Paraphernalia's Present

Diana Lawrenson began writing at the age of seven when she discovered she could earn pocket money by having items published in the children’s pages of her local newspaper. Strangely, when she left school, a writing career never occurred to her. Instead she trained as a nurse and midwife, before leaving Australia to work in the Solomon Islands and later London. For many years she wrote for magazines and newspapers, but it was not until 1992 that her first book was published. She is the author of a number of non-fiction titles, including It’s True! Your Bones are Stronger than Concrete and It’s True! Your Hair Grows 15 Kilometres a Year as well as two picture books Pickle, the Perfectly Awful Pig and Paraphernalia’s Present. She lives in Melbourne with her husband.

Dee Huxley has worked as a freelance illustrator, graphic designer and author and has illustrated many picture books for children. She has been shortlisted twice for the Children’s Book Council Picture Book of the Year Award.