Cirrus@Austlit

'The Butterfly Garden is an entertaining introduction to the life cycle of a butterfly – played out by a fat caterpillar, a hungry kookaburra and a supporting cast of beautiful butterflies. Spare and simple, The Butterfly Garden also weaves in the idea of how the kookaburra may have got his laugh. Fern Martins illustrations are a mix of strong colour and transluscent beauty. Her stained-glass interpretations of the cocoon at its various stages show its ephemeral quality in a joyful and fluid way. This feel-good board book for Early Childhood will bring a smile to all readers.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Big Fella Rain is a celebration of northern Australia as animals, birds, trees and a parched earth await the first rain. It is almost as if country stands still as the sparse yet evocative text pays homage to the transition from dry season to wet season in a country that is like no other place in the world.

'Fern Martins illustrations seamlessly portray the dramatic skies, the thirsty animals and tiny creatures whose very existence rely on the monsoonal changes. Her exquisite rendering of the big landscape against the subtle shifts in the environment have a timeless quality that will capture the hearts of all readers.' (Publication summary)

'Every day, Ella and Mia’s grandpa comes home from work with a treat from the toast tree - a tree that grows the best tasting toast in the world! Ella and Mia start searching high and low for the magical tree in the sand hills surrounding their beach-side town. Written by Corina Martin and beautifully illustrated by Fern Martins, The Toast Tree is about family, and the search for magic through the power of a child’s imagination.' (Source: Publisher's website)