Press Release:
From the award-winning author of Brindabella, and the current Australian Children’s Laureate for 2020-2021, comes a universally relatable experience of using one’s imagination to escape from childhood grief.
‘Pierre’s Not There is about how acts of imagination can bring a kind of truth to real experiences that are difficult to process,’ Ursula says.
In a mulberry brick house on the harbour that Lara explores while her mother cleans, Lara meets Pierre, a boy about her age with a beautiful antique puppet theatre. With his puppets, he tells her a story about a boy whose family has been eaten by wolves. The boy is lost. He needs to find his grandmother. Lara takes the part of a dog, but suddenly she can no longer tell where she ends and Dog begins. Or is she Wolf? Caught up in Pierre’s story, Lara has to fight to protect her identity – and her new friend. Can she help Pierre find his way home?
Pierre’s Not There is a lyrical, captivating and imaginative story that can be read on many levels.
Author: Ursula Dubosarsky was born and grew up in Sydney and wanted to be a writer from the age of six. She is now the author of over 60 books for children and young adults and her work is published all over the world. She has won several national literary awards and internationally she has been nominated for both the Hans Christian Andersen award and the Astrid Lindgren prize. Her most recent novel for children, Brindabella, was short-listed for the 2019 CBCA awards. Ursula Dubosarsky is the current Australian Children’s Laureate.
Illustrator: Christopher Nielsen is an award-winning Sydney-based illustrator specialising in children’s books, advertising and packaging. His artwork is inspired by a passion for mid-century design and has been short-listed for the CBCA Crichton Award and acknowledged by The British Book Design and Publication Awards, AGDA Awards, 3×3 Awards, Communication Arts, American Illustration and Society Of Illustrators NY. He has received Gold, Silver and Bronze medals in the Illustrators Australia Awards.
