Teacher Notes – Audrey Skips

4 February, 2026 Editor-in-Chief Leave a comment

Teachers’ Notes for Audrey Skips (pdf, 511 kb)

Audrey Skips

3 February, 2026 Editor-in-Chief Leave a comment

Written by Andrea Rowe and illustrated by Lisa Coutts

Bright and shiny Audrey loves to skip a jump rope rhyme, right off her rooftop and through the sleeping streets of a city. Skittering across the skyline and peering in windows, Audrey spies folks struggling with hard times as her own light dims. With a little help from city friends, Audrey’s light and her hopeful spirit shine again, brighter than ever.

Andrea Rowe and Lisa Coutts come together to create a story about community and kindness, legacy and conservation. Audrey Skips is a tribute to The Skipping Girl, Melbourne’s first neon sign and a Continue reading Audrey Skips →

Author

Lisa Coutts

3 February, 2026 Editor-in-Chief Leave a comment

Lisa Coutts is an illustrator based in Naarm, Melbourne, Australia. Her work has features in over 20 of varying genres, and her greatest love is picture books. Lisa loves creating charming characters and placing them in quirky and whimsical worlds. She is the illustrator of The Great Book Swapping Machine by Emma Allen and she designed the cover art on Tim Winton’s Blueback, with more books in production. Lisa’s art practice incorporates mixed media techniques including coloured pencil, dry pastel, acrylic and watercolour paints, and Procreate.

Her work has been described as charming, delicious, quirky, whimsical and that it hurts people’s hearts in a GOOD way! When not in her studio, you’ll find Lisa Continue reading Lisa Coutts →

Author

Andrea Rowe

3 February, 2026 Editor-in-Chief Leave a comment

Andrea Rowe is a best-selling, award-winning picture book author. Her picture book, Jetty Jumping (illustrated by Hannah Sommerville), was awarded the 2022 CBCA Picture Book of the Year – Early Childhood and the 2023 Australian Speech Pathology Picture Book of the Year. In the Rockpool and Amid the Sand Dunes (Hardie Grant) were both awarded the 2024 and 2025 CBCA Notable Picture Books of the Year – Early Childhood.

Andrea loves to write stories where characters explore the great outdoors, ponder big Continue reading Andrea Rowe →

Uncategorized

MidnightSun Publishing Picture Book Prize

10 November, 2025 Editor-in-Chief

The Picture Book Prize competition has now closed.

Title

Dirt Trap

4 November, 2025 Editor-in-Chief

by Michael Burge

Journalist James Brandt lives in a brittle truce with his partner Dylan and his family, never talking about the homophobic attacks he exposed in his rural hometown, including the brutal death of a beloved cousin twenty years ago.

But this illusion of peace is ripped apart by the start of the state’s historical gay-hate crime inquiry, and the reappearance of Continue reading Dirt Trap →

Teacher Notes

Teacher Notes – The Giant

13 September, 2025 Editor-in-Chief

Teachers’ Notes for The Giant (pdf, 315 kb)

Teacher Notes

Teacher Notes – Where Shall We Travel Today?

13 September, 2025 Editor-in-Chief

Teachers’ Notes for Where Shall We Travel Today (pdf, 60 kb)

Teacher Notes

Teacher Notes – When Dark Waters Burn

13 September, 2025 Editor-in-Chief

Teachers’ Notes for When Dark Waters Burn (pdf, 694 kb)

Author

Yvonne Low

1 September, 2025 Editor-in-Chief

Yvonne Low is a writer, illustrator and award-winning fine artist, creating picture books, poetry and junior fiction. While nature is her main inspiration, through her background in the performing arts as a dancer and choreographer, theatre, film, music and foreign cultures also feed her imagination. Her work is whimsical and often has a dash of humour and wordplay. Continue reading →

Author

Kate Talbot

1 September, 2025 Editor-in-Chief

Kate Talbot is an Australian-born, New Zealand-based children’s book writer and illustrator. Working digitally, she is passionate about instilling a love for stories and storytelling in little people and hopes to nurture life-long readers and artists through her quirky characters and Continue reading →

Title

Windy Washing Day

1 September, 2025 Editor-in-Chief

Written by Yvonne Low and
illustrated by Kate Talbot

How an ordinary day becomes extraordinary…

It’s a dry, sunny day and perfect for hanging out the laundry. But what happens when an unexpected wind pulls the washing off the line and carries it next door — to the Zoo! Will the animals give up their new-found clothes and can all the washing be returned safely? Continue reading Windy Washing Day →

Teacher Notes

Teacher Notes – Windy Washing Day

1 September, 2025 Editor-in-Chief

Teachers’ Notes for Windy Washing Day (pdf, 294 kb)

Title

The Giant

1 August, 2025 Editor-in-Chief

Written by Sophie Masson and
illustrated by Lorena Carrington

On the day the giant wakes from a long sleep, he’s filled with joy at the thought of seeing his friends in the town again. But he’s slept so long that nobody remembers him, everyone hides from him, and his joy turns to a sadness that might engulf the whole town —

Until he hears the voices, calling to him…

A beautiful, touching story of memory, inclusion and friendship, by the award-winning creative duo of writer Sophie Masson and illustrator Lorena Carrington, whose previous Continue reading The Giant →

Author

Kristin Martin

1 July, 2025 Editor-in-Chief

Kristin Martin is an author, poet and primary school teacher. She draws inspiration from the natural world and from observing her young students’ imaginative play. Her books include Honey Possum’s Bush Café, Banjo Frog’s Concert Spectacular and To Rhyme or Not to Rhyme? Kristin lives in Adelaide, Continue reading →

Publishing Brilliance