Meet author Margrete Lamond and illustrator Mateja Jager as they chat about their stunning children’s book “Paper-Flower Girl”, shortlisted for the Children’s Book Council of Australia’s 2024 Picture Book of the Year award.

“This exquisite, high-quality picture book captivates from the soft, detailed cover and beautiful endpapers through to the very end.” - 2024 CBCA judges

The Paper-flower Girl creates elaborate flowers out of paper, but she has few customers. When the Giant from the Hill brings her to work for him, they soon discover they want very different things. Before long, the Paper-flower Girl is forced to create things she no longer recognises as flowers. When the exasperated Giant throws her from the Hill, the Paperflower Girl takes with her something belonging to the Giant, incorporates it into her elaborate flowers, and attains greater success than the Giant.

MARGRETE LAMOND is an author, editor, publisher, and independent story coach. As an author, she has had 20 of her own works published by a range of publishers, most notably The Sorry Tale of Fox and Bear (shortlisted for the NSW Premier’s Literary Award 2017) and Just One Bee (Honour Book for the CBCA Picture Book of the Year 2022).

MATEJA JAGER is a Slovenian-born Australian illustrator. She studied fashion and textile design at the University of Ljubljana and is self-taught in illustration. Her first two books were published in Slovenia. Mateja is known for her quirky greeting cards and prints, and her work has been featured in major Slovene magazines and the prestigious international Brightness Magazine.