The Excuse

Allan Baillie is an internationally published author and one of Australia’s most successful and popular writers for children of all ages. He was born in Scotland in 1943 and has lived in Australia since he was seven years old. On leaving school he worked as a journalist and travelled extensively. He is the author of many highly acclaimed novels and a number of very successful picture books, including the award-winning Drac and the Gremlin. Apart from Little Brother, some of his most successful titles are Songman (winner of the Victorian Premier’s Literary Award – Children’s Books) and The China Coin (winner of the Australian Multicultural Children’s Literature Award). Allan’s books have been translated into many languages including German, Dutch, French, Swedish and Spanish. His most recent book with Puffin, Treasure Hunters, was set on a fictional Indonesian island in political turmoil. Treasure Hunters was published in 2002 and was a CBC Notable Book. His short story collection for young adults, A Taste of Cockroach, was published in May 2005 and was very well received.