'In the midst of the riches of picture books, novels, graphic novels and illustrated books published around the world., let's look at what is unique about Australian books for young people. Our land and country is unique. We are an island, so are geographically quite isolated. Our vast space inspires the settings of our literature, as does our climate(which is often warm and sunny but can be quite variable) and our bright light is reflected in our writing and illustrative styles- vibrant, innovative, and sometimes bold and audacious.' (Introduction)