Platypus

About the Author

Sue Whiting lives and works in a sleepy coastal village near Sydney, where she spends her days dreaming up adventures for her characters and trying to write them down. Sue has written numerous books in a variety of genres: fiction and nonfiction, picture books through to YA, including the best-selling The Firefighters, and the award-winning A Swim in the Sea. Her latest book Platypus, illustrated by Mark Jackson, is a CBCA 2016 Notable Book. A former primary school teacher with a special interest in literacy education and children’s literature, Sue is a highly experienced speaker who loves sharing her passion for story and storytelling, reading and writing with people of all ages. She also works as a freelance editor, writing coach and mentor.

Mark Jackson is an illustrator based in Melbourne. He has co-illustrated several books with his wife, Heather Potter, and their work has been featured in several exhibitions. Mark has several titles published by Walker Books Australia: The Truth About Penguins written by Meg McKinlay, 2010; Not Like Georgie written by Scott Hatcher, 2009; and Stuck! written by Charlotte Calder, 2009, which was short-listed in the Young Children Category of the Speech Pathology Australia Book of the Year Awards 2010, and received a Notable mention in the Picture Book Category, Children’s Book Council of Australia Awards, 2010. Platypus, published in 2015 and a part of the award-winning Nature Storybook series, was a Notable Book at the CBCA Book of the Year Awards in 2016 and was also short-listed for the Wilderness Society Environment Award for Children's Literature in the same year. For more information and samples of his artwork, please visit his website: http://www.jackpot-art.com/