An Amazing Australian Road Trip
Age 5+
Picture Books
A rambunctious romp of a family road trip around Australia looking for the right place to celebrate Aunty's birthday with a cake.
An everyday Aussie family leaves their Melbourne home, makes for the Great Ocean Road and finds themselves on the journey of a lifetime to every state and territory of Australia. They visit many iconic places along the way and although it wasn't their original intention, they experience the whole gamut of landscapes, climates and wonders that Australia has to offer: from The Twelve (now seven) Apostles, to Coober Pedy, Ningaloo Reef, Uluru, the Great Barrier Reef, the Harbour Bridge, the Australian War Memorial in Canberra, Port Arthur and finally, back home to Melbourne.
Creators
Jackie Hosking began writing for children after completing a creative writing course and her first children’s poem, "If I Were a Giant" was published by The School Magazine in 2005. Walker Books published her first picture book, The Croc and the Platypus, in 2014. It was shortlisted for the Speech Pathology Australia Book of the Year Awards in 2015. Jackie wrote the book as a writing exercise to see if she could emulate Edward Lear’s The Owl and the Pussycat, with an Aussie twist. In 2019 she was awarded a May Gibbs Creative Time Fellowship where she worked on her writing in Canberra for a month. Jackie loves to write in rhyme and when she’s not writing in rhyme she loves to help others with their rhyme via her Rhyming Manuscript Editing Service or through her writing course, Metre Matters.
Grown in Australia, Lesley Vamos received a high distinction in BA Design at COFA with a special honorary award in animation, although she still holds a pencil incorrectly. She spends her time doodling, travelling, running her design and illustration business (Striped Designs) and hanging out with her little family. A partial client list includes Sterling, Hardie Grant, Oxford, Usborne, Simon and Schuster and Macmillan. Lesley is represented by Kelly Sonnack at Andrea Brown Literary Agency.
Reviews
This rhyming picture book is Jackie Hosking’s love letter both to Australia, and to the Australian tradition of the mega road trip.
Kids Book Review
A most informative and fun filled book for younger students to acquire knowledge of our hot spots and learn a little of the geography of our island home.
ReadPlus
The illustrations are beautiful, the representation of Australia is wonderful and the rhyming storyline was so captivating.
pagespawsandpetals- Instagram
Students in Stage 1 in the Australian Curriculum learn about Australia and this book fits perfectly into the curriculum as a springboard into learning more about the diverse places to go – beyond the obvious.
vanessaryanrendall - Instagram
This colourful narrative nonfiction book is a feast of interesting titbits about the most culturally significant places in our nation.
Reading Time
