Animal Tales

Raewyn Caisley was born in New Zealand but has lived in Australia, in Fremantle, WA, for more than half her life, with her husband Terry and their son Jack. Raewyn is the author of books for younger readers that include bestselling Aussie Bites and Nibbles titles, and the picture books Hello From Nowhere and Something Wonderful. Hello From Nowhere won the 2015 SCBWI Crystal Kite Award for Australia and New Zealand, was shortlisted for the 2016 Adelaide Festival Awards and the WA Premier's Book Awards, and was a CBCA Notable Book in 2015. Something Wonderful was short-listed for the Patricia Wrightson Prize for children's Literature, won the 2016 Speech Pathology Australia book of the Year Award, and was a 2017 CBCA Notable Book.

Bruce Dawe, widely recognised as Australia's most popular poet, is a winner of numerous awards including the Patrick White Literary Award (1980), the Christopher Brennan Award (1984) and the National Book Council Best Published Book in Australia for Sometime Gladness. Bruce has been awarded the Order of Australia (AO) for his contribution to Australian literature and in 2000 received an Art Council Emeritus Writers Award. Bruce was born in Fitzroy, Victoria, in 1930 and after leaving school worked in various occupations (labourer, farmhand, clerk, sawmill-hand, gardener, and postman) before joining the RAAF in 1959. He has published twelve books of poetry, a book of short stories and a book of essays. His previous titles in the Aussie Bites range are The Chewing-Gum Kid and Luke and Lulu, and he has also written three Aussie Nibbles.

Rachel Flynn has published numerous picture books and novels for children, some of which have been translated and republished in French, Spanish, Dutch, Turkish, Chinese and Korean. She is best known for her hugely successful I Hate Fridays series and picture books My Mummy and Me, My Daddy and Me and their companion books (illustrated by Craig Smith). Many of her books are listed on the various State Premiers’ Reading Challenge booklists, and she has featured in numerous ‘children’s choice’ awards. Collecting Sunshine (illustrated by Tamsin Ainslie) was listed as a Notable Book [early childhood] by The CBC in 2019. Rachel's picture books and junior fiction stories have been illustrated by some of Australia’s finest illustrators. Rachel has taught in Professional Writing Programs around Melbourne for twenty-five years. She is currently undertaking a PhD in creative writing.

Jane Godwin is an Australian children’s book publisher, and also the highly acclaimed author of over twenty books for children, across all styles and ages. Her work is published internationally and she has received many commendations, including the Queensland Premier’s Award (Children’s Books), the Aurealis Award and the Animal Welfare Award, and shortlistings in the CBC Book of the Year Awards, the Prime Minister’s Literary Award, the New South Wales State Literary Award (Patricia Wrightson Prize) the YABBA Awards, the Speech Pathology Awards, The Family Award for Children’s Books, and the Australian Book Industry Awards.

Ann James was a secondary art teacher before she took up children's book illustration over twenty years ago. She has illustrated more than 50 books since then. Some well-loved favourites include the Penny Pollard series by Robin Klein, The Midnight Gang and The Midnight Feast by Margaret Wild, the Hannah series by Libby Gleeson, The Butterfly by Roger Vaughan Carr and most recently Little Humpty by Margaret Wild and Shutting the Chooks In by Libby Gleeson. Ann has written and illustrated two picture books of her own, One Day and Finding Jack. Most of her illustrations feature her own animals and she delights in being playful and experimental with the materials she chooses to work with. She and her friend Ann Haddon run Books Illustrated, a bookshop and gallery for book illustrations in Albert Park. Ann lives right opposite the dog beach in Melbourne, where she spends time thinking and walking with her dogs, Ollie and Kip.

David Mackintosh was born in Belfast and, when very young, moved with his family to Australia. He didn't do art at school, mostly sport, but went on to art college where he was highly commended in the MacMillan Children's Book Prize for his version of The Emperor's New Clothes, which was later published. He has illustrated numerous books for children, most notably Gillian Rubinstein's Sharon Keep Your Hair On, which was short listed for picture book of the year. As a designer of illustrated books he works with photographers and illustrators, and has won British and Australian design awards. David lives in London. David's latest book, Rex (written by Ursula Dubosarsky) won the 2006 APA Best Designed Children's Picture Book and 2006 APA Best Designed Children's Cover of the Year Awards, and is short listed for the CBC 2006 Book of the Year - Early Childhood.

Judy Watson is a Melbourne based illustrator, working part time from her home studio. Over nearly 15 years she has illustrated 15 children's books, many of them chapter books for young readers, including some Aussie Nibbles and Aussie Bites for Penguin Books. (Aussie Nibbles – Tim & Tig by Victor Kelleher, Aussie Nibbles – The Only Pony by David Metzenthen, Aussie Bites – Moon Station by Rachel Flynn and Aussie Bites – Rosie Staple's Minor Magical Misunderstanding by Cath Crowley). She is currently working on her first picture book, Goodnight Mice! This teams Judy up again with Frances Watts, author of the Extraordinary Ernie & Marvellous Maud series for ABC Books. Jittery Judy and Fearless Frances found they made a great team and Book One has since been named a Notable Book in the Younger Readers category of the 2009 Children's Book Council of Australia Book of the Year Awards. Judy is also working on some new cover illustrations for the paperback editions of Emily Rodda's Fairy Realm series – a task that she is enjoying, being a great lover of book jacket design. Judy's illustrations also sometimes appear at the Melbourne Museum and in the museum members' magazine. In 2010 Judy joined the team who illustrate The School Magazine, which can make for a surprising challenge arriving each month in the letterbox. (Last month it was vampires!) Judy loves the work of other illustrators, past and present. Her small house is packed with books she has collected, although it can be tricky to keep them in order with two small boys enjoying them too. Some of Judy's all time favourite illustrators are William Steig, Edward Ardizzone, Sempé, Jean de Brunhoff, Quentin Blake, Tomi Ungerer and Valeri Gorbachev.

Jocelyn Bell has a Diploma of Art/Illustration from RMIT and has illustrated numerous books for Oxford University Press, Longman-Cheshire and Macmillan. She has illustrated the popular Aussie Nibble Scruffy's Day Out (Rachel Flynn), which was a CBCA Notable Book in 2002, and Lorraine Marwood's earlier Nibble The Girl Who Turned into Treacle.

Andrew McLean is one of Australia's best-loved and most highly awarded illustrators of children's books. His CBCA award-winning titles include You'll Wake the Baby!, My Dog and Reggie, Queen of the Street, and he has also illustrated a number of picture books with his writer wife, Janet. Andrew has illustrated three Aussie Nibbles: When Anna Slept Over, No Cat - and That's That!, and Show and Tell. Andrew lives in Melbourne.