“You can feast on all these poems at once, or nibble at them, like a box of chocolates. Or enjoy a poem at a time, like fruit from a bowl. This is a good book – in the moral as well as aesthetic sense.”

~ Patrice Newell

There was a great old mulberry tree and some sturdy native trees next door to my family home. Sadly, the trees disappeared when the neighbour’s house was torn down to make way for a block of units.

Fond childhood memories of hunting for mulberries and playing hide-and-seek came flooding back when I read Susan Ramage’s poignant tale, The Urban Escapees, about a suburban boy’s bid to rescue a family of Brushtail possums threatened by urban development at the bottom of his garden.

People need a place to live, but so do the birds and bees that pollinate our lives and…

~ Louise Evans OAM, Journalist and author/documentary maker of ‘Passage to Pusan’

“Putting Pen to Paper is clear, practical and easy to understand. It’s the perfect book to guide writers through the practicality of writing and publishing, and gives them the tools to start.”

~ Nellie Flannery, Shanahan Management

“Putting Pen to Paper is a practical handbook, encouraging new writers to ask all the right questions about publication. With this book in hand, you will have a well-informed knowledge of the entire book production process as well as many tips for improving your writing – and improving your chances of being published.”

~ Patti Miller, author of ‘Writing your life’ and ‘Whatever the Gods do’

“Educational and entertaining, thoughtful and fun.”

~ Jane Coffey, Director, Peribo Distributors of Fine Books

“In this delightful story, young readers enter the life of the Brushtail family. Possum Way is a joyful haven of bush and colour, where the possums live peacefully. But when bulldozers and cranes arrive, the Brushtails have to find a new home, and Louis, the boy who lives in the house at the top of the garden, needs to think quickly and come up with a plan. Can Louis save the Brushtails? The Urban Escapees invites questions about urbanisation and its impact on nature.”

~ Susanne Gervay OAM, Writer and Regional Advisor, Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators Australia East and NZ

“An enticing and compelling true story of a family’s resilience as they endure the compounding hostilities of first Stalin, then Hitler, before adapting to a new life in Australia.”

~ Anne Lovell, ‘Connie’s Secret’

“A brilliant read… about love, loss, separation, tragedy and endurance. Crafted with great clarity and finesse, The Man from Talalaivka will touch the heart of any reader. Swept clean of trivia, Olga Chaplin writes of enduring tragedy with no trace of self pity.”

~ M L Grace, ‘From the Depths: Collected Tanka’