news – James Foley

Fremantle Press is turning 50!

Fremantle Press was the publisher of my very first book, and we’ve worked on many more since. They’re a WA institution, having kickstarted the careers of many local authors and illustrators. And this year they’re turning 50!

Here’s some ways you can help celebrate.

OPEN DAY, APRIL 24th

Freo Press have got fresh new digs at the old SEC substation in Parry St – check it out at their Open Day! It’s on April 24th from 9:30am-2pm, and includes panel sessions about publishing, as well as tours of the new building.

More details here.

COOL MERCH!

Wear your support in style! Show your love for Fremantle Press with an exclusive building fund supporter pin or limited-edition tote bag with original artwork by author-illustrator Kelly Canby.

Purchase a 50th anniversary tote bag from the Fremantle Press website before 5.00 pm AWST on Sunday 29 March and it might arrive stuffed full of books! There is a bag of children’s books and a bag of adult books up for grabs. Winners will be drawn at random.

50th ANNIVERSARY PIN, $14.99

50th ANNIVERSARY TOTE BAG, $34.99

Bigfoot vs Yeti is a CBCA Notable Book

What a wonderful bit of news – my book Bigfoot vs Yeti: a Love Story is on the Notables list for the 2026 Children’s Book Council of Australia’s Picture Book of the Year Award!

There are so many wonderful books on the list; congrats all! Check out the list below.

The shortlist will be announced on March 31, and the honour books and winner will be announced on August 21 at the start of Children’s Book Week.

Buy Bigfoot vs Yeti

🌏 *Signed copies* – Paper bird

🇦🇺 🇳🇿 Local Indie bookshops

Happy Barry Capybara has gone bananas

It’s here! My latest picture book, Happy Barry Capybara: Gone Bananas, is out in shops from today.

And the first review is in too:

“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)

🌏 SIGNED COPIES (PAPER BIRD)

🇦🇺🇳🇿 LOCAL INDIE BOOKSHOPS

🇦🇺🇳🇿 Booktopia

🌏 Dymocks

🇦🇺 QBD

10 days until Barry Capybara is back!

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?

This is the long-awaited sequel to my very silly picture book about a super chill capybara, and it’s out on February 1st through Scholastic.

Happy Barry Capybara: Gone Bananas

🇦🇺🇳🇿 Australia/NZ edition, published by Scholastic Australia, Feb 2026
ISBN: 9781761725296 (hardback)

🌏 SIGNED COPIES (PAPER BIRD)

🇦🇺🇳🇿 LOCAL INDIE BOOKSHOPS

🇦🇺🇳🇿 Booktopia

🌏 Dymocks

🇦🇺 QBD

Collaborative artwork with kids

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.

Buy a calendar

I was given Will Thomas’ excellent whiteboard drawing of a toucan …

… which I worked up into a very scribbly rough …

… then a more detailed rough.

My next step was a colour test, which I liked …

… but once I had my final artwork together, I felt like mucking around with the colours.

I tried a purple background instead, which helped the toucan beaks to pop.

Finally I added a sunrise in the background and some shading, and voilá – the artwork was finished!

Big thanks to Will for the excellent initial drawing – I hope you like how it turned out!

More about the calendar

The 2026 SQUIGL Calendar is a fundraising initiative by Andy Geppert’s SQUIGL Club, an online drawing group for kids living in remote Queensland.

All calendar sales support sending these remote community kids to visit regional writers’ festivals run by Somerset Storyfest.

Buy a calendar

Raise funds for regional literacy with the 2026 SQUIGL calendar

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.

Buy a calendar

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?

Buy a calendar

Bigfoot vs Yeti shortlisted for peace award

Some great news: my picture book Bigfoot vs Yeti is on the shortlist for the 2025 Children’s Peace Literature Award! ⁠ ⁠

It’s a biennial award from the Psychologists for Peace interest group (part of the Australian Psychological Society). ⁠ ⁠

Also on the shortlist are friends and colleagues Deborah Abela, Karys McEwen, Amy Freund, Kooky Chooky, Jared Thomas, David Metzenthen, Larissa Ferenchuk and Prue Pittock . Congrats all! ⁠

Buy a copy:

🌏 *Signed copies* – Paper bird

🇦🇺 🇳🇿 Local Indie bookshops

New books for 2026

I’ve got four new titles coming out next year!

Happy Barry Capybara: Gone Bananas

First cab off the rank – the sequel to my very silly picture book about a super chill capybara. It’s out in February through Scholastic.

Pre-order now:

🌏 SIGNED COPIES (PAPER BIRD)

🇦🇺🇳🇿 LOCAL INDIE BOOKSHOPS

🇦🇺🇳🇿 Booktopia

🌏 Dymocks

🇦🇺 QBD

Paw Prints: Fuzzball

This one is part of Walker Books’ Paw Prints series – junior fiction books by funny authors and illustrators. Fuzzball is written by Nathan Luff, illustrated by me! Out in April.

Pre-order now:

🌏 SIGNED COPIES (PAPER BIRD)

🇦🇺🇳🇿 local indie bookshops

🇦🇺🇳🇿 BOOKTOPIA

Oh No!

This is something different for me – a funny picture book about onomatopoeia (i.e sound effects)! Out in May through Penguin.

Pre-order now:

🌏 SIGNED COPIES (PAPER BIRD)

🇦🇺🇳🇿 LOCAL INDIE BOOKSHOPS

🇦🇺🇳🇿 Booktopia

New book #4

I don’t have a cover to share with you yet, but I can tell you it’s a non-fiction follow up to my most popular book, Stellarphant. It will be my very first non-fiction book! More news on that soon.

More events for October!

Oct 26: Family Sunday at the State Library of NSW

I’ll be in Sydney at the end of October with my author-illustrator bud Sean Avery, and we’re taking over the State Library of NSW!

SESSION 1: SPONTANEOUS STORYTIME

Join James and Sean for a laugh-out-loud session where the kids are in charge. Bring your weirdest and wackiest ideas for stories, because they’ll be mashing them up into the funniest Franken-tale you’ve ever heard — which James and Sean will illustrate, live!

Suitable for ages six and up, but all welcome.

DATE: Sun 26 October
TIME: 10:30-11:30am
WHERE: JB Fairfax Learning Centre, State Library of New South Wales
AGES: 6yo+ (for families)
TICKETS: $10/child (adults free)
BOOKINGS: essential via eventbrite

SESSION 2: CHARACTER MAQUETTE WORKSHOP

Are you ready to learn secrets of character design from two of Australia’s best children’s illustrators? Join James and Sean for a fun workshop where you get to design your own book character, then build them in 3D using colourful clay.

Suitable for ages 8–12.

DATE: Sun 26 October
TIME: 12noon-1pm
WHERE: JB Fairfax Learning Centre, State Library of New South Wales
AGES: 8-12yo
TICKETS: $10/child (adults free)
BOOKINGS: essential via eventbrite

Events for October

Oct 1 & 3: Spontaneous Stories @ Awesome Festival

Join me for a laugh-out-loud session where the kids are in charge. Bring your weirdest and wackiest ideas for stories, because we’ll be mashing them up into the funniest Franken-tale you’ve ever heard – which I will illustrate, live.

DATE: Wednesday 1 and Friday 3 October
TIME: 11:15am each day
WHERE: Education Room, State Library of WA, Francis St, Perth
AGES: 6-12yo
BOOKINGS: essential via trybooking

Oct 4: Comic illustration workshop (for kids) SOLD OUT

Join this workshop where I’ll show you how to create characters, use speech bubbles, sound effects, panels and backgrounds to create your own comic stories.

DATE: Saturday 4 October
TIME: 1-3pm
WHERE: Conference Room, Wanneroo Library and Cultural Centre, 3 Rocca Way, Wanneroo
AGES: 7-14yo
BOOKINGS: essential via eventbrite – **sold out, but there is a waitlist**

Oct 11: illustration workshop (for adults)

Want to learn how to illustrate picture books? Join me in this session to find out how. Suitable for ages 16+.

Topics include:

Research
Planning (storyboards and dummy books)
Media testing and final artwork
Characters
Point of view, image boundary, colour, medium, line quality, font, composition
Words vs pictures
Preparing a portfolio and submitting to publishers.

DATE: Saturday 11 October
TIME: 12:30-4:30
WHERE: Conference Room, Wanneroo Library and Cultural Centre, 3 Rocca Way, Wanneroo
AGES: 16yo+
BOOKINGS: essential via eventbrite

Oct 24: Mantle Conference for Teacher Librarians, Newcastle

I’m presenting at this year’s Mantle Conference in Newcastle, along with superstars Deborah Abela, Sean E Avery, Charlotte Barkla, Megan Daley, Kate Foster, Lara Cain Gray and Kirli Saunders. What a line up!

For more details, check out the Mantle conference website.