Backyard

A reminder to look closely at the world around you...

In Backyard, critically acclaimed Australian author Ananda Braxton-Smith and fine artist Lizzy Newcomb team up to present a lush, lyrical picture book about all the life that children can find in a suburban backyard.

White gum rustle, tawny frog mouths still as wood, dragonflies swoop. Banjo frog calls the secret – watch the world carefully, your backyard is home to animals other than you! A child stands on her back step at dusk and surveys her backyard. The backyard is teeming with life - birds, possum, native rat, bats, insects and bugs.

Ananda Braxton-Smith is a journalist and children's author. She has written several titles for Black Dog Books, including a series for older readers, the Secrets of Carrick. The first two books in the series, Merrow and Tantony, were Children's Book Council of Australia Notable Books in 2011 and 2012, in addition to being finalists in the Young Adult Fiction category of the 2010 and 2011 Aurealis Awards.

As a child, Lizzy Newcomb would sit and watch her dad draw and hand-colour his architectural plans; this inspired her love of art. Sydney-born and raised, she spent most of her childhood exploring the bushland near her home and began a love affair with nature. Lizzy has studied nursing, travelled throughout Europe and Scandinavia, and run a business producing handmade ceramic pieces. In 2006 her first solo exhibition sold out and she has held an exhibition each year since. My Name is Lizzie Flynn (written by Claire Saxby) was her first book with Black Dog Books.

Backyard
Walker Books Australia
Author: Ananda Braxton-Smith
Illustrator: Lizzy Newcomb
ISBN: 9781925381177
RRP: $24.99