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.

My May Gibbs Children's Literature Trust Fellowship, Adelaide, June 2025

 

Mary Wilson Fellow, May Gibbs Children's Literature Trust
Work: a picture book for older readers on the life of artist, Ellis Rowan
Adelaide, June 2025

My month of creative immersion and contemplation - reading, researching, writing, sketching, painting, walking, foraging. A joyful time, head-down at the Burrow in Norwood, pockmarked with the odd get-together with beautiful people, and some life experiences I'll never forget.

Here is a rundown of some highlights.

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: 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

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.

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.

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. 

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!