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...

ACT Literary Awards win for Wildlife Compendium of the World

Wildlife Compendium of the World (Hardie Grant Explore, 2023) 

Has won for Non-Fiction Children's Book at the ACT Literary Awards, 2024!

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

recent award nods

Wildlife Compendium of the World (Hardie Grant Explore, 2023) 

Notable Book,  CBCA Book of the Year Awards, 2024

Longlisted, ABDA, Book Design Awards, 2024

WINNER, ACT Literary Awards, 2024

Dorrie (HarperCollins Children's Books/Angus&Robertson, 2023) 

It's been so exciting to have some of my books longlist and shortlist these past months. Thank you to the awards organisers and judges. It's always the loveliest thing to be recognised by our peers.

Dorrie - Best Biography, Bookstagang Best of 2023

Mega thanks to the #Bookstagang_BestOf2023Aussie team for this gorgeous nod for Dorrie! Just thrilled to see her recognised in this way, and so happy to be alongside these other fab books. 

If you love kids' books, give these book-loving instagrammers are follow... @canyoutellmeastory @get.kids.booked @artsplorers_au @aussie_kids_books @ohcreativeday @lovefourreading @bookieboo.au @flipwithjoy 

 

Plume: Christmas Elf Launch

Today we launched Plume: Christmas Elf, hosted by the glorious Peter, Hannah and the team @ The Book Cow - Kingston!

 
We had a beautiful spot in leafy Green Square, with stacks of candy canes, goodie bags and the cutest mylar balloons (which were a huge hit!).

 
Thank you thank you to everyone who came along and braved that truly melting humidity this morning. I was terrified the book pages would curl in protest, but it was such a magical, fun time, with lots of laughter and candy-cane-sweet moments.

Thanks to my beautiful industry friends for the love and support - some gals I haven't seen in years! Indeed, this is the first launch I've had in 5 or 6 years. Has been a long time between page-flips and it meant so much to have you there.

Thank you to my beautiful girl Ella for the pics.

Wishing you a truly sensational Christmas season, and a well-deserved summer break (particularly teachers and TLs!). With love from me and Plume.

Click below for more...

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.