It won a number of awards: the Young Australian Readers’ Award and the American Library Association Notable Children’s Book. Inspired by the wombats around her house, French’s book offers readers a glimpse into the daily life of a wombat. The most popular picture book from French is Diary of a Wombat (2002). Picture books by French often center on animals. French’s nonfiction books for children cover a range of topics-how to be a better writer ( How the Aliens from Alpha Centauri Invaded My Maths Class and Turned Me Into a Writer ), how to create a garden ( How to Guzzle Your Garden ), the origins of food ( The Fascinating History of Your Lunch ), and the lives of animals ( The Secret World of Wombats ). Examples are Rocket Your Child into Reading (2004) and A Year in the Valley (2010). The Matilda Saga unfolds over nine books from the late 1800s to the late 1900s in Australia.įrench’s nonfiction books for adults focus on the natural world and on how to help children become good readers. The book was awarded a number of Australian and international prizes, including the 2000 Children’s Book Council of Australia Book of the Year: Younger Readers, the UK WOW! Award, and the Semi-Grand Prix Award from Japan. In Hitler’s Daughter, French examines the effects of war on young teenagers. Hitler’s Daughter (1999) is the first book of The Hitler Trilogy. She continues to write a gardening column for the Canberra Times.įrench has written dozens of historical fiction books, including The Hitler Trilogy and the Matilda Saga. Around the time Rainstones was accepted for publication, she began writing columns for periodicals. French’s first book, Rainstones (1991), was a short story collection about the magic of the country.

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