Hazel Eileen Edwards (

OAM OAM may refer to: *Oamaru Aerodrome, New Zealand * Object access method *Observatorio Astronómico de Mallorca, an observatory in Spain *U.S. Office of Alternative Medicine, whose duties have been taken over by the National Center for Complementary ...

) (born 1945) is an Australian author of children's literature, including ''There's a Hippopotamus on Our Roof Eating Cake'' (1980).

Early life and education

Melbourne-born and based, Hazel Eileen Edwards attended Ashburton Primary and

Camberwell High School Camberwell High School is a government-funded, government run, co-educational high school for years 7 to 12, located on Prospect Hill Road in Canterbury, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Camberwell High School is located on a 3.2-hect ...

, graduating in 1961.

Career

After working in a bank and studying at night, Edwards entered Toorak Teachers' College. She taught at Westall High School and was invited to lecture at Frankston Teachers' College while studying at

Monash University Monash University () is a public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Named for prominent World War I general Sir John Monash, it was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the state. The university h ...

at night. Later she lectured in children's literature and psychology at Toorak Teachers' College, and the Institute of Early Childhood Development, then became a freelance author-lecturer after the publication of 'General Store' (1977) and ''There's a Hippopotamus On Our Roof Eating Cake'' (1980) which toured nationally with Garry Ginivan productions as 'Hippo Hippo the Musical' (2016). As 2001

Australian Antarctic Division The Australian Antarctic Division (AAD) is a division of the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water. The Division undertakes science programs and research projects to contribute to an understanding of Antarctica and th ...

writer, awarded the Antarctic Fellowship, Edwards travelled to

Casey Station Casey Station, commonly called Casey, is one of three permanent stations and research outposts in Antarctica managed by the Australian Antarctic Division (AAD). Casey lies on the northern side of the Bailey Peninsula overlooking Vincennes Bay on ...

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest co ...

on the '' Polar Bird''. Literary output based on her experience includes ''Antarctica's Frozen Chosen'' (a young adult eco-thriller), ''Antarctic Writer on Ice'' (her expedition diary), ''Antarctic Dad'' (a picture book), ''Right or Wrong'' (a play co-written with fellow author

Goldie Alexander Goldie Alexander (6 September 1936 – 3 August 2020) was an Australian author. Biography Goldie Alexander was born in Melbourne, 6 September 1936. Her parents were Polish migrants. Style A review of ''Hedgeburners'' described Alexander as "an ...

), ''Grandma Leaps the Antarctic'' (an

Auslan Auslan () is the majority sign language of the Australian Deaf community. The term ''Auslan'' is a portmanteau of "Australian Sign Language", coined by Trevor Johnston in the 1980s, although the language itself is much older. Auslan is relat ...

-signed DVD) and ''Antarctic Closeup'', a National Museum initiative. Edwards was a 2012 National Year of Reading Ambassador, and has been a director on the Australian Society of Authors’ board. In 2010, Edwards wrote the

young adult novel Young adult fiction (YA) is a category of fiction written for readers from 12 to 18 years of age. While the genre is primarily targeted at adolescents, approximately half of YA readers are adults. The subject matter and genres of YA correlate ...

''f2m; the boy within'' with co-author Ryan Kennedy about transitioning from female to male. In 2018, she launched her book ''Like Me'' about a child involved in the

Yarra Plenty Regional Library Yarra Plenty Regional Library (YPRL) provides a public library service to the local government municipalities of the City of Banyule, Shire of Nillumbik and City of Whittlesea in the northeast of Melbourne Australia and located on the lands of ...

's literacy program "Doggy Tales". Her 2016 novel ''Hijabi Girl'', co-written with Ooze Allan, is about a diverse group of school friends in modern Australia, and has been turned into a musical puppet show.

Awards and honours

* 2013 Order of Australia Medal for services to literature * 2017 YABBA Graham Davey citation for mentoring young readers and writers

Published works

Cake Eating Hippo series

* 'Ho!Ho!Ho! There's a Hippopotamus on Our Roof Eating Christmas Cake' *''There's a Hippopotamus on our Roof Eating Cake'' * "Hooray! There's a Hippopotamus on Our Roof Having a Birthday Party" * ''Hand Me Down Hippo'' chapter book * ''My Hippopotamus is on our Caravan Roof Getting Sunburnt'' * ''Hey Hippopotamus, Do Babies Eat Cake'' * ''Look, There's a Hippopotamus in the Playground Eating Cake'' * ''Guess What? There's A Hippopotamus on the Hospital Roof Eating Cake'' * ''Our Cake Eating Hippo Plays'' * Pocket Bonfire Productions 16-minute film ''There's a Hippopotamus on Our Roof Eating Cake''

Antarctic related works

* ''Antarctic Dad' Kipas Books re-issue 2018 * ''Antarctica's Frozen Chosen'' * ''Antarctic Writer on Ice'' * ''Right or Wrong? Plays that make you think'' * ''Antarctic Closeup'' in ''Making Tracks'' series

Works in collections

* Lu Rees Archives (University of Canberra) *

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

International Youth Library The International Youth Library (IYL) (, IJB) in Munich is a library that specializes in the collection of children and youth literature from around the world in order to make them available to the public, focusing on the international community. ...

which contains books promoting tolerance, including Edwards' titles *

Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award The Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award ( sv, Litteraturpriset till Astrid Lindgrens minne) is an international children's literary award established by the Swedish government in 2002 to honour the Swedish children's author Astrid Lindgren (1907– ...

(ALMA)Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award
(Sweden) www.alma.se

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Edwards, Hazel 1945 births Living people Australian children's writers Australian non-fiction writers Australian women children's writers