Katrina Nannestad is a multi-award-winning Australian author. In her latest book in the ‘Travelling Bookshop’ series Mim Cohen roams the world in a travelling bookshop, with her dad, brother and a horse called Flossy.

Good Reading for Kids caught up with Katrina Nannestad to find out more about the new book.

ABOUT THE BOOK

The right book might just change your life …

Mim Cohen roams the world in a travelling bookshop, with her dad and brother and a horse called Flossy.

Flossy leads them where she will, to the place where they’re needed most … the place where the perfect book will find its way home.

Now Mim has arrived in wonderful Venice, city of canals, palaces, bridges, boats and … quarrels. Gondolier battles, cat-nappings and laundry theft are just the beginning. The Magnifico family and the Forte family are at war.

Mim knows they’re here to help the feuding families. To show them a better way to behave. To bring an end to the vicious vendetta.

If only Mim could find each of them the right book. If only they’d all stop reading the wrong books.

The lively new adventure from award-winning author Katrina Nannestad and beloved illustrator Cheryl Orsini.

Age Guide 7+

MEET KATRINA NANNESTAD

This is the fifth book in your series – where did you get the idea for a travelling bookshop?

Years ago, I came up with a story idea about a travelling lolly shop. Miss Lily, the owner, would drift about with her lollies packed into a hot air balloon. She’d go wherever the wind took her, which would always be to be the place her lollies were needed and would change someone’s life. Hmmm. Are lollies ever really needed? They’re yummy, but not essential. I put the story idea aside, thinking it was a bit silly, but there was something about it that stuck in my mind.

Years later I was chatting about the idea with my publisher and said, ‘Of course it doesn’t have to be lollies. It could be … books.’ And that was it! My imagination was off and running. Books were the perfect solution, because books are necessary. Books do change lives! And so I started working seriously on the idea of a travelling bookshop. I loved the balloon as the vehicle but couldn’t quite work out how to fit a house and a bookshop in the basket, so ended up with the horse-drawn caravan. Flossy the horse decides where the caravan goes, so the element of being taken wherever the books are needed was still there.

In Mim and the Vicious Vendetta Flossy leads Mim to Venice – what will Mim get up to here?

Mim and Nat adore Venice with its canals and boats and crumbling, crowded fairytale buildings, but they will find some trouble lurking beneath the loveliness. They’ll get tangled up in a feud between two families. Adults and kids are doing mean things to each other – catnapping, pushing one another from gondolas into the canals, stealing washing form the clothesline … Oh dear! These families need help!

What can you tell us about the Magnifico and the Forte families?

They are established Venetian families who run a range of wonderful businesses including gondola rides, a restaurant, a Venetian glass factory, opera performances and a puppet theatre. On the whole, the Magnificos and the Fortes are kind, friendly people, but they despise one another. When asked why, they cannot really say. Was it an argument over who owned a gondola, a romance where two men loved the one woman, an incident where a fancy chandelier was smashed, a problem with rotten fish served at a wedding? This ongoing feud has become a habit that robs the two families of joy and is teaching their children to do nasty things.

What was your favourite part of writing Mim and the Vicious Vendetta?

I just loved writing all the scenes with the marionettes and sock puppets. Nat becomes completely absorbed in his sock puppets, believing that, like Pinocchio, they can come alive. He also believes the reverse, that real boys can be turned into puppets. Scary! When eating, Nat orders food for each of his sock puppets, too, so he ends up eating an awful lot of gelato and pasta!

In what ways can the right book change your life?

A book can inspire us to do something new, teach us a skill, give us fresh information that helps us make sense of the world, challenge us to think or act differently, encourage us to stand firm in who we are, show us that we are not alone in our struggles, or comfort us. Even the simple act of sitting down with book can be calming and healing. Reading a book together with another person can nurture friendship or love. These are just a few ways books change our lives.

What’s next for Mim, her family and Flossy?

Mim and Nat are going to catch up with their mum in Austria. We’ve caught glimpses of Mum through letters and through Mim’s reflections. But now, in the next book, we’re going to meet Mum face to face. There’s a hint at the end of Mim and the Vicious Vendetta about what will happen next.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Katrina Nannestad is a multi-award-winning Australian author. Her books include the CBCA-shortlisted We Are Wolves, The Girl Who Brought Mischief, The Travelling Bookshop series, The Girl, the Dog and the Writer series, the Olive of Groves series, the Red Dirt Diaries series, the Lottie Perkins series, and the historical novels Rabbit, Soldier, Angel, Thief and Waiting for the Storks.

Katrina grew up in country New South Wales in a neighbourhood stuffed full of happy children. Her adult years have been spent raising boys, teaching, daydreaming and pursuing her love of stories. Katrina celebrates family, friendship and belonging in her writing. She also loves creating stories that bring joy or hope to other people’s lives.

Katrina now lives on a hillside in central Victoria with her husband, a silly whippet called Olive and a mob of kangaroos.

Visit Katrina Nannestad’s website