Arno the Garbo

Gary Crew has been awarded the Children’s Book Council of Australia, Book of the Year Award four times; twice for Older Readers (Strange Objects in 1991 and Angel’s Gate in 1993), and twice for Picture Books (First Light in 1993 and The Water Tower in 1996). He has also been short-listed twice for the Edgar Allan Poe Mystery Fiction Award for Youth in the USA, and has been awarded the American Children’s Book of Distinction. Gary is a Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing, Children’s and Adult Literature at the University of the Sunshine Coast in Queensland.

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.