Castle Crashing

About the Author

Andrea Rowe is a bestselling, award-winning picture book author, freelance writer and late-night book reader. She loves to write nostalgic stories that inspire conversations among children, families and educators. Her characters explore the great outdoors, ponder big questions and move through tricky feelings.

Andrea's debut picture book, Jetty Jumping (illustrated by Hannah Sommerville), won the 2022 CBCA Book of the Year Award – Early Childhood, and In the Rockpool and Amid the Sand Dunes (both illustrated by Hannah Sommerville) were Notables in the same category in 2024 and 2025.

Andrea believes in the power of stories, of reading out loud and in secret spots surrounded by stacks of books. She lives in Bunurong Country, in the sand dunes of the Mornington Peninsula, where her writing days are fuelled by a secret stash of Cherry Ripes.

Hannah Sommerville is a bestselling picture book illustrator who creates enchanting watercolour, gouache and digital illustrations in her studio on the South Coast of New South Wales. Hannah earned a Bachelor of Creative Arts (Visual Arts and Graphic Design) at the University of Wollongong in 2006, and began illustrating in 2010 after the arrival of her young children.

Hannah is a storyteller who enjoys creating picture books that capture the imagination, tenderness and playfulness that surround children and family life. Her picture book Jetty Jumping, written by Andrea Rowe, won the 2022 CBCA Book of the Year Award – Early Childhood, and In the Rockpool and Amid the Sand Dunes (both written by Andrea Rowe) were Notables in the same category in 2024 and 2025.