Alison Lester at her beach when “all time” children’s book named

MAGIC Beach, by Fish Creek’s Alison Lester, has been named Guardian Australia’s ‘Best Children’s Picture Book of all Time’.

It won a popular poll, in which as many as 15,000 votes were cast daily for the top 50 children’s books, from when voting opened on January 27 until the winner was announced on Friday, February 6.

Interestingly enough, Ms Lester was visiting the beach that was the inspiration for the 1990 award-winning classic, at Walkerville South, last Thursday when she was advised that Magic Beach had topped the poll.

“That is fabulous news and how amazing it is that I am at Magic Beach while you are telling me,” Ms Lester told the Guardian.

During an interview with Gippsland ABC radio on Friday, Ms Lester explained why she thought the book resonated so strongly with Australian children and their parents but had not had the same connection overseas.

"I was saying to someone yesterday that of all my books, Magic Beach is probably the least translated," said Ms Lester in an interview with ABC's Bec Symons.

"And I think maybe that the way we go to the beach here in Australia doesn't kind of fit in with everyone else's, like we don't have a lot of banana lounges. It's all a bit wild and wooly. But yeah, I think Australians love the beach, and that's why that focus resonated for such a long time," she said.

"I think it resonates with people because it's something that they do. I think that opening rhyme is really lovely, “at our beach, at our magic beach”, and I have no idea where that came from now.

"But it's really pretty hit and miss, you know, and I feel so fortunate that I've been lucky enough to have a way of expressing myself and the world that I see that resonates with people.

"Because I know a lot of people who are really fabulous artists, no matter what sort of artists they are, sometimes they do beautiful work, but no one wants to buy it, and that's really heartbreaking. So, I do feel very lucky that I'm on the same page as a lot of people."

The top 10 Australian Children’s Picture Books voted on in the Guardian poll are as follows:

1. Magic Beach written and illustrated by Alison Lester - 2,557 votes
2. Possum Magic by Mem Fox, illustrated by Julie Vivas – 1782 votes
3. Where is the Green Sheep? by Mem Fox, illustrated by Judy Horacek - 1609 votes
4. Diary of a Wombat by Jackie French, illustrated by Bruce Whatley – 1556 votes
5. My Shadow is Pink by Scott Stuart - 1436 votes
6. Animalia by Graeme Base – 1340 votes
7. Room on Our Rock by Kate and Jol Temple - 1290 votes
8. There’s a Hippopotamus on Our Roof Eating Cake by Hazel Edwards illustrated by Deborah Niland - 1267 votes.
9. Come Over to My House by Sally Rippin and Eliza Hull, illustrated by Daniel Gray-Barnett - 1008 votes.
10. All the Ways to Be Smart by Davina Bell, illustrated by Allison Colpoys - 1002.

More than 100,000 votes were cast during the 10 days of the poll and aside from the first day, when Possum Magic took an early lead, Magic Beach was the most voted book every other day of the count.

Ms Lester initially had four books in the count, when the Guardian called on readers to shape the top 50 best Australian children’s picture books list, including Kissed by the Moon, Are We There Yet?, Imagine and Magic Beach.

“I would be happy to have one, but to have four seems to be a bit of a miracle,” Ms Lester told the Guardian.

In an interview with ABC Gippsland Ms Lester said Kissed By the Moon was a popular birthday gift for young children.

“I once had someone tell me that their baby received four copies of Kiss by the Moon as gifts."

In May last year, Ms Lester spoke during an exhibition of the original illustrations from her 2004 book ‘Are We There Yet’? at the Berninneit Art Gallery in Cowes, on tour from the Gippsland Art Gallery collection. She also signed books for hundreds children following the event.

She is a regular visitor to the Alison Lester shop in Fish Creek.