Aaron Blabey among Children's Book Council winners

TWO years ago, Aaron Blabey chucked in a flourishing acting career. Soon after, he wrote his first children's book, with another surprising twist.

TWO years ago, Aaron Blabey chucked in a flourishing acting career. Soon after, he wrote his first children's book, with another surprising twist.

He jotted the ideas on the back of his boarding pass on a Melbourne-to-Adelaide flight - and got the first draft down later that night on a roll of toilet paper.

Yesterday that unorthodox beginning bore fruit when he won a major prize in the Children's Book Council of Australia awards.

The awards are the country's most prestigious for children's literature, and Blabey's debut book, Pearl Barley & Charley Parsley, was declared Book of the Year for early childhood readers.

``It was delightful news. You never expect that sort of stuff,'' said Blabey, 34.

This year's CBCA awards attracted 453 entries, with other key winners including acclaimed writer Sonya Harnett, whose lyrical novel, The Ghost's Child, was Book of the Year for older readers.

Hartnett recently won Sweden's $800,000 Astrid Lindgren prize for children's and youth writing.
Carole Wilkinson's Dragon Moon was Book of the Year for Younger Readers and Matt Ottley's graphic novel, Requiem for a Beast, was Picture Book of the Year.

Blabey is an AFI best actor winner for television miniseries The Damnation of Harvey McHugh and a nominee for Stingers. He has also appeared in Australian films and theatre.

He retired from acting because ``I came to dislike almost everything about it'' and has devoted himself to painting and writing children's books.

His second picture book, Sunday Chutney, required almost 40 new paintings.