WELLKNOWN children's book author George Ivanoff will tour the Wimmera libraries and schools to promote the importance of reading and writing.
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Born and raised in Melbourne, Ivanoff is an award winning children's book author. He is best known for his interactive You Choose series comprising of 13 books.
Wimmera Regional Library Corporation organised the tour as an initiative to introduce authors in local schools.
The two-day event will see Ivanoff touring Horsham and Warracknabeal in the Wimmera Regional Mobile Library.
The author spoke to students from Laharum Primary School and Marnoo Primary School on Thursday.
On Friday, he will speak at the Warracknabeal library with students from Warracknabeal Primary School, Yapeet Primary School and Beulah Primary School.
Ivanoff aimed to inspire the students by sharing his own writing journey. He said his You Choose series resulted from his "obsessive reading" as a kid.
"These 'choose your own adventure' novels were very popular around the 70s and 80s when I was kid and I used to read those all time. They were so much fun to read, I figured they would be fun to write as well, which is why I started writing them. They proved to be very successful, " he said.
Ivanoff said he loved visiting the country schools and meeting the students.
"Kids don't get authors that often in the rural areas, so they are much more excited about the whole thing. It is absolutely terrific. I am looking forward to that," he said.
The author said he aimed for about five regional school tours in a year.
"I came back from a tour in Tasmania couple of weeks ago. The kids were so enthusiastic and so responsive. The teachers were so appreciative that someone traveled out from such a distance. These are my favourite sort of tours," he said.
Ivanoff said his road trip from Melbourne to Uluru with his family inspired his famous Royal Flying Doctor Service adventures series.
"A lot of my other inspiration comes from own childhood experiences and my memories of school," he said.
He said his children,10-year-old Alexandra and 16-year-old Nykita also inspired him while writing his books.
Ivanoff is currently working on his new children's book Australia Survival Guide.
His books have recently been shortlisted for the YABBA, KOALA, and KROC awards.
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