The Fiery Salamander

Colin Thiele, AC, is one of Australia's most distinguished writers for children. He wrote over 100 books in a career spanning more than half a century including STORM BOY, THE SUN ON THE STUBBLE and BLUE FIN, and won numerous Australian and international awards. Many of his stories have also been made into classic films, TV series, plays and picture books. Highly acclaimed author/illustrator Mark Wilson's many picture books include THE PENGUIN SHORT (a CBCA Notable Book in 1996), THE CASTAWAYS OF THE CHARLES EATON, YELLOW-EYE (winner of the Wilderness Society Award in 2002), and the Extinction Series: I SAW NOTHING: the Extinction of the Thylacine (a CBCA Notable Book in 2004), I SAID NOTHING: the Extinction of the Paradise Parrot, and I DID NOTHING: the Extinction of the Gastric Brooding Frog.
The Extinction Series also won a Wilderness Society Award and a Whitley Award in 2004. His more recent books include THE LAST TREE (2006) which won a Whitley Award in 2007 and MY MOTHER'S EYES: The Story of a Boy Soldier (2009), an Honour Book in both the 2010 CBCA Picture Book of the Year Awards and the 2010 Eve Pownall Award. His ANGEL OF KOKODA (2010) was an Honour Book in the 2011 CBCA Picture Book of the Year Awards.