Tania McCartney

If she could, Tania McCartney would live inside a book, and as an author, illustrator and editor, she kind of already does. The founder of Kids’ Book Review and the 52-Week Illustration Challenge, she has almost three decades’ experience in the publishing industry, including magazine/book editing, and layout and design. Tania’s latest books include This is Banjo Paterson (NLA Publishing), and Merry Everything! (Windy Hollow) and her books have been published in Australia, New Zealand, China, Canada, the US and the UK. She has received various awards including two CBCA Notable books, the SCBWI Crystal Kite Award (for Smile/Cry) and the CBCA Laurie Copping Award for Distinguished Service to Children’s Literature (2017). In 2016, Tania’s first self-illustrated book, Australia Illustrated, was released, and she is now working on an illustration commission for the National Library of Australia (a collaboration with Jackie French). In December 2017, her first large scale children’s map of Australia will be published (Hardie Grant Travel). An ambassador for the Chief Minister’s Reading Challenge and other literacy initiatives, Tania is an active juvenile literacy advocate. She has lived in almost every Australian state and territory, as well as France, England and China, and currently lives in Canberra with her family, a forest of artwork and a mountain of books.