A new book – To the Bridge – Illustrated by Andrew McLean, Published by Walker Books Australia – Black Dog Books

 

There’s nothing like the sight, the touch and the smell of a new book.

Five years after it began, today the postie delivered To the Bridge to my front door. It was one of those stories that sat in my ‘to do’ pile for a while (years) and when I did re-discover it, I couldn’t let it go. It’s the story of remarkable nine year old Lennie Gwyther and his equally remarkable pony, Ginger Mick. In 1932 together they rode from Leongatha all the way to Sydney to see the opening of the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

My thanks goes to Andrew McLean for his stunning illustrations, to Maryann Ballantyne who first worked on the book with me, to Walker Books – Black Dog Books, to Beryl Ferrier, the almost 95 year old sister of Lennie and other members of the Gwyther family and to my friend Julie Oliveri who first told me the story.

It’s due out April 1st with launches in Leongatha (March 12), Sydney (March 19) and Ringwood (April 4) – details to come.

https://www.walkerbooks.com.au/Books/To-The-Bridge-9781925126822