I had a wonderful time at the Woodford Folk Festival over the summer. I can now confirm that it’s no less fun with a toddler than childless! So much excitement and good vibes all around.
I gave an hour long presentation on “Watt’s in store for the energy system?” in the main festival, with special guest Prof Ian Lowe, as well as spending an hour doing some readings of Amy’s Balancing Act in the children’s festival. Both were very fun and engaging with the switched on crowds.
My slides for the adult presentation are below, together with a few pics – more on instagram
“The goal from the outset was to create “a great book to teach young children and old politicians about clean energy,” as Craig Reucassel put it.
In a heartening sign of how far the conversation (and politics) around the energy transition has improved in the intervening years, the resulting book – Amy’s Balancing Act – was recently launched in Federal Parliament with endorsements from across political parties. Amy’s story contains three layered balancing acts, each of which was commented on by speakers. – The Minister for Climate Change and Energy, Chris Bowen – Liberal MP, Bridget Archer – ANU VC, Prof Brian Schmidt
WWF Australia have selected Amy’s Balancing Act in their top 10 list of gifts. Amy joins a totally lovable crowd of the likes of adopting a platypus or koala and going on a walking holiday.
Amy’s story has struck such a chord with political moment that Alicia Payne MP, the member for Canberra, hosted the national launch of Amy’s Balancing Act in Federal Parliament.
The event included an enthusiastic speech from the Minister for Climate Change and Energy, the Hon Chris Bowen, as well as an impressive upside-down reading of the book by Nobel laureate Prof Brian Schmidt AC.
Below are some of the first news articles that give more of the details.
Full disclosure, the journey of creating Amy’s Balancing Act and recording the audiobook has made it very apparent to me that it’s the illustrations that make kids books. So I’ll frame the audiobook as a teaser of the beautifully illustrated book – available through my shop and all good book stores.
I’m delighted to announce that the first edition hardcover hard copies of my kids book Amy’s Balancing Act are now in stock!
You can get signed copies from my online shop and regular copies from all good bookshops (if they don’t yet have them on bookshelves they can order them through the distributor Woodslane).
Moments ago I signed off on the final production proofs of my children’s book about the energy transition: Amy’s Balancing Act!
It’s been a huge journey getting to this point and I’m equal parts excited and relieved. To help share the excitement, here’s a sneak peek at the cover.
The editing and illustration process has taken a little longer than I’d planned, but I’m absolutely delighted at how much better the story’s become through the process. The team at Little Steps Publishing have done a great job and endured a major number of final minor edits… As for the illustrations, well it’s difficult to capture my enthusiasm as it’d be wrong to use expletives around a kids book, but they are freaking amazing!
A huge thanks to everyone who contributed to the kickstarter campaign that made this dream possible. For those that missed that, you can now pre-order a limited edition signed copy from bjornsturmberg.com/shop
For more about the book and the latest updates on the kickstarter page.