The Wish Bug

Paul Collins pioneered the publishing of heroic fantasy in Australia. In 1975 he launched Void, a science fiction magazine. During the eighties he published the country’s first heroic fantasy novels by Keith Taylor, David Lake and Russell Blackford. His novels include ‘The Dog King’, ‘The Great Ferret Race’, ‘The Earthborn’ and ‘The Wizard’s Torment’.

Craig Smith has an excellent track record as a children’s book illustrator. He first teamed with Gary Crew to provide a remarkable interpretation of Troy Thompson’s Excellent Peotry Book and Troy Thompson’s Radical Prose Folio. His more recent awards include CBC Honour Book: Younger Readers (1999) for Bob the Builder and the Elves, Shortlisted CBC Book of the Year: Younger Readers for Billy the Punk (1996) and Shortlisted CBC for Not Again, Dad by Thurley Fowler (1995). Craig has also recently illustrated the Paul Jennings titles: The Cabbage Patch Fib and The Cabbage Patch War, and Sniffy the Sniffer Dog (Lothian Books, 2003) in Lothian’s Start-Ups series.