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Kangaroo's Visitor Gets a Surprise

by Peter E. Taylor

23 pages; Saddle stitched; Illustrated by Gail C. Breese; catalogue #03-2722; ISBN 1-4120-2173-1; US$13.50, C$15.00, EUR11.00, £7.50

What does Kangaroo's latest invention do? Koala decides to find out, but will he ever be the same again?

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About the Book      About the Author      Excerpts      Catalogue Information

About the Book

Kookaburra, Owl and Dingo have seen Kangaroo's latest invention, but don't know what it is or what it does. It looks scary! What could all the levers, buttons and strange pipes possibly be for? Who will be brave enough to visit him to find out what he's made?

Koala volunteers, but soon discovers that the machine does far more than he expects.

What a surprise. What a laugh!

This humorous picture-storybook is suitable for children aged from about 1 to 8 years old, and will be forever treasured, not only for the story, but also for Gail Breese's exquisite illustrations.

True information about the animals depicted in the story, kangaroo, koala, kookaburra, dingo, possums, goanna and more, can be found at Peter's website www.writing-for-children.com.

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About the Author

Peter Taylor was born in Hitchin, in Hertfordshire, England. When he was old enough to crawl he was introduced to the wonderful world of gardens, and spent many happy hours eating dirt and wriggly things. Soon he graduated to playing with dirt and every living thing he could find, making up stories and living in his own imaginary world. Exploring the countryside and wild places, designing gardens, painting and photographing plants and animals, illuminating manuscripts, and writing books and stories have all become lifelong passions. After training as an ecologist and educator, in former lives Peter worked as a natural history curator in a museum, nature reserve warden and high-school science and art teacher. In 1979 he exchanged jobs with an Australian teacher for a year, emigrated there in 1982, and now lives in Brisbane with his wife, Heather, and children Jeremy and Emily. Peter left his teaching post in 1987 to write 'The Australian Manual of Calligraphy' for Allen and Unwin and 'A Manual of Calligraphy' for Unwin Hyman. At the same time he started his own book-arts business, Peter Taylor's Calligraphics, specializing in calligraphy, illumination, papermaking, creative card and artist's book construction, and in teaching the skills involved. One of his handmade and written books was presented to Her Majesty the Queen as part of her gift from World Expo. When making up stories for his children, when they were young, Peter realized that in all jobs he has always loved writing, so in 1999 he studied for a Diploma in Professional Children's Writing. After further developing his craft under the mentorship of Marg McAlister, he now spends most of his working life writing, but still plays with dirt, plants and bugs - landscaping gardens and escaping whenever he can to enjoy and photograph the great outdoors. He also loves visiting schools, public speaking and teaching workshops. Peter has several other stories completed for young children, and many books in progress - including some for adults. More about these, together with writing and illustration tips and fun stuff, can be found at his web-site www.writing-for-children.com.

About the illustrator From before she can remember, Gail C. Breese lived in an English seaside town above a toyshop that her parents owned. Her childhood summers playing on the beach paid off when she won a trip to France to represent England amongst international competitors in a sand modelling competition. Gail and her family enjoyed many overseas holidays and she always kept diaries of her travels, illustrating them with bugs, scenery, people and other strange and wonderful sights. In 1968-69 she studied and passed her British Horse Society exams to teach horse riding and equine management. This was fun for a while, but wasn't to be her career path. In 1974 Gail and her husband came to live in Western Australia. Here her experiences included raising a son and a daughter; teaching at pony club; owning and running a sheep station in the north of WA, where she also recorded weather details for the Dept. of Meteorology; a banana plantation in Carnarvon; a farm in the south-west and an earthmoving business. But not all at the same time! Then, when her children went to school, so did Gail. She studied Graphic Design for three years then worked freelance designing posters, brochures, packaging, signage, typography, calligraphy, illustrations and logos. But this wasn't to be her career path either. When her children left home, she went back to school again, this time to study Writing for Children. Stories bubbled out of her imagination. Some have been published and others are being considered. With illustration work, too, Gail finally has her career path. No, not a path, it's a two-lane highway with no speed limit! Today Gail, her husband Dave and their dog, Pascall, live in a small country town. Gail has her own studio where she writes and illustrates children's books; plays loud music; makes greeting cards; draws pictures; creates websites; tries to play the guitar; but definitely has a lot of fun. You can view the illustrator's website at www.creakyg.com.

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Excerpts

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Catalogue Information

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