Charlie, Bob and Me (Harry) Meet Puggles follows a koala, a wombat, and their Australian animal friends as they help a lost baby echidna search for his mother and discover that family can be found in unexpected places. What inspired you to make belonging and found family central themes in Puggles’ story?

Books can be amazing teaching tools, and some young people struggle with belonging, fitting in, and acceptance; you don’t have to be biologically connected to be family.

Why did you choose to represent Puggles’ disability through his malformed feet and difficulty digging?

With our ever-changing environment, I have found that our wildlife is also subject to malformations and disabilities. I felt that using malformed feet in an echidna, was an interesting way to teach young people that even though we are different, we can still be successful and live a full life while overcoming challenges. This is very important as echidnas rely on their back feet to establish new dens.

How did you balance teaching children about Australian wildlife with keeping the story adventurous and entertaining?

I have always liked to use many opportunities as teaching moments. By telling the story from the animals’ perspective, I feel that the story was able to stay adventurous and entertaining without coming across as too educational.

Which character was the most enjoyable to write, and did any of their personalities change during the writing process?

I always like to write about Harry. He is a gruff but very lovable character who keeps the group together. He is the one who always comes up with the big ideas. He is always so brave and stoic. It was good to write him up in a different light when he admitted to his fear of the dark and small spaces.

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