Katherine Battersby's Blog

I am now just weeks away from my first trip back to Australia in over two years. While down under I’ll be launching my latest book, Little Wing(at Riverbend Books), as well as visiting many amazing schools, public libraries and various literary festivals. I’m so looking forward to seeing everyone and meeting lots of little readers!

Unfortunately I won’t be running any workshops for adult writers this time around, however I am doing a number of public readings and workshops for children, so if...

It may sound strange, but I’m only weeks away from an international tour … of my own country. It’s only really an international tour as it requires me to fly from Canada in order to do it. Either way, I have 7 wonderful weeks back in Australia and am so looking forward to visiting many amazing schools, being involved in various literary festivals and running workshops and mentoring sessions for adult writers and illustrators. I’ll also be sneaking in some writing time and even a bit of a holi...

You may have noticed I’m not using my blog as much as I used to. I still love blogging (and will continue to do so occasionally), but putting worthwhile posts together takes time when I often only have snippets in amongst busy days. But I do love online worlds – connecting with those who love books and other writers and parents and little readers and fellow rabbit enthusiasts. In many ways I’ve found my Facebook Author Page has taken over. As a platform I find it more immediate and a lot more...

2014 has brought some big changes. Big, but exciting. The short story is … I’m going to be dividing my time between Australia and Canada. But that’s a bit too short.

Our snowy house

The long story is this: The only regret I’ve ever carried in life is that I’ve never lived overseas. Growing up, my head was filled with travel tales told by my mum, who shifted around the globe through her 20s and 30s. My parents met in Africa, travelled across Europe, got married in England and I was conceived...

2014 has brought some big changes. Big, but exciting.

The short story is … I’m moving to Canada. But that’s a bit too short.

Our snowy house

The long story is this: The only regret I’ve ever carried in life is that I’ve never lived overseas. Growing up, my head was filled with travel tales told by my mum, who shifted around the globe through her 20s and 30s. My parents met in Africa, travelled across Europe, got married in England and I was conceived in Oman, all before they settled in Australia...

It’s not possible to get overconfident as an artist. Because every time I feel a little like I know what I’m doing – every time I get the inkling that I may have something of this whole storytelling palaver figured out – an idea comes along that makes me a beginner again.

This is no coincidence. If I truly knew what I was doing, then the project would hold no challenge for me. It would mean I wasn’t learning, and such a project wouldn’t be able hold my attention. New ideas fascinate us because...

It is a well known fact that I have a bit of thing for rabbits. What is lesser known is that I actually love animals of all kinds. All picture books I write feature animals, usually as the main characters. In fact, recently I have begun working on my first picture book featuring kids, but even then they are all dressed as animals.

A few posts back I did a photo diary about all the rabbits I encountered during a recent trip across Europe. As rabbits feature a lot on this blog, I thought I owed...

As an illustrator I work in ink every day. I’m very familiar with it as a medium. And while my canvas tends to be paper, some artists use skin.

I haven’t got a tattoo myself, but I’ve long admired them as an art form. And being a bookish type, I particularly like literary tattoos. There are some amazing tats out there, based on work by some of my favourite illustrators. You only have to google about to find them. There are lots of Shaun Tan tattoos, based on images from his beautiful and often...

I promised you some European rabbits, and here they are. I didn’t have to look very hard while overseas. Everywhere I turned there were rabbits. Big ones, titchy ones, blue ones, fashionista ones, paranoid ones, even chocolate ones. I was starting to think Europe was particularly bunny obsessed, until I clued onto the fact that it was nearly easter (the chocolate bunnies gave me my first hint – I know, I’m a genius).

Either way, Squish Rabbit was proud that his European brethren were so prolif...

I’ve been wanting to attend the Bologna Children’s Book Fair for several years now. It’s the biggest annual event in children’s books, making it an incredibly exciting place for a writer / illustrator. Now I knew it was a massive event, but this was purely an intellectual concept. It’s a bit like being told about a stampede, as opposed to standing in the middle of one. A glorious stampede, mind you. A stampede of colourful stuff from a child’s imagination.

The fair is “the most important inter...