FLORA wins Shadow Judging at the CBCA Awards, 2025

I'm beyond honoured to receive the Shadow Judging Award in the Eve Pownall (non-fiction) category at the CBCA Book of the Year Awards, 2025.

To receive the vote from children themselves is beyond special, and it was pretty emotional to receive this award for a book that stole my heart. 

As ever, a book takes a village and Flora would not have happened without my sensational NLA team - Lauren Smith, Amelia Hartney, Madeleine Warburton, Kath Kovac, Tricia Fitzgerald, and my amazing First Nations contributors. Mega thanks to artsACT for the grant that helped make this book possible.

Biggest thanks to the kids themselves! I'm absolutely thrilled Flora also stole your heart.

FLORA shortlists for the CBCA Book of the Year Awards 2025 - Eve Pownall category!

Absolutely overjoyed {and shocked and speechless!] to shortlist in this year’s The Children’s Book Council of Australia Book of the Year Awards in the Eve Pownall non-fiction category.

 
FLORA was such a long time coming and was such a passion project for me. It means the world to have the book recognised by my peers - feeling quite overwhelmed.

As ever - a village is involved - thank you, Lauren Smith, Amelia Hartney, Maddie Warburton, Kath Kovac, Tricia Fitzgerald and our glorious First Nations advisors for helping craft this dream book!

Mega congrats to my fellow shortlistees! And thank you, artsACT for the grant that helped make this book possible.

FLORA has shortlisted for Australian Book Industry Awards... absolutely over the moon!

ABDA longlist for FLORA!

Australian Book Designers Awards longlist for Flora—I’m bloomin’ delighted! 

Thank you, ABDA.

notable book - FLORA!

Thrilled to see FLORA: Australia’s Most Curious Plants among CBCA Notable Books for 2025–thank you, CBCA!

Takes a village, so huge thanks to publisher Lauren Smith.books, Madeleine Warburton and Amelia Hartney at the National Library of Australia. And to artsACT (the ACT Government) for the grant that helped craft FLORA.

Congrats to my fellow longlistees for your gorgeous creations and all the hard work you have put in. And commiserations to those who missed out this year. I see you and all your hard work and passion.

FLORA Greeting Cards!

Just delighted to have a set of cards featuring the artwork from FLORA: Australia's Most Curious Plants (National Library Publishing). They are published by Nuovo Group and will be available in stores around Australia from 6 January 2025. 

Featuring Australia's stunning native flora, they are perfect for so many occasions, and come in both greeting card and gift card versions.

FLORA: Australia's Most Curious Plants PUZZLE!

 

To say I love puzzles is an understatement. IN LOVE might be more apt. It was a life moment to have my Australia Map made into a puzzle, and the World Map, and Birds and Animals puzzles that followed, too. And now - there's Flora.

It all started when my dear friend Jennie said 'you have to make your Flora cover into a puzzle', followed by mentioning this to my divine publisher, Lauren Smith, at the National Library... to Lauren replying with 'let's make it happen'.

Et voila! Overjoyed. It's a 1000-piece creation with beautiful, quality pieces (the box is heavy!) and yes, yes, I'm piecing it together as I type. It's always a surreal thing to see your work morph into treasures like this.

It would make a fantastic Christmas gift, and if you do snaffle a copy, I hope you love it! 

Click the image below for more details and a link to where you can buy.

FLORA in reviews

Some truly lovely and humbling responses to FLORA since its release - click the image above to read and listen. This picture was taken outside the National Library bookshop in September.

Love Your Bookshop Day - FLORA reading at Bookface Gungahlin

Gotta love our fabulous bookshops! Join me to celebrate Love Your Bookshop Day at Bookface Gungahlin on Saturday 12 October. It runs all day, but I'll be reading from Flora and Ivy Bird at 10am - so do pop by!

Event by BOOK FACE Gungahlin
The Marketplace, 33 Hibberson St, Gungahlin

Join us for Love Your Bookshop Day! 

Come dressed up in book theme to receive a free gift on the day (while stocks last)

Meet some local artists selling their wares in store, as well as some local authors who will be signing their books.

Stay for storytime with Tania McCartney at 10am as she reads some of her picture books and takes kids through her new release -FLORA.

FLORA at Floriade!

I’m thrilled to be hosting a special event at Floriade at 10am on Sunday 6 October - featuring FLORA: Australia’s Most Curious Plants.

There will be a book reading/chat - and I’ll be asking kids lots of questions to test their botanical knowledge!

There’ll also be activity sheets, some dried flowers, leaves and pods to pick apart and explore, and I’ll guide kids through a series of wildflower drawings.

Hope you can come along! Click the post above for the deets.

See you there!

FLORA book launch!

 

Save the date! I'm delighted to be hosting a FLORA launch at the National Library on the morning of Sunday 22 September. 

There will be a book reading and signing, a lucky door prize that includes a limited edition FLORA print, some fabulous FLORA activities, including making your own wildflowers, and your very own wildflower seed packets!

Click the poster above to reserve your spot! And stay tuned for more on a Floriade event on Sunday 6 October.

FLORA puzzles while you wait...

Flora: Australia's Most Curious Plants is just a couple of months away (1 October) and while you wait, why not put together the cover in this online puzzle? And if you're super keen for an internals peek, put together this full spread in the second puzzle!

FLORA COVER...

cover reveal! FLORA: Australia's Most Curious Plants

I’m beyond thrilled to reveal the cover for FLORA: Australia’s Most Curious Plants – a long, long-awaited companion to FAUNA: Australia’s Most Curious Creatures. This book has been a dream of mine for many, many years, and it was a true passion project to finally piece the wonders of our botanical world together. 

As ever, books take a village. Huge thanks to the @nationalibraryau, to my incredible publisher Lauren Smith, managing editor Amelia Hartney, editors Kath Kovac and Tricia Fitzgerald, image coordinator Madeleine Warburton and the glorious First Nations peoples who added so much richness to this work. 

FLORA is released 1 October, but you can pre-order now – at your local store or online – with the knowledge that pre-ordering is a real gift to book creators and their publishers. The National Library of Australia Bookshop will have copies a couple of weeks ahead of the national launch date, so if you can’t wait, do pop in to the Library, phone or hop on their Bookshop website to snaffle an early bird copy. 

I hope you love this homage to our phenomenal native flora and its spectacular beauty, resilience and mindboggling survival strategies that will blow your socks off. You thought you knew our native plants? Think again. Enter this magical garden of Gondwanan wonder. 

FLORA: Australia’s Most Curious Plants 

National Library Publishing 

ISBN: 9781922507716 

MUSIC: Snow is Coming by Purple Planet Music