Aussie Nibbles : Rosie to the Rescue

Rosie loves things that are red -- and especially she loves fire engines!Her home is next door to the Merrivale fire station, and every week she helps fire chief Hamish MacTavish polish the fire engine till it shines.

Rosie's billycart is painted to look like a miniature fire engine, but she's love a real one of her own. When Mum and Dad need to buy a new used car, she finds one in Col's Car Lot. It's just what she wants -- but her parents have different ideas. Rosie thinks this is unfair. So when it's time to go with Mum and Dad to the Merrivale picnic, Rosie decides not to go, and she persuades her best friend, Ned, not to go either. While they are playing in the treehouse, they discover that there's a real fire in Hamish MacTavish's fire station -- and Hamish is away at the picnic! Now it's Rosie to the rescue.

About The Author

Meredith Costain is an extremely popular and prolific writer. So far she has written over forty books, including novels, novelisations (of the internationally successful television programme Heartbreak High), picture books, and non-fiction books.

A former English teacher, Meredith Costain now writes and edits children s publications full-time. She also teaches Writing for Children at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, and is Literary and Popular Culture Editor for three national student magazines.

Meredith won the Fellowship of Australian Writer's Mary Grant Bruce Story Award for Children s Literature in 1992 and 1993, and judged it in 1994. Her picture book Musical Harriet was voted a Notable Book in the 1996 Children s Book Council of Australia Awards, and was adapted for television by ABC TV.

Many of Meredith's stories have been published internationally, including the Puffin Heartbreak High series (Germany, Holland), stories in the Literary Links and Reading Discovery series (UK, Canada, US), and Superdooper series My Brother s A Spy, The Mummy s Curse (both US). Hot Licks (UK, South Africa), and four Barbie Sweethearts (UK, US) were written under the pseudonym Gemma Carey.