Dr Mark Carthew is an award winning Australian children’s author, poet, musician and educator well known for his books and series celebrating language, humour and wordplay.
His illustrated play script series VoiceWorks sold over one million titles worldwide. Mark’s rhyme and riddle books Newts, Lutes and Bandicoots, Wicked Wizards & Leaping Lizards and Witches’ Britches, Itches & Twitches! were created in collaboration with renowned UK illustrator Mike Spoor. Mark’s picture books include Five Little Owls illustrated by Crichton award-winning illustrator Mini Goss and The Gobbling Tree, ill. Susy Boyer, Speech Pathology Australia’s 2009 Book of the Year. His anthology, Can You Keep a Secret? Timeless rhymes to share and treasure illustrated by Jobi Murphy was a Children’s Book Council of Australia Notable Book.
Mark has extensive experience in trade and education editing and publishing with numerous books, series, anthologies, poems and songs published with Australian and international publishers: see http://markcarthew.com.au/books/. Mark is a former Board Member of Australian Society of Authors (ASA), 2013 & 2021 May Gibbs Children’s Literature Trust Fellow, primary school teacher and university lecturer. Mark has a PhD in Writing from Swinburne University and he was the inaugural 2022 Irwin Ermidis Visiting Research Fellow (oral language) at UniSA. Mark’s recent picture books include The Moose is Loose! ill. by Matt Stanton, The Great Zoo Hullabaloo! ill. by Anil Tortop and three books in the Marvin & Marigold series ill. by Simon Prescott (UK); Marvin & Marigold The Big Sneeze, Marvin & Marigold: A Christmas Surprise and Marvin & Marigold: A Stormy Night.
2020 saw the release of The Dingle, Dangle Jungle ill. by Dave Atze, published by Ford Street Publishing (*Shortlisted for the 2020 Educational Publishing Awards Australia); along with a 10th Anniversary eBook & POD edition of his CBCA Notable verse and song anthology, Can You Keep a Secret? Timeless rhymes to share and treasure. Mark’s recent picture book, The Thing That Goes Ping! illustrated by Shane McG, published by Ford Street Publishing (Feb 2021), WON the 2021 Speech Pathology Australia Book of The Year Award, in the Five-8 years category.
Two new picture books are scheduled for upcoming release; BERT and BILLY ill. by Shane McG (Nov 2026) and Ten Green Bogles, ill. Dave Atze (Feb 2027). Both books are published by Leaping Lizards Press and distributed by Simon & Schuster Australia / NZ.