Anna Fienberg Anna Fienberg i(A17921 works by)
Born: Established: 1956 Canterbury, Kent,
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England,
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United Kingdom (UK),
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Western Europe, Europe,
;
Gender: Female
Arrived in Australia: 1959
Heritage: English
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BiographyHistory

Anna Fienberg came to Australia when she was three years old in 1959. She gained a Bachelor of Arts from Macquarie University before travelling in Europe and living in Italy for a year.

During the 1980s, she edited the NSW School Magazine. Billy Bear and the Wild Winter (1988) was first published in this magazine as a series. In 1988 she also published Wiggy and Boa, illustrated by Ann James. It was highly recommended for the Younger Readers Section of the Childrens' Book Council Awards for that year. The Magnificent Nose and Other Marvels won the CBC Award for Younger Readers in 1992. Other titles include :The Nine Lives of Balthazar (1989), Ariel Zed and the Secret of Life ( 1992) and Dead Sailors Don't Bite (1996). She has also published new versions of Snugglepot and Cuddlepie stories for younger readers.

She has collaborated with her mother, Barbara Fienberg , to produce the Tashi tales (1995 -) in which the small hero recounts his adventures with entertaining mythical characters. These and other titles such as the Minton series (1999 -) are also the result of a long term collaboration with the illustrator Kim Gamble. This series combines stories with transport themes. Children are encouraged to use recycled materials to make the vehicles from the stories. Anna's writing often combines short tales of whimsy and imagination that attract the young independent reader. However, she has also written for young adults with Borrowed Light (1999), a sensitive book about being a teenager, loneliness, love and pregnancy. Anna has written for several magazines such as Women's Day, Lucky and Cosmopolitan .

Most Referenced Works

Personal Awards

2019 recipient Order of Australia Member of the Order of Australia (AM) For significant service to literature as an author.

Awards for Works

y separately published work icon Picasso and the Greatest Show on Earth Crows Nest : Allen and Unwin , 2023 25988707 2023 single work children's fiction children's

'A sweetly moving story about friendship and finding happiness, for readers who loved Wonder and Lenny's Book of Everything.

'Frances is in a new house in a new neighbourhood and going to a new school, but no amount of new can make her forget the old, sad secret dragging at her heart. Not the pictures of bacteria that she draws with painstaking precision, not even Picasso, the puppy with the long soft ears and the cute black circle like a target on his bottom. Then Frances meets Kit, the tall, quiet boy with the two-coloured eyes. Kit is a real artist. His coloured pencils fill page after page of exercise books. He sees wonder in the rocks and ferns and sky. Though Kit has worries of his own. 

'But when secrets are spilled, Frances's life turns grey and drab. Not even Picasso's wet nose can brighten her up. Frances and Kit will need to face the truth of their pasts to find colour in their world again. After all, don't the most brilliant sunsets need a cloudy sky?

'A beautiful novel about finding the remarkable in the ordinary and celebrating the wonder of every day from the award-winning author of Borrowed Light.'(Publication summary)

2024 shortlisted New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards Patricia Wrightson Prize for Children's Books
2024 CBCA Book of the Year Awards Notable Book Older Readers
y separately published work icon Tashi and the Stolen Forest Crows Nest : Allen and Unwin , 2020 19846155 2020 single work children's fiction children's fantasy

'Why, that interfering little worm, someone ought to step on him!' the Baron hissed to Tiki Pu. I guessed he was talking about me. 'Well, never mind if he blabs about the wood,' he added, cheering up. 'I'll just lie, and say I had nothing to do with it. You, however, must pay Much-to-Learn a visit. Steal his secret spell.'

'Jack loved it when Tashi told his stories. Today Tashi was telling about the time the old forest disappeared, and Much-to-Learn was in danger of disappearing with it! And then the whole village was threatened ... Could magic sand and a certain spell help save them all? Only someone as clever as Tashi could find a way to outwit the Baron - and solve the mystery of the disappearing trees. An Australia Reads exclusive story.' (Publication summary)

2021 shortlisted Speech Pathology Australia Book of the Year Awards Five to 8 Years
y separately published work icon Wicked's Way Crows Nest : Allen and Unwin , 2016 9189976 2016 single work children's fiction children's

Anna Fienberg's fabulous new high-seas pirate adventure, with scoundrels and blaggards, devilish treachery, and pirates who long for a bit of comfort - great reading for 8 to 12 year olds from the world of Horrendo's Curse.

'Will could walk a tightrope and juggle bananas as he went. 'One day you'll be the star of a circus,' his mother told him. 'But until then, you must be a secret.' For each year pirates came to the islands to steal young boys for their crew. And if that happened to you, well, you may as well kiss your life goodbye. So what's a young lad to do when his mother disappears and pirates arrive at his door?

'Will takes courage from a crazy truth-telling parrot, and his mother's advice: 'Keep putting one foot in front of the other and your eyes on the prize.' But will this be enough to survive the perils at sea? And will that infuriatingly polite boy called Horrendo finally tip the balance?

'A high-seas pirate adventure about scoundrels and blaggards, devilish treachery, and finding the most precious treasure of all.' (Publication summary)

2017 CBCA Book of the Year Awards Notable Book Younger Readers
Last amended 12 Jun 2019 16:06:16
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