News

The Dinosaur kids whinge and grumble until, an earth-shaking STOMP echoes over the hill. 

Get ready, get set, for daddies galore. Here they come! Here they come! Here they come!

ROAR!

Here it is at last my fabulous Book Week video filmed at Taronga Zoo. I chat about Searching For Cicadas, reveal some writing tips and find out lots about invertebrates.

Click the link to view the video.

<iframe title="vimeo-player" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/464664123" width="640" height="360" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

So excited to have made a fabulous video at Taronga Zoo to celebrate Book Week.

Check out the CBCA Webpage for all the details and to view the videos!

https://www.cbcansw.org.au/post/curious-creatures-wild-minds-at-the-zoo?fbclid=IwAR2kz-fve-MDQX9GwV8-VfyKd44YjXI5d4Vz-aOqfuPUAJFrATjNXkTivFM

Searching For Cicadas is a CBCA Eve Pownall Shortlisted Book 2020

Searching For Cicadas is a CBCA Eve Pownall Shortlisted Book 2020

So excited to announce that Searching For Cicadas has made the CBCA Eve Pownall Notable Book List 2020

A romping, stomping Father's Day dinosaur adventure!

Under the rock shelf, through ribbons of weed,  

Across the sandbar where the stingrays feed, 

Over the coral lit bright by the sun, 

Three little mermaids begin to have fun.

Three Little Mermaids makes it debut in Big W.

Thank you Scholastic Australia for making these yummy celebration cupcakes in honour of Three Little Mermaids.

Three Little Mermaids has been spotted on the Scholastic Stand around the country.

Three Little Mermaids chilling out on my study shelf.

In the summertime, Grandpa and I go cicada-watching. We put our camping gear into my wagon and walk down to the local reserve. Last year we saw five Green Grocers, three Yellow Mondays and one Floury Baker. Can we find the rare Black Prince this year?

'Enthralling story with striking illustrations'

Margaret Hamilton AM

One of my favourite internal pages from Searching For Cicadas.

Many thanks to the Children's Bookshop Beecroft for launching Searching For Cicadas with fifty enthusiastic Teacher Librarians!

If you would like an informative, entertaining Book Week author visit you can book me through The Children's Bookshop Speaker Agency. 

See Speaker Agency on my webpage for the link.

Many thanks Walker Books for showcasing Searching For Cicadas at the CBCA Literary Festival 2019.

Here are the beautiful endpapers created by the talented Judy Watson for Searching For Cicadas.

A Boat of Stars edited by Margaret Connolly and Natalie Jane Prior is a 2019 CBCA Early Childhood Book of the Year Notable Book.

Congratulations to all the contributors.

Want to write for children but not sure where to start? Come and join me on Wednesday 12th June 2019 at the Australian Writers' Centre, Sydney for my course Writing Chapter Books for 6-9 Year Olds.

'Not a bad spot for a writing course 🙌🏼 Writing Chapter Books For 6-9 Year Olds at the Australian Writers' Centre.  Lesley Gibbes was fantastic! Check out her Fizz series and also her fleet of picture books, including our favourite, Fluke 🐋 Maybe he was out there in the harbour?'

Gemma Patience Facebook March 2019

What a fantastic day chatting about poetry at the SCBWI Professional Development Day for teachers. Other authors on the panel include Sally Murphy, Libby Hathorn & Meredith Costain. Our panel was chaired by by Jodie Wells-Slowgrove and concluded with a dramatic poetry reading from the poetry anthology A Boat of Stars by Alexa Moses.
Many thanks to Susanne Gervay and the SCBWI team for all their hard work.

Searching For Cicadas by Lesley Gibbes illustrated by Judy Watson and published by Walker Books as part of the Nature Storybook Series is due for publication August 2019!

Three Little Mermaids by Lesley Gibbes, illustrated by Lisa Stewart and published by Scholastic is due for publication in December 2019.

Congratulations Fluke on winning Best Book in the Young Children's Book division at the Whitley Awards by the Royal Zoological Society of NSW, October 2018.

The Fizz Series makes its debut in France Oct 2018.

Quick As A Wink Fairy Pink  is at the Post Office in a beautiful Picture Book Pack with four other Working Title Press books retailing at $16.99 ready for Christmas 2018.

The October date for my chapter book course at The Australian Writers' Centre is booked out! 

A new course date will be announced soon!

Places are filling fast for Book Week 2019. You can book me through the Children's Bookshop Speaker Agency in Sydney.

Many thanks to my American publishers Kane Miller for their continuing support.