Into the Ice: Reflections on Antarctica

Bestselling creators Alison Lester and Coral Tulloch share their fascination with Antarctica through a personally selected mix of their own and others’ work, from the early age of exploration through to the present day.

NOTABLE BOOK: 2025 Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA) Eve Pownall Award

Go on an extraordinary journey with Alison Lester and Coral Tulloch, two of Australia’s most celebrated creators, as they share their reflections on Antarctica: sketches, writing, paintings, journal entries, their own and others’. This is a book for explorers and dreamers of all ages, and for anyone who wants to be inspired by the wonder of Antarctica.

Alison Lester grew up on a farm by the sea, and first rode a horse as a baby in her father’s arms. Her picture books mix imaginary worlds with everyday life, encouraging children to believe in themselves and celebrate the differences that make them special. Alison is involved in many community art projects and spends part of every year travelling to remote Indigenous communities, using her books to help children and adults write and draw about their own lives. In 2012, Alison became Australia’s first Children’s Book Laureate, a position she shared with Boori Monty Pryor. In 2016, she was awarded the Dromkeen Medal for her outstanding achievement in the creation of Australian children’s and young adult literature, and in 2018 she became the first children’s book creator to win the Melbourne Prize for Literature, for her outstanding contribution to Australian literature and cultural and intellectual life. In 2019, Alison was awarded an Australia Post Legends Award and featured on a stamp, as well as being the recipient of a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in the 2019 Australia Day Honours List.

Coral Tulloch has illustrated over sixty fiction and non-fiction books for children in Australia and internationally, including Touch the Moon (written by Phil Cummings; published by Allen & Unwin), about the moon landing. Her books include Antarctica: The Heart of the World and One Small Island, which she created with Alison Lester. She has won the 2012 CBCA Book of the Year Award, as well as multiple Environment Awards for Children’s Literature. Coral lives in Tasmania.