What's new?

Penguin is at the printers. We expect to have it May 1st available from this site for $13.95. Steve and Marion's illustrations are paired with Tony Dekker's superb story.

Australia/Israel book. Steve & Marion were awarded a NAB Yachad Scholarship to spend 5 weeks in Israel in October 2009. They gathered ideas for a book in which an Australian boy adventures near the battle sites of his Light Horse great grandfather. And they took 4500 photos! Here is one of the Edomite caves they explored. This will be our BIG PROJECT for 2010!

Johnny Appleseed released in September 2009 has an entirely new set of illustrations to go with Bruce Isham's Song. Find 20 skunks, 10 presidents and a whole lot more.

Call 530 873 3793 (USA) for a copy. (Not available in Australia or through this website.)

Semicolon

He slows; she passes.

He grins; she blushes.

Wink wink.

12 of Steve's "punctuation poems" were published in the February issue of Cricket Magazine (USA) . The shape of each mark is a metaphor for its use and meaning. For this one, (not one of the 12) Steve had to brush up on how semicolons work.

Waltzing Matilda Banjo Paterson's original lyrics accompany the illustrations. A group of children perform the song as a play and develop a parallel story with a surprise ending. Drawing and design by Marion, colour by Steve. Music CD by Jennifer Hopson. $20

We intend our books as a delight for young readers and listeners, and a mine of educational resources for teachers. We will continue to extend a trove of book related "free stuff" featuring puzzles and activities and a major list of true riddles.

Marion and Steve write and illustrate as one artist. They work from their home in southern Tasmania, Australia. Marion initiates the design and structure of our books and draws the images which Steve paints. A number of techniques and materials have been used in our books, such as the torn paper in Tiger Tale, but most recently the colour of the original illustrations is from acrylic paint with Marion applying graphite and ink lines to finish them. They both contribute to the writing of the text.

Marion has a background as a speech pathologist and Steve taught high school art.

Steve also paints in oils, mostly portraits ... and writes poetry.

For several years Steve has provided frequent author/illustrator workshops and assemblies for students in the USA, Thailand and China, as well as at home in Australia.

Visit "school programs" to find out more about the program or to arrange a school visit.