Australian creators recommend

Australian creators tell us the most recent book they have read and loved, and why.

Illustrator and author Jess Racklyeft will attend this year’s Bologna Book Fair as the winner of a Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) International scholarship:

‘I am a huge fan of Claire Saxby’s work (I have been honoured to work on the books Iceberg and Whisper on the Wind with her) and recently read Tasmanian Devil (Walker), beautifully illustrated by Max Hamilton to my seven year old. I love how Claire manages to make nonfiction so dang poetic, and Max’s beautiful watercolours matched the text so perfectly. If I can sneak in one more, I got an advance look at Anna McGregor’s Who’s Afraid of the Light? (Scribble). It is so clever in all aspects—design, writing and illustrating.’

Lystra Rose won the recent Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards for Indigenous writing for her YA novel The Upwelling (Lothian):

Aurora Rising (by the talented Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff, A&U Children’s) was the last Aussie YA book I read. I devoured it through the night—stolen from my daughter’s bedside table. An annoying habit, I know, but it was a great space story with quirky characters that made me wish they were part of my everyday life. And patience isn’t something I’m great at practicing when it comes to books. Sleep? Don’t let that get in the way of finishing a great story!

Pictured L–R: Jess Racklyeft, Lystra Rose

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