Category: Ages 0–2

Representation matters, including in picture book illustrations. Perhaps especially in illustrations, because children are fluent in the language of art in a way that most adults are not. There is no aspect of an illustration that escapes the attention of a child, and this means that to create art for children is to speak to an audience more attuned to the nuances of representation than yourself. This is one of the reasons why the misrepresentation of Indigenous peoples in illustration – or the misrepresentation of other diverse peoples, for that matter – should never be dismissed as being ‘only a picture book’.

In a first for WA children’s books Ambelin Kwaymullina’s Caterpillar and Butterfly is one of two Indigenous titles turned into apps suitable for Android and iOS tablets.

My Superhero by Chris Owen and Moira Court has been selected for the prestigious 2014 White Raven list by the International Youth Library.

Children will enjoy creating their very own How Frogmouth Found Her Home drawings, delighting in the bush creatures and colourful parade of Australian fauna.

Caterpillar and Butterfly is an Indigenous picture book with vibrant colour and delightfully alliterative text. Read the story in class. Using the colouring-in sheet, encourage students to create their very own colourful butterflies.

Five Fremantle Press picture books will feature in story time segments on national television in 2010.