Derek

Derek was a fish with many questions.

Why is the universe round? Where do bubbles come from? Why does food rain down from the sky?

But there was one question that Derek asked himself more than any other: ’Why am I alone?’

From new talent Anne Donaldson and bestselling illustrator Matt Shanks comes an adorable adventure about curiosity, courage and connection.

If a writer, a lawyer and a scientist walked into a children’s bookshop, that would be Anne Donaldson. Two not-so-small boys and one chocolate brown cat also claim Anne as their mother. When she’s not creating children’s stories, Anne gets to work at a university, where she helps inventors to bring cool, new technologies into the world. Anne has lived on four continents, in a stable, a chocolate factory and a church, and on a road named after the original ’nosey Parker’.

Matt Shanks is an internationally published and critically acclaimed author/illustrator of over twenty picture books, several of which have been awarded CBCA Notable Books. Simplicity, humor and the art of the unseen are strong themes in his illustration work, and he works primarily in watercolor. Matt has collaborated with some of Australia’s most loved writers including Jackie French, Peter Helliar and Jimmy Barnes. He is a two-time fellow of the May Gibbs’ Children’s Literature Trust and an Australian Literary and Numeracy Foundation ambassador. Matt lives on Boon Wurrung land with his partner and cat.