Bilby Secrets

A narrative non-fiction picture book on the bilby, an Australian marsupial.

A beautiful narrative non-fiction book which follows the life of a bilby, an Australian marsupial. The story depicts a young bilby’s birth, habitat, behaviour and diet. When Baby Bilby is born, he’s as long as your little toe. He crawls into his mother’s warm pouch, where he feeds and grows. Baby Bilby is soon ready to leave the safety of the burrow. He follows his mother closely, sniffs the night air, and hops into the moonlight for his first desert adventure.

About the Author

Edel Wignell is an Australian freelance writer, compiler and journalist. She has been writing full-time for children and adults since 1979: short stories, articles, verse, novels, scripts and non-fiction. Edel, who has five sisters, grew up on a sheep farm in northern Victoria, becoming interested in animals, birds, nature and the environment at an early age. Edel says that the satisfaction of being a writer comes from both the joy of writing, and the thought that children around the world turn the pages of her books and gain pleasure from reading them.

About the illustrator

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 three previous 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.