Always love to stop by Pass It On and say hi to the talented and super-busy Jackie Hosking, who so beautifully hosted a review, an interview and some sneak peek images from Jumpy Roo! Check them out here and make sure you stop awhile and peruse Jackie's fabulous site and industry newsletter.

For the full Jumpy Tour schedule click here. Come along and join in the fun!

#veryjumpytour

A Very Jumpy Tour: Book Review on My Little Bookcase

Delighted to fly on over the gorgeous website My Little Bookcase today, to visit the lovely Jackie Small and to read this amazing review written by Canberran mum, Kate of An Everyday Story. Thank you so much, Jackie and Kate!

For the full Jumpy Tour schedule click here. Come along and join in the fun!

#veryjumpytour

A Very Jumpy Tour: An Author Interview with Elaine Ouston

Delighted to visit the seriously multitasking and very lovely Elaine Ouston on my Jumpy Roo tour today. I am visiting with a fantastic author interview. Read it here!

For the full Jumpy Tour schedule click here. Come along and join in the fun!

#veryjumpytour

A Very Jumpy Tour: Behind the Scenes on Jumpy Roo

An absolute delight to visit my gorgeous friend Sheryl Gwyther this morning on the Jumpy Tour! I am visiting with a guest post--a Behind the Scenes look at the creation of the book. You'll even get to see some internal pages!

For the full Jumpy Tour schedule click here. Come along and join in the fun!

#veryjumpytour

Today I am visiting HerCanberra on my Jumpy Roo tour, with a book giveaway. You could win one of three signed copies of the book!

Thanks to the gorgeous Amanda Whitley for hosting! Be sure to stop awhile at HerCanberra, a site bursting with truly sensational content (most especially books about jumpy roos).

For the full Jumpy Tour schedule click here. Come along and join in the fun!

#veryjumpytour

A Very Jumpy Tour: Riley and the Jumpy Roo on DeeScribe

Always a pleasure to visit my gorgeous, talented, authorly friend Dee White, at her sensational website DeeScribe. Today she is hosting me on tour with Jumpy Roo, and in this post you will find a review and five writing tips from yours truly.

If you're in the least bit interested in writing, make sure you check out DeeScribe for some brilliant and very insightful posts to help you hone your craft.

For the full Jumpy Tour schedule click here. Come along and join in the fun!

#veryjumpytour

Event: Riley and the Jumpy Kangaroo Book Launch

My warmest thanks to Kids' Book Review who had the difficult task of objectively reviewing Riley and the Jumpy Roo on KBR today. It's an absolutely gorgeous review and I'm so grateful.

For the full Jumpy Tour schedule click here. Come along and join in the fun!

#veryjumpytour

A Very Jumpy Tour: Kids' Book Review Book Giveaway

Want to win a copy of Riley and the Jumpy Kangaroo: A journey around Canberra? Just head to Kids' Book Review for your chance to win one of two signed copies.

For the full Jumpy Tour schedule click here. Come along and join in the fun!

#veryjumpytour

A Very Jumpy Tour: Boomerang Books Blog

Riley is on tour! and today one of our stops has been the Boomerang Books Blog, where the amazing Dimity Powell has hosted a brilliant review and interview. The detail Dimity has put into this visit is just extraordinary--I hope you enjoy it.

For the full Jumpy Tour schedule click here. Come along and join in the fun!

#veryjumpytour

A Very Jumpy Tour: Children's Books Daily

Today, Riley and I are delighted to stop by Children's Books Daily with a fabulous book review, thanks to Megan Daley. Stop by Megan's site and check it out, then stay awhile and peruse her sensational, bookish content.

For the full Jumpy Tour schedule click here. Come along and join in the fun!

#veryjumpytour

Riley and the Jumpy Kangaroo Review on GoodReads

The most wonderful review on GoodReads from Jenny Mounfield. Thank you, Jenny! You make me want to buy my own book! Click to read the entire review.

Riley and the Jumpy Kangaroo in City News magazine

My warmest thanks to Laura Edwards and Brent McDonald for this lovely article in City News magazine today. Love your work, guys!

An Aussie Year is finally here

Around five years ago, whilst still living in China's capital city, and having experienced (for four years) a culture very, very different to my own, I wrote a picture book text. It was about our Australian childhood, about who our kids are today and all the myriad tradition, quirks, history and cultural aspects that make for a such diverse and rich tapestry of one of the most fortunate countries in the world.

I am now holding this book in my hands. It's called An Aussie Year: twelve months in the life of Australian kids, and probably more than any book I've written yet, this book feels like a dream come true. It is a book that's very dear to my heart.

Like all {well, most} authors, communicating your vision for a book idea can be tough. Publishers are bombarded with ideas and unless they can step into the vision inside your head {difficult!}, they simply can't know exactly what it is you want to achieve.

This book was 'almost' published a few times, and it wasn't until the manuscript connected with a publisher named Anouska Jones {Exisle Publishing} that the book's true vision came to life.

And here it is. My beautiful Aussie Year.

I'm breathless.

The other glorious part of this tale is that a dear friend and very talented graphic designer and illustrator, Tina Snerling, was able to work on this book with me. It was a true labour of love. Tina and I created the concept for this book and worked hard on its layout and design. The result of Tina's superlative illustrating and design skills is a truly stunning book that I am so very, very proud of.

In this way, the book has been a true collaboration, and, along with Anouska and her sensational editing and publishing support skills, I feel so proud of all the love and belief that went into An Aussie Year.

An Aussie Year will launch Exisle Publishing's brand new children's imprint - EK Publishing (you can read more about that in Books+Publishing magazine). The book is out this October and I'll be celebrating with a blog tour and a book launch in both Brisbane and Canberra, so stay tuned for details.

Here's to vision, to collaboration, and to talented people who not only make authors' dreams come true, but are so utterly impassioned by the creation of great books for kids. And Tina and Anouska are definitely those kind of people.

I'm a lucky, lucky gal.

four rejuvenating days in Sydney

riley and the jumpy kangaroo review on Tracey's Reviews

Warmest thanks to Tracey for this gorgeous review!

new look Kids' Book Review

I'm SO excited to recently launch a new-look Kids' Book Review, thanks to the stylings of dear friend and illustrator/designer Tina Snerling of Tiny Concept. I absolutely love the childlike whimsy of this new design; how I wish I could do this kind of thing!

Check our KBR's new look right here.

I've also been really busy prepping our very first newsletter, packed with exclusive bookish content including publisher insiders. You can sign up here.

My new team and I are also working on a new initiative - The KBR Literary Hub - which will feature online courses, workshops, mentoring, short story opportunities, and more. This will be developed over the coming nonths. Keep an eye on its development here.

Happy reading!