There’s a lovely message in Margaret Wild’s gentle, amusing story. A bogtrotter lives in a gloomy cave in a marshy bog. He spends every day running round the bog until it’s time to go home. He runs because that’s what bogtrotters do, but he’s bored and sometimes lonely. How can he change things? Then he has a couple of encounters with a frog who prompts him to think outside the bog, and a whole new world opens up. There’s lots to think about and discuss in this book, and Judith Rossell’s expressive watercolour illustrations reflect all the sensitivity and humour of Margaret Wild’s text. ~ Andrea Reece
From internationally award-winning writer Margaret Wild, and with gorgeous illustrations from acclaimed illustrator Judith Rossell, comes a story about the brilliant things that can happen when we try new things and challenge ourselves. Every morning Bogtrotter runs across the bog, up the bog, down the bog and around the bog until it's time to go home. Sometimes he wishes things would change, but he doesn't know how or what or why. Until one afternoon, when he picks a flower for the first time in his life...
Margaret Wild is one of Australia's most prolific and courageous authors, unafraid to tackle difficult subjects, such as death, old age and social deprivation with both sensitivity and openness. Her heart-warming, moving picture books have been acclaimed both in Australia and overseas.
Margaret's talents have won her many awards throughout her career. In 1990, she won the Children's Book Council of Australia's Picture Book of the Year for The Very Best of Friends, published by Margaret Hamilton Books. Other CBC short-listed and Commended books by Margaret include: Let the Celebrations Begin!; There's a Sea in My Bedroom; Creatures in the Beard; Mr Nick's Knitting; Thank You Santa; A Bit of Company; The Slumber Party; and Toby.
In 1996, The Midnight Gang, a whimsical, joyous picture book about the night prowlings of a group of toddlers, was published by Omnibus Books. It was short-listed for the 1997 Children's Book Council of Australia Picture Book of the Year Award.
