> Skip to content
  • Published: 24 July 2013
  • ISBN: 9780143307525
  • Imprint: Puffin
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 208
  • RRP: $14.99

The Wishbird




The girl's hands came up to the bars and she gripped them tightly. She was speaking to Boy with her eyes, pleading for help.

The girl's hands came up to the bars and she gripped them tightly. She was speaking to Boy with her eyes, pleading for help. Then a strange and beautiful sound came from her throat, rising and falling like the wind. Boy had never heard anything like it. And yet it was familiar.
Oriole's beloved Wishbird is dying and she must leave the Forest to save him. But in the City of Soulless there is danger everywhere. Can Oriole and Boy save Soulless and the Wishbird, or will the city's darkness prove too great even for magic?

By the award-winning author of A Ghost in My Suitcase.

  • Published: 24 July 2013
  • ISBN: 9780143307525
  • Imprint: Puffin
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 208
  • RRP: $14.99

About the author

Gabrielle Wang

Gabrielle Wang is an author and illustrator, and the Australian Children's Laureate for 2022 to 2023. Born in Melbourne of Chinese heritage, her maternal great-grandfather came to Victoria during the Gold Rush and her father was from Shanghai. Her stories are a blend of Chinese and Western culture with a touch of fantasy.
Gabrielle’s first children’s novel, The Garden of Empress Cassia, won the 2002 Aurealis Award, was shortlisted for the Queensland Premier's Literary Awards and was a CBCA Notable Book. The Pearl of Tiger Bay was shortlisted for the 2004 Aurealis Award and The Lion Drummer was a Notable Book in the 2009 CBCA Book of the Year Awards. A Ghost in My Suitcase won the 2009 Aurealis Award, was a CBC Notable Book, was shortlisted for the 2011 Sakura Medal and received a Highly Commended in the 2010 Prime Minister's Literary Awards. Her first young adult novel, Little Paradise also received a Highly Commended in the 2011 Prime Minister's Awards. Gabrielle's picture book The Race for the Chinese Zodiac (2010) illustrated by Sally Rippin and Regine Abos was a Notable Book in the CBCA Awards for 2011 and shortlisted for the 2011 YABBA and WAYBRA awards. Gabrielle has created two popular characters Poppy and Pearlie for the highly successful 2011 Our Australian Girl series.
The Wishbird was a CBCA 2014 Notable Book and was shortlisted for the 2014 Australian Book Design Awards, Yabba Awards, Kroc Awards, Koala Awards, Cool Awards and Crystal Kite Award.
Gabi’s books also include the suspenseful The Beast of Hushing Wood for middle readers, and a sequel to the award-winning A Ghost in My Suitcase, called Ting Ting the Ghosthunter. Zadie Ma and the Dog Who Chased the Moon is her most recent novel.

Also by Gabrielle Wang

See all

Awards & recognition

Australian Book Design Awards

Shortlisted  •  2014  •  Best Designed Children's Fiction

REAL Children's Choice Awards

Shortlisted  •  2014  •  Younger Readers

CBCA Book of the Year Awards

Notable Book  •  2014  •  Younger Readers