Tara George
Tara George is a Children’s Author and Writer. She has always been an avid reader who quickly discovered the power within a story to entertain, enlighten, educate and generate empathy. She is passionate about sharing this discovery and the tools to unlock it. She took the indirect route to writing, first completing undergraduate studies in Nursing and postgraduate studies in Midwifery. As a writer, she writes and edits online courses for midwives and has written several pieces for the Australian Midwifery News.
Tara has written two early-reader chapter books about geocaching, set in local National Parks. As a result, her author appearances often include treasure hunts, QR codes and temporary geocaches. She also loves to talk about storytelling, reading and writing.
Recently Tara has joined the story city team as a community mentor, supporting groups to create interactive stories with social based outcomes. She has been a judge for the annual Prospect Library Children's Writing Competition since 2017, a guest judge for the City of Charles Sturt mayoral make a book challenge and was a reviewer for the Raising Literacy Big Book Club. You may also recognise her from the geocaching activity at the inaugural Adelaide Festival of Children’s Book.
Examples of talks by Tara George:
The Narrative Writing Process:
This session on the narrative writing process can be used to introduce a class to a unit on narrative writing. It explores the process of planning and editing, focusing on five topics: main characters, viewpoint, tense, setting and problem. Tara uses examples from her own work and also incorporates examples from current literature tailored to the age of the audience. The session includes two interactive group activities about consistency in viewpoint and using words to create an image. The talk was initially prepared for a middle primary class, but can be tailored to the age and specific needs of the class.
The Developed Super-power of Reading:
This talk is suitable for a primary school assembly or an individual class. Tara claims that she is holding the secret to teleporting. She explains that a superpower needed to use it, but that this superpower is available to everyone. It is not an innate superpower but one that is developed. The obvious link to books and reading is made (usually through questioning the audience). Examples from current age appropriate literature are used to engage the audience and reflect on journeys they may have taken. An activity can be attached to the end of this session if desired. It could also be modified to suit a kindergarten group.
Published works for children:
Treasure Hunting Trio, 2015
Caught with the Cache, 2015
Publications related to midwifery:
George, T (2017) A workforce In Crisis: Has anything changed? Australian Midwifery News, Autumn edition, pp24-26
George, T (2016) Letter to editor, Australian Midwifery News, Autumn edition, p9
George, T (2015) Answering an EOI to review an eLearning course, Australian Midwifery News, Spring edition, pp20-21
George, T (2014) Book Review: Unscrambling Grief, Australian Midwifery News, Spring edition, p48
George, T (2013) The web of mentoring, Australian Midwifery News, Autumn edition, pp18-20
George, T (2007) The Joy of Autonomy, in Vernon D (ed) With Women. Midwives Experiences: from shift work to continuity of care, Australian College of Midwives, Canberra, Australia, pp187-195