Tough Lester

Nette spent her early childhood in a small country town in Victoria, moving to Sydney when she was 11. She didn’t adjust well to life in a city high school and her memories of this time are still with her and are reflected in her writing. After school, she ‘floundered around for several years trying to work in office situations’, but eventually gave up and went bush. For 12 months she worked on a sheep station, had another go at office work, and then decided to train as a teacher.

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.