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Author Ursula Dubosarsky? Check. Illustrator Andrew Joyner? Check. Elephants? Check. But not too many at all. In fact, this book wouldn’t be even half way as cool if it didn’t have simply too many elephants, which raises the question: can anyone really have too many elephants?

Eric really likes elephants. He has them everywhere. In the living room, in the kitchen, in the hallway, bathroom and bedroom. There’s an entire herd of rollicking elephants delighting and engaging this young lad from dawn ’til dusk.

BUT his mother doesn’t like it. Not one little bit. ‘There are too many elephants in this house,’ she says. ‘They’ve got to go.’

Naturally, Eric is devastated and will try anything to keep his baggy friends safe, including thinking up a very efficient means of elephant storage.

Dubosarsky’s penchant for childlike fun shines through in this adorable book, with Andy Joyner’s timeless and joy-filled illustrations taking her text to even greater heights. With a deliciously retro feel, this is imaginative, childhood magic at its best.

A must for picture book collectors – and kids.

Too Many Elephants in this House is published by Penguin.

1. Which genre of children’s books do you like most and why?

I like fantasy and science fiction best – and a lot of my favourites are cross-genre. I generally like books for readers of 10 and up, and especially the ones where authors have thought out their settings rather than just grabbing something someone else has invented. Below are some specific titles and what I like about them.

Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones. I love this one for the writing style (DWJ has such a way with words) and for the characters of Howl and Sophie who are so far from the generic hero/heroine but still so much fun to be around. Love the humour, too, and the way Sophie discovers the ‘givens’ she believed were not really so.

The Perilous Gard by Elizabeth Marie Pope has another staunch but odd heroine and another flawed but ultimately likable hero. It has one of the best descriptions of love I’ve ever seen – one that goes way beyond ‘romance’. I love the way the setting (Tudor era) plays with ideas and the way the truth shifts as you look at it.

Polymer by Sally Rogers Davidson. Polly Meridian goes from a cheerful high school graduate to someone who has to think on her feet and learn a lot about relationships. She’s utterly determined to get back something taken from her but manages to stay human through it all. This is a wonderful (Australian) take on the sf invasion theme.

Memory’s Wake by Selina Fenech is another cracking story by an Australian author. Memory has lost her memory and when she finds herself in a fantasy world with a princess, fairies, a thief and a wild boy she has to find a way to survive with the tatters of her self intact. Mem, like Sophie, Kate and Polly in the stories above, is a powerful character in more ways than one.

Replay by Sally Odgers. Okay, so I wrote this one myself, but if a writer can’t write a book she loves herself why is she writing? Replay‘s heroine is Aelfthryth, a Saxon girl who is blessed or cursed to never live beyond the age of fourteen. Her husband Harry can never get beyond sixteen, but in every generation for over a thousand years they have met and loved in different places and different guises. This time round, Ellie is an Australian cancer survivor and Harry is a schnauzer…

Halloween Romance by Donaya Haymond. This is the first of the Laconia series and is the funny, odd story of werewolf Selene Davidson who just wants to get through college without biting anyone by mistake. She’s drawn to melancholy Ferdinand Anghel who has a strange aversion to some kinds of cuisine.

For younger readers . . .

Molly misses her grandma. It makes her feel awfully sad. She misses her hugs, her smells, her baking scones and biscuits in the kitchen.

Molly’s mum is also sad. How Molly wishes Grandma would come back again.

One day, Molly finds Grandma’s big straw hat. She puts it on and wanders into the garden where she finds a beautiful wattle tree with dark green leaves like a dress her gran used to wear, and gentle curves like the curls of her hair. Molly feels at peace here.

The next week, she returns to the tree, which is now covered in blousey, golden wattle flower. Molly puts her arms around the trunk and hugs it tight. It becomes her special place for Grandma and she liked keeping it secret.

Until one day when she sees Mum crying over Grandma. So she decides to share her special place.

This is a heartfelt, sweet book about loss but also about remembering, and finding solace in both the objects that once belonged to someone we love – and the comfort to be found in nature.

This book was particularly poignant for me, as I have my own very special tree that brings back the fondest memories, and connects me to those long gone. This book shows children there is a way to honour our dearly departed, and therefore keep them close.

Beautifully warm, pastelly illustrations by Ben Wood perfectly convey the tender emotion of this book – illustrations that are firmly carving this artist a place in the beloved Australian children’s book niche.

The Wattle Tree is published by Lothian. Published tomorrow.

The sun is sparkling in that lovely way it sometimes does, and Florentine suggests some fun outdoors. A picnic sounds wonderful and Pig agrees. Florentine begins taking comprehensive notes and Pig’s eyes boggle at her picnic schedule – apple and carrot muffins, rainbow sprinkle cookies, green pea tarts and pink lemonade, just to name a few delectable treats.

But there’s a problem. Pig has eaten the last of the apples – how on earth will Florentine make those apple and carrot muffins? Pig has an idea. He runs for his telescope and spies not one but three juicy apples at the tippety top of their apple tree. But how will they reach them? Pig – the clever solver of all problems – knows how.

Very soon, with apples in hand, Pig and Florentine are whipping up their picnic feast, which they enjoy on a blanket under the apple tree.

This is a basic plot in terms of storytelling. Its strengths are in the striking artwork and the author’s lovely ‘voice’ and creative use of words. I particularly enjoyed the use of onomatopoeia, especially when it came to whipping up that menu.

Kids will adore the galloping, super sweet illustrations, not to mention the recipes at the end of the book, and instructions on how to make Pig’s very pretty picnic bunting.

Florentine and Pig Have a Very Lovely Lunch is published by Bloomsbury.

It may be a relatively low text book but this junior fiction title by June Crebbin ticked all the boxes for me. Sophisticated writing that is totally appropriate for the book’s 7- to 12-year-old target market, this is a fabulous read, least of all for its balanced, beautifully-written and edited prose, but especially for its rollicking storyline.

Crebbin has a real knack for creating luscious imagery with her words – and yes, children also deserve such clever writing – a clarity and sophistication that is normally reserved for adults. I love how she doesn’t talk down to her readers, but uses full, glorious wording and dialogue perfectly suited to the times – that of Queen Elizabeth I and the young Will Shakespeare.

Lady Jane Hargrave is thrilled to bits when none other than Elizabeth I pays visit to their family home in Dorsetshire, England. Astride her steed, Delphine, she waits at the top of the hill for the royal procession, which descends too quickly upon the house. Panicked, Jane flees back to the courtyard where she arrives just in time to greet the Queen.

Elizabeth I takes immediately to young Jane – and wants to learn more about her languages and horse riding and interests. Jane obliges in her candidly youthful way. Little does she know her candour is something the Queen covets and – much to her horror, at the end of her visit, Elizabeth asks Jane to become her sixth maid of honour. Of course, being so young, Jane is not ready to leave her mother, but her mother gently insists, for this is not an honour anyone could turn down.

Life at court is very different for young Jane, but she soon settles in and begins many a fascinating adventure. She even befriends a young stable lad who introduces her to William Shakespeare! Jane is fascinated with theatre life and manages to accidentally take part in a play at the Globe Theatre, much to her delight.

On her way back to court from visiting her ailing mother, Jane also finds herself aboard a ship in the midst of the approach of the Spanish Armada. So much excitement for such a young lass, and such a joy to be part of her adventures – and to feel first-hand the hot breath of history through Crebbin’s work.

Warm, clever, approachable and packed with superb line drawings that will keep more reluctant readers engaged, this is one of my favourite rapid reads this year.

The Queen’s Maid is published by Walker Books and is part of their Racing Reads series.

Sometimes it’s nice to take a little peek into the work of some of the world’s most successful authors, and in the coming months I’ll be adding a post or two on authors and illustrators I personally admire, and who continue to delight children (and adults) with their impressive line-up of work. In this first post, I’ll be revealing a little more about Mo Willems – a US author whose Knuffle Bunny books had me in stitches when my kids were really little. I hope you enjoy this profile. Email me with your author profile suggestions . . . who would you like to know more about?

Mo Willems

Mo Willems was raised in New Orleans. He studied at Tisch School of the Arts at New York University, and when he was done, he travelled the world, drawing a carton every day. This work was later published in the book You Can Never Find a Rickshaw When it Monsoons.

Mo began his career as a writer and animator for Sesame Street. He also performed stand up comedy in NYC and recorded essays for BBC Radio. Mo has worked for The Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon, and has created two animated TV series – The Off-Beats and Sheep in the Big City.

Since 2003, Mo has authored many books for children. Three of his books have been awarded a Caldecott Honor: Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! (2004), Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale (2005), and Knuffle Bunny Too: A Case of Mistaken Identity (2008).

His Elephant and Piggie books, an early reader series about a friendly elephant and pig, are a huge hit with the littlies, and Elephant and Piggie won the Theodor Seuss Geisel Medal in 2008 and 2009, and a Geisel Honor in 2011.

In 2010, Mo began writing a new series of books featuring Cat the Cat, also aimed at early readers.

Mo’s books have been translated into many languages. They have even spawned animated shorts and have been developed into musical productions. His work, including illustrations, wire sculpture and ceramics have been shown in exhibitions all over the US.

Mo married his wife Cheryl Camp in 1997 and now lives in Masschusetts.

Learn more at

Which genre of children’s books do you like most and why?

For my own pleasure I adore reading picture books (as well as poetry and novels – just had to sneak those in – can’t bear to leave them out!). Picture Books tap into the part of my psyche that loves the essence, the pared down selection of words and text combined with art: colour, flow, energy and an emotional impact. It’s like fabric and thread, and the best picture books are the best woven.

Some of my favourite picture books are The Incredible Book Eating Boy (Oliver Jeffers), Pog (Lyn Lee, Kim Gamble), Wombat Divine (Mem Fox, Kerry Argent), Water Witcher and Lizzie Nonsense (both by Jan Ormerod), Belinda (Pamela Allen) and other books by Pamela Allen, Margaret Wild, Dr Seuss and Joy Cowley.

Which books did you love to read as a young child?

I wish I could give you a list but I can’t because of the lack of books at home and at school. I borrowed from friends if I could. I remember my mother once reading me The Story about Ping, and have tracked down an old copy of it because it made an impact when I was about four.

I tried to read The Old Curiosity Shop by Charles Dickens when I was about seven, because I found a copy in a little bookshelf in the lounge, but I couldn’t manage it. We had ‘readers’ at school, which we all had to take turns in reading around the class and I loved the stories and poems in them. I also remember reading titles by Enid Blyton and imagining similar adventure scenarios with friends.

Other than that it was books like