James Foley

Barry Capybara gets rave reviews

Thanks to all those who’ve read Happy Barry Capybara and posted their reviews online. It really helps!

Buy Happy Barry Capybara here:

🌏*Signed copIes* – PAPER BIRD

🇦🇺🇳🇿 LOCAL INDIE BOOKSHOPS

Free capybara colouring pages

Here’s three colouring pages for your home, school or library – free for non-commercial use – featuring Happy Barry Capybara.

How to use comics in the classroom

Hello teachers!

Would you like some FREE P.D.?

Check out this 15min video I made, commissioned by the good people at Awesome Arts Festival! It’s full of tips and tricks for teaching Comics in the Classroom.

No drawing skill is required, because comics aren’t about being the best at drawing; they’re about effectively communicating ideas, and you can do that with stick figures if need be!

Check out the video for more.

If the video doesn’t show up for you, you can view it on youtube here.

Stellarphant headed to the stage

This is fantastic news … Barking Gecko Arts is adapting my picture book Stellarphant for theatre!

Having seen their incredible show House, I’m beyond excited to see how Barking Gecko Arts brings Stella’s story to the stage.

Artistic Director Sam Longley will lead the Barking Gecko team in bringing the production to life. It’s currently scheduled for January 2026.

Secret Agent Mole shortlisted in national comics awards

Great news – Secret Agent Mole books 1 and 2 have been shortlisted in the 2024 Comic Arts Awards of Australia!

Big thanks to the judges and organisers for recognising my books.

If you’re a comics fan, you’ve got to check out the full shortlist! It’s chock full of amazing Australian creators, including my buddies Aśka and Brenton McKenna.

The awards will be announced in Canberra at the end of the month.

Happy Barry Capybara is out now!

If you like funny, animal-based rhyming texts with added fart jokes, then boy do I have a book for you. ⁠
⁠
My new picture book – HAPPY BARRY CAPYBARA – is officially out today! ⁠

I know some people pre-ordered, or grabbed an early copy through a bookshop or Scholastic Book Fair. If you’ve already bought a copy, thanks heaps! I hope you enjoy it.

If you haven’t grabbed a copy yet, ask at your local bookshop or click the links below.

Buy Happy Barry Capybara

Out now!

🌏*Signed copIes* – PAPER BIRD

🇦🇺🇳🇿 LOCAL INDIE BOOKSHOPS

Come to the Capybara book launch

Join me to celebrate the release of my new picture book, Happy Barry Capybara. I’ll share stories and guide kids through an illustration activity—there’s sure to be lots of laughs and capybara-related fun!

DATE: Saturday November 2nd
WHEN: 2:30 – 3:30pm
WHERE: Paper Bird Books, 42 Henry St, Fremantle WA
AGES: all age
TICKETS: free; bookings essential.

Secret Agent Mole book 2 crash-lands in Germany

Max Maulwurf is heading back to Germany with book 2. Rather than The Boar Identity, it’s called Die Astronauten-Attacke – ‘The Astronaut Attack’.

Thanks to Karibu for publishing, and Matthias Wieland for translating!

Here are some of the German internals so you can see how the words and sound effects translate (MAMPF! KNURPS! SCHLÜRF! HAPS! BIEP!).

Sept/Oct school holiday events

I know we’ve all just finished a busy busy BUSY term 3, but …

… now it’s time for some fun school holiday workshops!

I’ve got a great new collaborative storytelling event at the Awesome Festival called Spontaneous Stories … and a comics workshop at Fremantle Library.

I’ve got some other events around town too but they’ve already booked out, so these are the only ones that still have tickets (at the time of making this post). Best get in quick!

Happy Barry Capybara – out Nov 1st

Here’s my new picture book Happy Barry Capybara, out on November 1st with Scholastic!

“Nothing ever bothered happy Barry Capybara.
He was chill when it was chilly, out on the savannah.
Hanging with his friend, the yellow-headed caracara.
No, nothing ever bothered happy Barry Capybara.“

Happy Barry Capybara is the most chilled-out creature on the savannah. So Harry, the naughty monkey, decides that he wants to try to bother Barry. But nothing ever bothers happy Barry Capybara!

Check out the book trailer here: