Flash Giveaway: LITTLE BILBY'S AUSSIE EASTER EGG HUNT

April 7, 2020

We are excited to present a flash giveaway of author Yvonne Mes's latest, adorable board book, LITTLE BILBY'S AUSSIE EASTER EGG HUNT, illustrated by Jody Pratt (Lothian Children's Books/Hachette Australia). If the winner is in Australia, you'll win the board book; anyone else will win an ebook!

About the book:

Near bush and scrub and oceanfront, they tiptoe on their Easter hunt . . .

A group of baby bilbies are on an Easter egg hunt. They find all kinds of eggs - a kookaburra's egg, a turtle's egg, a cassowary's egg - before the little bilbies finally find what they've been looking for: Easter eggs to share with all their friends.

This colourfully illustrated picture book showcases the diversity of Australia's egg-laying animals. Each spread reveals an egg in its natural environment and asks the question 'Whose egg could this be?'. After turning the page, the egg is matched with the animal it belongs to.

We have a special mini-interview...

Tell us about the book and what inspired you.

Children are fascinated with eggs and what might hatch from them! Initially, this was a story about all the different types of animals that lay eggs in Australia.

Most children will know chicken eggs or may have found a little nest or a little egg that has fallen from a nest or the shells after it has been hatched. My youngest one loves all things nature and has his own little 'nature box' (a toolbox) where he collects all his treasures, eggshells included. When Hachette wondered if I had an Easter story, I knew this was the right story to adapt. All those eggs right?!

If you're not from Australia, you may not know that the Bilby is the Australian answer to the Easter Bunny. Bilbies are gorgeous nocturnal marsupials, which means they have a pouch. Instead of a little fluffy bun on their bottoms, they have a long swishy tail instead. They are very shy creatures and due to the introduction of overseas animals have become endangered and now only live in Australia's remote areas. It made sense for Little Bilby and his friends to go on their own egg hunt and meet some other native Australian animals on their way including the kookaburra, turtle and cassowary.

Will there be more Little Bilby books?

Goodness, I really hope so! I would love to see more Bilby books hopping about!

Do you have any advice for authors in this stressful time?

I wish I had some amazing insights, but I am just another human being trying to make sense of these changing times, and honestly, I don't know how well I am coping!

BUT ... read, read, read and keep in touch with other creatives online and over the phone to encourage each other to keep on going, to keep on writing and creating. These times of isolation we reach out to creators, we read, we listen to and watch stories on tv and our devices, we listen to music and more. The Arts are what keep us going and what defines us as human. Now more than ever what you do as a creator is important.

About the author: Yvonne Mes is a children’s author and illustrator living in Australia, represented by Mayfair Literary Agency. She coordinates Brisbane based group, Write Links. She buys more books than she can read, comes up with more ideas than she can write or illustrate and has more children than she can manage (3 boys). But she does try very hard, and best of all, she is NEVER bored. For more information, visit her website: www.yvonnemes.com

About the illustrator: Jody Pratt is a Melbourne-based illustrator and painter who loves all things nature, in particular animals. She also works in a library. Little Bilby's Aussie Easter Egg Hunt will be published by Lothian Children's Books in 2020. For more information, visit jodystudioarts.com