up. Your fears, doubt and anxious thoughts will want … Continue reading Show up
I celebrated the launch of my latest kid's book head down in the veggie garden, vomiting my guts up and I promise it wasn’t because of too many cupcakes and fairy bread. It was anxiety. Not the amazing butterflies in the tummy nerves you get before you step on stage and present to 100 or … Continue reading How launching a book during a pandemic made me sick
I launched My YouTube channel for kids yesterday and it's already gone nuts, growing from 12 subscribers to 88 overnight! These are not your normal 'Author Reads from a Book' videos, I add my own commentary, insights and bad acting to as I go along! And I get to share my key messages of self … Continue reading Josh Langley’s YouTube Channel for kids
I thought we’d reached peak overwhelm during the bushfire disasters in January, but now that seems a distant memory compared to what’s going on now. I don’t need to compile a detailed list of all that’s currently happening - you know it, you’re living it. It’s in the aisles of the supermarkets, it’s in the … Continue reading Trying to find stable ground when everything is collapsing
After nearly 2 years I finally got to hold my latest baby, Magnificent Mistakes and Fantastic Failures: Finding the good when things seem bad. While this is the advance reader copy (ARC) which normally goes out for reviews, my publisher sent me this copy so I could shed a little tear of joy. When it comes … Continue reading The long wait is almost over
If you want to build resilience in kids, there’s one simple, yet powerful thing you can tell them. Its impact will be long lasting and far reaching. Tell them, "You’re important to me and the world." ‘You’re important’, tells children they are not only valued, but they have a role to play in the bigger … Continue reading Want resilient kids? Tell them this.
When I was 10, I was given a dictionary for my birthday. It wasn’t any normal dictionary like the Macquarie or Oxford, it was the Misspellers Dictionary – perfect for kids like me, who couldn’t spell to save themselves. You looked up how you thought a word was spelled, and then the Misspellers Dictionary would … Continue reading The Boy Who Couldn’t Spell
