Yours truly turns the big 40 this year. As one of my statistically inclined colleagues put it at his 40th, 'half way there!' I've never been one to celebrate birthdays and in fact have no recollection of ever having a birthday party. But I remember musing once in my 30s (when turning 40 seemed like an abstract construct) that I will mark my 40th with a huge party. There would be no half measures either : I'd hire out the iconic Wylies Baths in Coogee with it's gorgeous rock

As yet another year draws to an end, we wanted to take a moment to say thank you to everyone in our community : Our customers, booksellers, buyers, editors, printers, teachers, industry affiliates, colleagues, friends and family. A heartfelt thanks for all your support over the past two years, as we embarked on a whole new (ad)venture to create beautiful stories that plant seeds of wisdom; seeds that we hope will blossom with time and guide our young readers in their journey

The final month of the year has commenced and if things haven't already, they will start to wind down soon as we wrap-up on another year of toil and head into the holiday season. For many families, this would be the first time in two years that they are gathering again for Christmas! It seems a lot of folks started preparing early this year; we started receiving orders for Christmas from late October and saw it continue all the way through November. Hoorah to the uber prepare

This unfortunately is a true 'wise as' story : l once gave my nephews and nieces UNICEF vouchers for Christmas ... They were all aged below ten at the time and already had a lot of 'stuff'. I struggled to see what I could possibly give them that would add to their lives. I finally settled on giving them some positive karmic points; instead of buying them presents, I'd donate on their behalf :) Thankfully UNICEF had a wonderful selection of ' inspired gifts ' that lined up to

Dear Wise As Community, A public service announcement: Australia Post has kindly suggested a 'safe' deadline to complete all your online Christmas Shopping. Please take a note of these, especially if you prefer to use standard (rather than express) shipping, as it is approaching fast! To ensure your parcels read their intended destinations in Australia by Christmas on STANDARD SHIPPING please ensure you have shopped and they are shipped by the following dates: Sending parc

Twelve months since the release of our much loved picture book, Willow the Wonderer, we are proud to launch the second picture book in the series: Honey Time. The adventures, learning and wisdom continues although things get a little sticky for our little hero ... He does however get a taste of the sweet wisdom of honey. A new picture book, adventure and seed of wisdom Our much loved picture book, Willow the Wonderer , has officially become a series of picture books with the

The silly season is upon us So we thought we'd let you know That Wise As Stories Does not go low. We don't do Click Frenzy, Forget...

A short and sweet update to let you all know that we've been working like busy bees, packing and unpacking boxes to get all the pre-orders for the new Willow Plush Toy and Premium Gift Set shipped. Glad to share that all pre-orders have now been dispatched or awaiting pickup. Our sincere thanks to all of you who have supported us from the get-go by buying the first editions of our picture books, plush toys and premium giftsets for your little ones. We've loved reading every

Willow the Wonderer is an enchanting picture book about the search for happiness. It has been wonderful to see the warmth with which our readers have embraced the picture book since it was first published in 2021, with Willow the Wonderer maintaining a near perfect five-star rating since. A question that has come up a number of times in reviews and conversations though is, 'what is the right age to talk about happiness with children? Is it too deep and philosophical a subject

After months of searching we finally took the leap last October and bought a van! The plan was to embark on a series of book tours around Australia to meet some hardy booksellers and learn the book trade, whilst promoting our new picture book series, Willow the Wonderer . The trip soon morphed into a fantastic lifestyle where we not only got to connect with great local businesses but also get a taste of a free bohemian lifestyle of yester years. We had not even converted our

It's the height of winter but we are basking in the warmth of the reviews we are getting for our debut picture book, Willow the Wonderer - 'Beautiful' is how most of our readers describe the book. It seems that everyone, from great grandchildren to great grandparents, are falling in love with Willow - our hearts could not be more glad. As we countdown the final copies of the first print run, we thought we'd share some of the highlights from the reviews and the 'backstory' in

The festivals are back and last weekend we welcomed the return of Bellingen Readers & Writers festival in the Mid North Coast of NSW. What a lineup: From Thomas Keneally to Peter Carey, David Williamson, Bryan Brown, Kevin Rudd, Dick Smith, Fran Kelly, Jane Caro, Norman Swan, Professor Doherty, Costa ... the list goes on. Amongst all the literati of Australia, Darren and I found ourselves running a midday session on our debut picture book Willow the Wonderer - We may very wel

Teachers and early childhood educators who have recently bought our Willow the Wonderer picture books are telling us they love using it in class! Encouraged by their feedback we are developing a series of teaching guides to accompany the books. These will cover the basics like developing literacy and numeracy skills to more advanced subjects such as creative writing, art, folk literature, poetic rhythm and meter, and of course explore the philosophy and wisdom of happiness.

Teachers and early childhood educators who have recently bought our Willow the Wonderer picture books are telling us they love using it in class! Encouraged by their feedback we are developing a series of teaching guides to accompany the books. These will cover the basics like developing literacy and numeracy skills to more advanced subjects such as creative writing, art, folk literature, poetic rhythm and meter, and of course explore the philosophy and wisdom of happiness.

Teachers and early childhood educators who have recently bought our Willow the Wonderer picture books are telling us they love using it in class! Encouraged by their feedback we are developing a series of teaching guides to accompany the books. These will cover the basics like developing literacy and numeracy skills to more advanced subjects such as creative writing, art, folk literature, poetic rhythm and meter, and of course explore the philosophy and wisdom of happiness.