Author: James Foley

James Foley makes children’s books for children who read books. If you’re a child and you’re eating his books, you’re doing it wrong. His books include the multi-award winning Stellarphant, Brobot, Chickensaurus, Bigfoot vs Yeti, Happy Barry Capybara and Oh No! James lives in Perth with his wife Renae Hayward (also an author), 2 kids (wannabe authors), and a labrador (not an author). He is a massive Marvel movie nerd and comes from a long line of queuing enthusiasts. Follow him on socials ( @jamesfoleybooks ) or at www.jamesfoley.com.au .

My new picture book took 7 years to make

My new picture book Stellarphant is out in November this year. I’ve been working on it since 2014, so it’s been 7 years in the making.

That might not seem like much compared to Jurassic Park‘s ’65 million years in the making’. But it’s still a lot … but I digress.

Stellarphant 3D 500px square

I drew the first sketch for what would become Stellarphant on a whim in June 2014. I was sitting with my illustrator buddies in a cottage on Rottnest Island for our annual SCBWI WA Retreat, when I started sketching an elephant and a penguin in spacesuits. No reason why – it just came out on the page. I added some colour and there was the beginnings of a story. The image stayed with me, and I started trying to write something to go with it.

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Events for July

NB: Western Australia enters a four day lockdown from 12.01am Tuesday 29 June. Some of the events below may be rescheduled. I’ll update the details as I have them.

James

It’s a super-busy month ahead, featuring a 10th birthday celebration for my first book on July 10!

The Last Viking is 10 years old (already!), so we’re having a Viking Crafternoon to celebrate.

Full details on that and more below.

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Stellarphant headed to the US in 2022

The flag of the USA flutters on a flagpole on the surface of the moon. A copy of Stellarphant sits next to it.

Fantastic news – Stellarphant is headed to the USA!

It’s the first time any of my books have been published over there, so I’m very excited.

Kane Miller Books will release Stellarphant in the US in early 2022.

Stellarphant will be available in Australia from Nov 2021. Aussies can pre-order it here.

2 competitions for creative WA kids

If you know a young artist in WA, here are two fantastic chances for them to get their work recognised: the Make Your Own Story Book competition and the Shaun Tan Award for Young Artists.

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