Anemone is not the Enemy

The 2021 CBCA Honour winner for Early Childhood.

A funny tale of mishap, misunderstanding, and the search for true friendship in an ocean rockpool.

All Anemone wants is a friend, but friends are hard to make when you accidentally sting everyone who comes near you. Perhaps Clownfish has a solution to the problem...

This is, at first glance, a very simple, quite quirky and humorous picture book, with minimal text and appealing, colourful, digitally produced illustrations. But it is also a fascinating introduction to life in a rock pool—who lives there, who visits when the tide comes in, who is stung by the anemone and who it can form a symbiotic relationship with.
- Margaret Hamilton, Books+Publishing

This fun and funny picture book tells the story of Anemone who lives in a rock pool and desperately wants a friend. The digitally produced illustrations add so much to this title, from the eye-catching neon pink used for the title, endpapers, and titular character to the simple yet sweetly drawn and coloured sea horse, starfish, and sea cucumber. I would highly recommend Anemone is not the Enemy for young readers especially those interested in the natural world.
- Anne Varnes, Reading Time

Anemone is not the Enemy's dappled art has an appropriately aquatic feel, with the gentle blue of the tides interrupted by the neon zaps of Anemone's stingers. McGregor visually includes simple marine life facts into the backdrop of Anemone's dilemma and then expands upon them in the 'Fun Facts' backmatter, making this a mini-science lesson wrapped in a sweet friendship story.
- BCCB