AUTHOR / ILLUSTRATOR / WILDLIFE ENTHUSIAST

Kim Dale is a Melbourne-based artist who is passionate about Australia's wildlife. She is soon to become a registered wildlife career, even though she knows that an orphaned baby magpie can eat two hundred worms a day!

She has worked in many fields, including acting, modelling, landscape design, and teaching, educating her three children at home for their primary school years. She has travelled extensively around the world and in Australia, where she developed her love of wildlife, especially birds.

Kim wishes to share her love of our beautiful country and teach children how important our wildlife is, and to appreciate nature's beauty in colours, textures and shape.

Her first picture book WHAT AM I? (Lothian) is a guessing game book featuring beautiful illustrations of favourite Australian animals in their natural habitat, and includes fauna fact pages at the back of the book.

Her second book EYES IN THE DARK (Lothian) is a stunning introduction to Australia's nocturnal animals, an intriguing lift-the-flap guessing game book. Some of the eyes that stare out of the dark are endangered, making the book educational as well as fun.

EYES IN THE DARK was shortlisted for the CBCA eve Pownall Award for information books in 2003.

Kim's latest picture book, BUSH BABIES (Lothian), is a beautifully illustrated lift-the flap, which builds upon Kim's avid enthusiasm for native Australian fauna.

Through her presentations Kim aims to share her love of our beautiful country, teach children how important our wildlife is and to appreciate nature's beauty in colours, textures and shape...although sometimes her pet duck Max manages to steal the spotlight!

Link: www.lothian.com.au