One book of hers was "Song at the Gate" (1987).
She was also an illustrator.
It's so frustrating that I had to dig this out from Facebook, bit by
bit! (It was at the page of Jonathan Crabtree - her son? - but when I
opened it, I couldn't see anything about her.) I had to guess where the paragraph breaks were.
https://www.facebook.com/p/Jonathan-J-Crabtree-100014679918809/?locale=ms_MY
RE: JUDITH HELEN CRABTREE FUNERAL 16th AUGUST 2023 Judith Helen Crabtree
23 Sept. 1928 - 6 Aug. 2023
"Daughter, Sister, Wife, Mother, Aunty, Grandma, Great Grandma, Judith
Crabtree was all these characters as she embraced the story of her life. Friend, actor, artist, writer, teacher, storyteller… So, now it's time
for her epilogue.
"Around the age of ten, I realised my mother was a women's libber. She
believed all people should be treated equally and have the same
opportunity to pursue their hopes and dreams. Judith became a member of
the Women's Electoral Lobby (WEL) and joined a cop-op intent on writing non-sexist children's books. Thus, books like The Princess and the
Painter came to light. In it, the princess shunned her pretty clothes
and wanted to don overalls and paint the castle. Against the King's
initial wishes, the princess eventually got her way.
"Now, family members called Ashtree and Crabtree-Morton are enduring
tributes to Judith's values of equality and equal opportunity.
Grandchildren and Great Grandchildren also reflect Judith's DNA. (Yes,
Debbie Nicole Ashtree, that's for you.) Through her art, her stories,
her students and her children, Judith's legacy will surely echo for
eternity. So, now Judith and Peter and re-united for their final
physical resting place. And how different they both were, yet so right
for each other. They were both role models for me, and gave me exactly
what I needed, both when times were good and when times were bad.
"This is a good time. We can celebrate her life. In the final few years
of Judith's life, her flame began to flicker. It was if a spell had been
cast over her mind. Yet, despite having Alzheimer's Disease, Judith
always kept a quick wit and would enjoy a laugh – usually at my expense, which I loved. To the end, Judith loved and knew she was loved. For love
is a strange and powerful magic, strong enough to break even the
cruellest spell..."
_____________________________________________________________
(I'm not sure if that was the end or not. But "break even the cruellest
spell" comes from the 1996 book, "A Strange and Powerful Magic.")
What I posted in 2018:
A former high school English and history teacher, she lives in
Burwood, Victoria. Or Melbourne.
"Since I began writing and illustrating fantasy stories, I have
frequently been asked if I would ever consider writing for adults. My
answer has always been the same. When all the universal human concerns
can be woven into tales that are simple, yet endlessly varied,
resonant and rich in dramatic imagery, what more could a writer-
illustrator wish for?
"The best fairy tales are always allegorical. Like poetry, they are
models of conciseness and address issues of the greatest importance in
a form that gives clarity and vision. They are as timeless and as
placeless as 'Once there was ...' can be, and they appeal to old and
young and everybody in between.
"But for me the greatest beauty of these stories is in those omissions
that give them their universality, those gaps through which the reader
is drawn into inner spaces that give room to intuition and creative
dreaming. When a story is complete in all its details, it leaves the
reader still confined within the familiar and the commonplace self. In contrast, the gaps in an allegory are byways into the reader's
creative self and beyond."
https://www.google.com/search?q=Judith+Crabtree+books&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi7947N0tHdAhWKVt8KHeraAP4Q_AUIDygC&biw=1282&bih=831#imgrc=_
(book covers)
WRITINGS BY THE AUTHOR:
Skins and Shells and Peelings (young adult novel), Highland House,
1979.
JUVENILE
Emily Jean and the Grumphfs, Wren Publishing, 1975.
Carolyn Two, Wren Publishing, 1975.
(Self-illustrated) Nicking Off, Wren Publishing, 1975.
(Self-illustrated) The High Rise Gang, Wren Publishing, 1975.
(Self-illustrated) Legs, Penguin Australia, 1979.
"The farm folk in the painting could only stand and stare in wonder
at the strange creature Lotta found on the way to the fair. What on
earth was this weird, unfinished thing the artist had painted?"
(Self-illustrated) The Sparrow's Story at the King's Command, Oxford
University Press, 1983.
"This medieval tale is depicted in lavish, Book-of-Hours type
illustrations." "A sparrow delivering the Storyteller's story to the
King experiences numerous adversities en route."
(Self-illustrated) Stolen Magic, Oxford University Press, 1983.
(Self-illustrated) Song at the Gate, Oxford University Press, 1987.
"The king has shut himself up in his castle and lives in gloom. One day
he hears a song by a castle wall which fills his heart with joy. To find
the singer he has to embark on a terrifying journey."
(Self-illustrated) Night of the Wild Geese, Oxford University Press,
1990.
"'In this hauntingly beautiful tale, Judith Crabtree tells the story
of young Eliza who is spirited away by wild geese on her fathers
estate, and is then transformed into a goose."
Skew-Whiff, 1995
A Strange and Powerful Magic, 1996
"This picture book is a fantasy love story in which Selina, a
beautiful mermaid, falls in love with the Lord of the Wind. She has to
overcome the jealousy of her seven sisters and the evil magic of the
Lord of the Deep before love's own strange and powerful magic can
prevail."
The Time Fliers, 2001
"......about a girl whose first night at her Gran's country house
turns into an adventure involving time-travelling owls, a mission to
help a friend, and girls of two different generations linked by
destiny."
Merbaby Rescue, 2006
"Underwater creatures discover a Merbaby and take it into their care.
To their horror they discover that rebel rays have kidnapped all the
Merbabies, in an attempt to take over the seas! The Merbaby they have
rescued is the only one left free. UNTIL..."
ILLUSTRATOR:
The Princess and the Painter by Judith Bathie, 1975.
A family of potters, by Jan Harper, 1975.
Marina, by Jan Harper, 1977.
"The Sparrow's Story at the King's Command was adapted for video in
1985."
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