Byron Bibliotherapy

16/03/2026

My aunt, Julie Moor, is launching her book, THE HOTELS OF EARLY HIGHFIELDS, 1865 - 1940, co-written with Linda Galligan, next month, 18 April.

It’s about pubs on the Cobb & Co line 🐴🍺🐎

Come along if you’re in the Toowoomba/Cabarlah area!

.au

15/03/2026

My upcoming picture book, SAY HELLO LIKE AN ARMADILLO (June 23, 2026 US; November UK/Aus) is mentioned in this article in Publishers Weekly! I'm so proud to be published by this indie publisher that produces such beautiful, child-centred books!!!

"Children’s books publisher Nosy Crow was founded in London in 2010 and launched its U.S. division in 2022 in Boston under the direction of John Mendelson, who had been senior VP of sales at Candlewick Press. With a staff of five, Nosy Crow’s U.S. branch released 34 titles in its first year. Since day one, Mendelson notes, Nosy Crow US has collaborated with Nosy Crow UK on acquisitions, and books acquired by U.K. editors are always fully Americanized for release here—not just the text but the cover and other design elements as well.

"One reason Nosy Crow has been able to scale so quickly in the U.S., Mendelson says, is that group CEO Kate Wilson reserved a roster of Nosy Crow UK titles with international appeal for it. Since the launch, the two teams have been working
collaboratively as well, and Mendelson points to the fall 2025 release of This Is Not a Small Voice: Poems by Black Poets as an example of a title that was jointly acquired. Nosy Crow’s fiction team also had a hit stateside with its Dungeon Runners series, which was featured in Barnes & Noble’s 2025 summer reading program.

"The collaborative approach has led to a 105% increase in U.S. sales in 2025 compared to 2023, and this year Nosy Crow is launching its U.S.-originated publishing program. First up is the picture book Say Hello Like an Armadillo, written by Zewlan Moor and illustrated by Karen Obuhanych, which will be published simultaneously in the U.K. “As we move forward with our U.S.-originated acquisitions, our aim is for books we acquire to succeed in the U.S. market first, but also to find homes in other markets, both English language and foreign,” Mendelson says."

https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/publisher-news/article/99927-indie-publisher-standouts.html

Nosy Crow

To grow in a difficult market, six companies have found ways to innovate on traditional industry models

06/03/2026

There’s a bit of exciting news I’ve neglected to tell you. I have a rhyming picture book coming out with Nosy Crow on June 23!

Beautifully illustrated by Karen Obuhanych 🎨, it is a fun book about all the ways you can say hello.

You can click your tongue and shake your fin, like a beluga whale. Or curl up and strrrrrrr-etch out like an armadillo!

The book has already been featured on the Fuse 8 blog on the School Library Journal. If you don’t know, this is the blog of perhaps the most extroverted and hilarious of all school librarians, Betsy Bird🦉As you can see, she can see herself in our book!

Scroll through for a behind-the-scenes look at my first draft, which was quite different to the end result!

I want to thank my wonderful agent, Amy Thrall Flynn , for believing in this book and helping to shape it into the bundle of joy it has become✨

Available for preorder now, wherever you buy good books, including in Hungary & Target in the US🎯

🎨 It us a huge thrill to have Karen illustrate ARMADILLO. Her style is so cute and colourful, and that mid-century-esque color palette is chef’s kiss😙👌 Also, she illustrated WONDER DOGS, a gorgeous book by one of my favorite picture book authors.

🦉 Check out Betsy’s children’s literature podcast, co-hosted with her sister, Kate
For photo and illustration credits of Betsy’s headshots, please see her website.

03/03/2026

Subtropical autumn 🧡🤎🥰🤎🧡

02/03/2026

I’ve been meaning to get off social media for dozens of months now. Every time, I’ve been compelled to stay to share what’s happening in the🌎

Especially after friends & acquaintances kept looking at me like I was crazy when I was talking about all the momentous events occurring at an unprecedented pace.

Like many of you, I’ve been struggling mentally & emotionally. I appreciate my kind friend noticing at a read-in for , before the latest Gaza rally in Brisbane. Despite trying to hold it together for the camera (see last 🛝), she must have noticed my despondency. She reached out, & now I’m paying it forward.

Here’s a compilation of 🛝🛝 about things making me heartsick. My head feels airy, but sticky, like cotton candy💭

They range from the bombing of girls in Iran, the onset of a war that has been brewing in clear sight, despite silence in our media. Did you know that Iran is a signatory to the Non Nuclear Proliferation Treaty, & that the US removed their signature in 2018? Did you know Iran has no nuclear weapons but Israel has approximately 90? I didn’t think so.

The 🛝🛝 move to murders in Gaza & Minneapolis. Our own rising authoritarianism in Australia, proving we aren’t immune to 🌍 politics.

The Epstein Files have proven another exhausting distraction & demoralising exercise, as we see the evidence of these capitali$t crimes, but no sign of justice being served. Once again, our liberal institutions are failing us.

The demoralisation continues as we witness“upstanding” public intellectuals & moral leaders exposed. Including women & POC.

Culminating in the launch of WW3 in the dead of night.

How are you doing? What are you doing to maintain your emotional & at this time?

Despite feeling as if the world of liberal publishing & books has failed us, I am reading, learning & educating myself for the struggles to come.

Didn’t get to mention & 😮‍💨

25/02/2026

Pancake poem just dropped.

23/02/2026

Stopping by Chinatown on a humid evening
(After Robert Frost, Richard T Morris and )

Whose ferns these are I think I know.
The boba’s in the village though;
They will not see me reading poems
To ferns that sway there to and fro…

Thanks to my daughter for filming while drinking her bubble tea🧋🤩

Sorry about the litter in our cosmopolitan urban jungle🌿🌺🌿

I love PBs about poems and poets so much, I think I’ll do a listicle of them 🔜 Stay tuned!

23/02/2026

That time, over two years ago, when I had not one, but two books on this list!

🔎: THE BILL DUP🌵 & NOTHING ALIKE👯

Picture books are fantastic gifts for kids of all ages. They wrap easily, introduce visual literacy alongside the joy of words, and give endless joy when they hit the spot – just ask any parent who’s been asked to read a favourite picture book over and over again. But how…

12/02/2026

Such a thrill to stumble across this story-time reading of NOTHING ALIKE👯

The illustrations are just so vivid and awesome!

Reuben can't tell Esme and Eunwoo apart, or can he? This book explores the fact that everyone is unique and has their own personal preferences, even though ...

09/02/2026

Another peaceful rally & march in Magandjin/Brisbane, with a huge turnout for a school night (in the thousands)! People are livid that genocidal war criminal Herzog (named by ICJ) is getting the red carpet treatment from our bipartisan federal and state leaders.

Proposed state legislation in QLD may prohibit us from protesting with Miffy 😢🐰

Unfortunately we learned of news of police brutality in Sydney, with pepper spray, violent use of horses and disgraceful assaults on praying Muslim men.

Photo credits to & unknowns
Reel post credit to
Excellent analysis as usual at

If you’re in the CBD tomorrow morning, check out the mock trial of Herzog (see final 🛝).

01/02/2026

My latest review is up!

“I anticipate that this may be the most important children’s book published in Australia this year.”

Check it out at (🔗 in bio)

🖊️ Sara Haddad
🎨 Baraa Awoor
📖 UQP

👧🏽🧒🏼👦🏻 For Ages 8+

24/01/2026

Happy Sunday 🌳🚙🏞️

Repost • The Sunday Drive Machine. More play and problem solving!
When I was in primary school I played the part of the ‘backdrop’ in the nativity play. This involved two kids holding a roll of painted butchers paper and rotating it around ourselves as Mary rode by on a donkey. I’ve been wanting to experiment with this idea on a small scale to make automaton and have just discovered that these can be called a crankie, a moving panorama or a moving-picture toy.
I’m keen to keep exploring this idea and experiment with light and some old pianola rolls I’ve been hoarding.