Me and a bunch of Aussie kid lit illustrators were given drawings by country kids, and we were asked to incorporate that drawing into a bigger illustration.
Then those illustrations were gathered together to make a fundraising calendar.
You can see my contribution here; the talented Evie Thorpe drew a very funny clownfish and I ran with it. Amazing drawing, Evie!
Our collaborative drawing on the left, and Evie Thorpe’s original on the right.
Check out the star-studded illustrator lineup:
Kylie Howarth, Gus Gordon, Peter Carnavas, Brent Wilson, Matt Cosgrove, Philip Bunting, Kristen Willis, Jade Goodwin, Ben Wood, Jol Temple, Andy Geppert and me
All funds raised from calendar sales go towards creative literacy opportunities for kids in regional and remote communities, through Andy Geppert’s online SQUIGL club and the Somerset Storyfest.
Perth’s Awesome Festival is coming up, and I’ve got a bunch of events on!
Plus, book launches for Amazing Astro Animals! LET’S DO THIS!!
PERTH, Sept 29-Oct 3: STELLARPHANT STAGE SHOW
The incredible stage show of Stellarphant is back as part of this year’s Awesome Festival! If you missed it back in May, now’s your chance.
Full of laughter, heart and imagination, Stellarphant takes audiences on a cosmic adventure about determination, equality and following your dreams. Adapted for the stage by Clare Testoni, this uplifting production reminds us that heroes come in all shapes, sizes and species.
DATE: Sept 29 – Oct 3 WHEN: various times WHERE: Heath Ledger Theatre, WA State Theatre Centre, Perth TICKETS: $10. Get your tickets here.
Join me for a laugh-out-loud session where the kids are in charge.
Bring your weirdest and wackiest ideas for stories, because I’ll mash them into the funniest Franken-tale you’ve ever heard — which I’ll also illustrate, live!
Suitable for ages eight and up.
DATE: Thurs October 1st, Fri October 2nd WHEN: 10-11am, 12-1pm WHERE: State Library of WA TICKETS: $10 for kids; free for their adults – get your tickets here
Climb aboard the Story Wheel (aka the Fremantle Esplanade ferris wheel) and treat the young people in your life to their own private 10-minute story time experience with one of WA’s leading writers for children.
Day 1 (Oct 5th): – Jeanette Stampone (10-11am), – Gabriel Evans (11-12pm, 1-2pm), – Deb Fitzpatrick (12-1pm).
Our pirates – Hector, Captain, Stringbean, Jerry Hattrick, Pearl and Puss – are having lots of adventures in the Port City.
Follow the map to track down what this pirate crew is getting up to.
Start your own adventure at Fremantle Town Hall where you’ll be able to collect your Totally Lit Trail Map and then follow the map through the city to find pirate treasure. Every stop on the journey unlocks one of six pieces in the story.
Presented by City of Fremantle and Totally Lit. Artwork created by James Foley.
See off the school holidays in artistic style by joining James Foley for a draw-along.
DATE: Friday 10th October WHEN: 10am – 11am WHERE: The Lane Bookshop TICKETS: general admission FREE; ‘Book Lover’ $35.00 (includes admission and a hardback copy of Amazing Astro Animals by James Foley, RRP $34.99)
Please note, parents and carers do not need to buy a ticket if they are attending with children.
FREMANTLE, Oct 11: SPONTANEOUS STORYTIME @the big book market
On Sunday, 11 October, Fremantle/Walyalup will host the Big Book Market – an opportunity for book lovers of all interests to discover new titles and great bargains.
This is a free, all ages event.
The day will also include live sessions: 11.30am-12.30pm: James Foley – a story time and live illustration challenge featuring the pirate crew from the Totally Lit Trail. 1.00-2.00pm: Peter Murphy and Fred Rhea – live music and storytelling inspired by their book, Fremantle to Freedom. 2.30-3.15pm: Poetry readings, details TBC
Things to note: – Live presentations will take place in front of the sloping grassed area in Walyalup Koort – so why not pack a picnic, bring a blanket and settle in for a few hours? – In the event of bad weather the Market and live events will relocate indoors to Fremantle Town Hall.
Presented in Walyalup Koort thanks to City of Fremantle
The shortlists for the NSW and Victoria children’s choice book awards – the KOALAS and YABBAS – were released today. I’m stoked to see that two of my books were shortlisted in the Picture Story Book category!
Big thanks to all the young readers who nominated my books for the awards, and to the teachers and librarians who organised voting in their schools!
And congrats to everyone with a shortlisted book. There are so many great ones on the list this year. You can see all the shortlisted books in the poster below.
Eagle-eyed viewers will notice that I got to do the artwork for this year’s poster; it was heaps of fun to have Stella from Stellarphant doing a spacewalk with the mascot of the YABBAs (a mouse) and the KOALAs (a koala of course). See below for the full art.
“pure joy … silly, expressive and full of laugh out loud moments. This was reread twice in one sitting because they wanted to look again. One of our favourites!” – @playful.childhood, Instagram
You can find a copy at your local indie bookshop or online – links below.
Happy Barry Capybara: Gone Bananas
🇦🇺🇳🇿 Australia/NZ edition, published by Scholastic Australia, Feb 2026 ISBN: 9781761725296 (hardback)
Happy Barry Capybara is the most chilled-out animal on the savannah. But when his friend the cheeky squirrel monkey, Harry, and his cousins are fighting over the last banana, Barry is left to decide who will get it. Which monkey will win the favour of Barry? Or will Barry have a new lesson to teach them about what it means to share?
I’m honoured to have some artwork included in the 2026 SQUIGL calendar! But the artwork isn’t just mine – it’s a collab between me and a kid living in regional Queensland called Will Thomas.
SQUIGL Club is an awesome online drawing group for kids in regional Queensland. It was developed by author-illustrator Andy Geppert along with Somerset Storyfest and the Longreach School of Distance Education.
Andy had a brilliant idea – let’s raise funds for regional kids to visit a writers festival, and let’s sell calendars to do it! Each month’s artwork is an artistic collaboration between a kid living on a remote property and a professional illustrator. The kids each drew a bird or a flying creature, then the illustrators worked it into a schmick piece of art.
And now you can take the artwork home with you! The 2026 SQUIGL Club Art Calendar looks great on kitchen walls, fridges – even dunny doors.
Check out the illustrators involved: Niña Nill, Sami Bayly, Peter Cheong, Matt Stanton, Mandy Foot, Natasha Carty, Terry Whidborne, Tony Flowers, Brent Wilson, Kate Isobel Scott, Andy Geppert, and me!
All proceeds support literacy in regional communities by funding transport and tickets to regional Somerset Storyfest events in Longreach, St George, and Emerald.
Here’s a little bit about my piece for the calendar. I started off with Will Thomas’ excellent drawing of a toucan …
… and ended up with a tree FULL of toucans! Can you spot Will’s initial drawing in there?
I’ll show some more process in a later post.
In the meantime, why not hit the link and order yourself a whizz-bang, feel-good 2026 calendar?
I love seeing how words and particularly sound effects get translated into other languages. My graphic novel Gastronauts has been released in Türkiye as Gastronotlar, which means we get to find out how farts (and burps) sound in Turkish!
