A Kids' Year Series in Simplified Chinese

The A Kids’ Year series has been translated into Simplified Chinese and I’m over the moon.   

Starting with An Aussie Year in 2013 (EK Books), the series is still going strong. Knowing Chinese children can now explore these countries through the eyes of children their age, is a joy for me. We spent four years in Beijing when our kids were young, and I developed a real connection to Chinese children during our time there.  

The books come in a paperback set with a collective sleeve. It also includes a concertina scrapbook for kids to draw and write stories in – perhaps of their own traditions and customs – and a booklet featuring some of the facts from the series, including our own ANZAC Day.  

The production values are beautiful and I’m so grateful to Anouska Jones and EK Books and their rights team for securing this publication. And of course, the books were a team effort, with amazing illustrations by Tina Snerling (Lukas).

Click here to see a video of the books.

Plume: Christmas Elf Christmas Party Book Launch!

Ok - we have a revised launch date for Plume Christmas Elf! The party will be held at The Book Cow, Kingston on Saturday 9 December at 10.30am.

There will be a book reading and signing, mylar balloons and goodie bags, a polaroid frame to have your pic taken with Plume, goodie bags, a lucky door prize with some items featured in the book - and the chance to cuddle Plume!

Come dressed in your best Christmas sparkle! A wonderful way to celebrate the upcoming festive season.

Be sure to RSVP - click right here or email helloATbookcow.com.au and let them know how many kids will be attending.

Plume and I can't wait to see you!

May Gibbs' Legacy at the National Centre for Australian Children's Literature

I loved visiting National Centre for Australian Children’s Literature Inc. recently and writing up this blog post on the legacy of May Gibbs at the Centre. Click here to read the entire piece.

Chief Minister's Reading Challenge School Visits 2023

Thanks to Dionne and Nic at the ACT Government Education Directorate for organising my two recent school visits for the ACT Chief Minister's Reading Challenge, and for their hard work every year on this amazing initiative. It's an honour to be an ambassador for the Challenge (since 2016). 

Cover Reveal - Plume: Christmas Elf!

I'm delighted to share the cover for Plume: Christmas Elf, book 4 in the Plume picture book series. I feel this is the most enchanting Plume book of all and I hope it brings a little bit of magic to your family this Christmas.

Out in Australia/New Zealand on 4 October, you can pre-order by clicking the link below. Ho ho ho!

Plume: Christmas Elf (Book 4)
(October 2023, Hardie Grant Explore, hardback: $24.99, 9781741177923)
PRE-ORDER

4 October Aus/NZ
17 October USA + Canada
19 October UK

Plume: Christmas Elf is a sparkly picture book that celebrates the joy and magic of Christmas around the world – all wrapped up with a visit to Santa’s workshop in the North Pole.

It’s Christmas in Antarctica and our favourite travelling penguin is popping with festive excitement. There are gifts to wrap, cards to write, fairy lights to untangle and gingerbread to bake. 

Ava of the Albatross Express is extra busy. The penguins are buying up big, decking their halls with the biggest and best gifts of all. But things go awry when Ava arrives with terrible news. Santa’s workshop is in trouble and toy production has stopped! 

With a little help from his penguin friends, Plume is off to the North Pole. Can he help Santa and make children's wishes come true?

Join the adorable Plume as he decks the ice halls with joy this Christmas. 

The fourth title in Tania McCartney’s fantastical travel series that is the perfect Christmas gift for children aged 4 to 7 years, and everyone else, too.

#plumethepenguin on social media. 

Wildlife Compendium of the World

Just one week till Wildlife Compendium of the World publishes in Australia and New Zealand. Click the cover above for more info, including dates for US/Can and the UK. I'm so proud of this book. I hope you and the children in your life love learning more about our incredible faunal world.

Dorrie Window is GO!

Dorrie window is go!

Huge thanks to Harry Hartog Bookseller Woden Westfield for this superb space, yet again. Dorrie and Blinky feel so at home here among the glorious book and gifts!

Thanks to Caitlin and Jemima for helping me sort this install. And to Emma at HarperCollins Children's Books Australia for sorting the image printing. Ever thanks to my divine publisher Lisa Berryman HarperCollins and editor Evie Tonelli (now publisher!) for this beautiful Dorrie journey.

I’ve left some signed copies of the book instore, so do pop in if you’d like one. Or seven.

See more about Dorrie right here and see my Instagram for a video.

Dorrie event at the State Library of New South Wales

Join me at the State Library of NSW on Friday 21 April for a journey through the illustrations in Dorrie - my picture book on the life of Dorothy Wall, creator of Blinky Bill.

We’ll do a book reading, then will compare illustration styles with Dorothy’s works. There’ll also be some of her original artwork on display!

Kids will also enjoy an illustration tutorial on some of Australia’s most beautiful plants and animals. My little Blinky Bill toy from the 1970s may help out, too.

There will be some Dorrie colouring sheets to take home and I’ll be signing some books, too.

The event runs from 11:30am to 12:30pm. Head to the State Library of NSW website for more info and to book.

Cover reveal! Wildlife Compendium of the World

I'm delighted to reveal the cover to my upcoming tome, Wildlife Compendium of the World! This book was some years in the making and is a true labour of love. What a joy it was to research and write about these extraordinary animals from every continent on Earth, and to draw each one in all their incredible, adorable, unique and sometimes terrifying glory!

Dorrie - cover reveal!

After the huge joy of writing on the life of May Gibbs (Mamie, A&R/HarperCollins Children's Books Australia, 2018), it made perfect sense to craft the story of Dorothy Wall – multi-talented artist and book creator, whose similarity to May is astonishing yet her life and works are far less known. You may know her as the creator of Australia’s iconic cheeky larrikin – Blinky Bill.

Plume Bookplates! Free download

Plume is bringing back the bookplate! He’s made one for Festival Seeker, but also Global Nibbler and World Explorer!

If you’d like a free pdf download of each one, just click the Festival Seeker image above.

Happy Pluming!

Wonderful Shoes on Play School Story Time!

Emma and I are overjoyed to have Wonderful Shoes join the stable of gorgeous picture books on Play School Story Time!

Read by the divine Fifi Box and her daughter Trixie, the book is retrieved (along with an adorable pair of shoes) from the Magic Story Drawer, then read with plenty of stamp-stomping and click-clacking and tip-tapping, of course! 

We even get to see Trixie's favourite shoe - the cutest pink heart boots. And her favourite shoe from Wonderful Shoes? The boots that go click-clack (a girl after my own pink heart).

This Story Time will appear on ABC Kids (free-to-air) on 19 October at 7.20am, or you can see it now on iView.

Huge thanks to Play School and the ABC, and to Windy Hollow Books. What a joy it is to have Wonderful Shoes shared with children all over Australia. 

See more about Wonderful Shoes right here, and download the book's colouring pages here.