Jackie French

Jacqueline Anne "Jackie" French (born 29 November 1953) is an award-winning Australian writer of children's books, and books on gardening.
Jackie French was born in Sydney and grew up in Brisbane. She moved to the bush in her early twenties. She likes gardening and has been on the television series Burke's Backyard. She has written more than one hundred books. These books include story books (fiction), and books about true things (non-fiction). Jackie lives at Araluen, New South Wales.
She began writing when she was 30, to make money to pay for her car. At the time, she was living in a tin shed with a black snake named "Gladys", and a wombat named "Smudge". Jackie also appears regularly on radio and television.
Picture books
Shaggy Gully books
pictures drawn by Bruce Whatley
Diary of a Wombat (2003)
Pete the Sheep (2004), also known as Pete the Sheep-Sheep in the US
The Secret World of Wombats (2005)
Josephine Wants to Dance (2006), also known as Josephine Loves to Dance in the US
The Shaggy Gully Times (2007)
Emily and the Big Bad Bunyip (2008)
Baby Wombat's Week (2009)
Other picture books
Hairy Charlie and the Frog (1994)
Hairy Charlie and the Pumpkin (1994)
Mermaids (1995)
Pigs Don't Fly (2000)
The Secret Life of Santa Claus (2001)
Pear-Pinching Pamela (also known as Too Many Pears!) (2003), pictures drawn by Bruce Whatley
Bears Don't Bounce! (2003)
Queen Victoria's Underpants (2010)
The Tomorrow Book (2011)
A Day to Remember (2012)
Children's fiction
Collections of short stories
Rainstones (1991)
Alien Games (1995)
Mind's Eye (1996)
Dancing with Ben Hall and Other Yarns (1997)
The Book of Unicorns (1997)
Ride the Wild Wind (2002)
Cafe on Callisto books
The Cafe on Callisto (2006)
Space Pirates on Callisto (2006)
Vampire Slugs on Callisto (2006)
The Children of the Valley books
The Music from the Sea (1993)
The City in the Sand (1993)
The House of a Hundred Animals (1993)
The Metal Men (1994)
The Tribe that Sang to Trees (1996)
Phredde the Phaery books
pictures drawn by Stephen Michael King
A Phaery Named Phredde and Other Stories to Eat with a Banana (1998)
Phredde and a Frog Named Bruce and Other Stories to Eat with a Watermelon (1999)
Phredde and the Zombie Librarian and Other Stories to Eat with a Blood Plum (2000)
Phredde and the Temple of Gloom - A Story to Eat with a Mandarin (2001)
Phredde and the Leopard-Skin Librarian - A Story to Eat with a Dinosaur Apple (2002)
Phredde and the Purple Pyramid - A Story to Eat with a Passionfruit (2003)
Phredde and the Vampire Footie Team - A Story to Eat with an Orange at Half Time (2004)
Phredde and the Ghostly Underpants - A Story to Eat with a Mango (2005)
Phredde and the Runaway Ghost Train (2005)
A Box Full of Phaeries, Phreddes and Fruit (contains the first three books put together into one) (2003)
School for Heroes books
pictures drawn by Andrea F. Potter
Lessons for a Werewolf Warrior (2009)
Dance of the Deadly Dinosaurs (2010)
Wacky Families books
My Mum the Pirate (2003)
My Dog the Dinosaur (2003)
My Dad the Dragon (2004)
My Uncle Gus the Garden Gnome (2004)
My Uncle Wal the Werewolf (2005)
My Gran the Gorilla (2006)
My Auntie Chook the Vampire Chicken (2006)
My Pa the Polar Bear (2007)
One Big Wacky Family (2008) (contains the first four books put together into one)
Wonderfully Wacky Families (2009) (contains the last four books put together into one)
Fiction based on history
Somewhere Around the Corner (1994)
Soldier on the Hill (1997)
Daughter of the Regiment (1998)
Hitler's Daughter (1999)
Lady Dance (2000)
Valley of Gold (2003)
How the Finnegans Saved the Ship (2001)
The White Ship (2002)
Tom Appleby, Convict Boy (2004)
They Came on Viking Ships (2005)
Macbeth and Son (2006)
Pharaoh (2007)
The Night They Stormed Eureka (2009)
Oracle (2010)
Nanberry: Black Brother White (2011)
Pennies for Hitler (June 2012)
Other children's fiction
Smudge (1988)
The Roo that Won the Melbourne Cup (1991)
The Boy Who Had Wings (1992)
Walking the Boundaries (1993)
Annie's Pouch (1995), pictures drawn by Bettina Guthridge
The Secret Beach (1995)
A Wombat Named Bosco (1996), pictures drawn by Bettina Guthridge
Beyond the Boundaries (1996) (the book that comes after Walking the Boundaries)
The Warrior: The Story of a Wombat (1996), pictures drawn by Bettina Guthridge
Summerland (1997)
Felix Smith has Every Right to Be a Crocodile (1998)
There's an Echidna at the Bottom of my Garden (1998), pictures drawn by Bettina Guthridge
There's a Wallaby at the Bottom of my Garden (1999), pictures drawn by Bettina Guthridge
Charlie's Gold (1999)
Tajore Arkle (1999)
Burt and the Band (2000), pictures drawn by Beth Norling
Captain Purrfect (2000), pictures drawn by Gus Gordon
The Space Bug (2002)
The Black House (2003)
One Perfect Day (2006), pictures drawn by Peter Bray
The Day I Was History (2007)
The Wombat and the Great Poohjam (2009)
Children's non-fiction
Animal Heroes books
The Goat who Sailed the World (2006)
The Dog who Loved a Queen (2007)
The Camel who Crossed Australia (2008)
The Donkey who Carried the Wounded (2009)
The Horse who Bit a Bushranger (2010)
Fair Dinkum Histories
Shipwreck, Sailors & 60,000 Years (2006)
Grim Crims & Convicts (2005)
Rotters and Squatters (2007)
Gold, Graves and Glory (2007)
A Nation of Swaggies & Diggers (2008)
Weevils, War & Wallabies (2009)
Rockin', Rollin, Hair & Hippies (2010)
Booms, Busts and Bushfires (2011)
Other children's non-fiction
Twelve Bottles Popping: Home-Made Presents to Flip Your Lid (1994)
The Little Book of Big Questions (1998)
How the Aliens from Alpha Centauri Invaded My Maths Class and Turned Me Into a Writer (1998)
How to Guzzle Your Garden (1999)
Stamp, Stomp, Whomp (2000)
The Book of Challenges (2000)
The Fascinating History of Your Lunch (2001)
Big Burps, Bare Bums and Other Bad-Mannered Blunders (2003)
To the Moon and Back (2004)
How to Scratch a Wombat (2005)
The Wonderful World of Wallabies and Kangaroos (2008)
How High Can a Kangaroo Hop? (2008)
Fictional books for teenagers and young adults
Outlands books
In the Blood (2001)
Blood Moon (2002)
Flesh and Blood (also known as Blood Will Tell) (2004)
Fiction based on history
A Rose for the Anzac Boys (2008)
A Waltz for Matilda (2010)
Other books for teenagers and young adults
Missing You, Love Sara (2000)
Dark Wind Blowing (2001)
Adult fiction
A War for Gentlemen (2003)
Searching for Charlie (2003)
Adult books
Books about gardening
Organic Gardening in Australia (1986)
Natural Rose Growing: An Organic Approach to Gardening (1988)
The Organic Garden Doctor (1988)
Natural Control of Household Pests (1990)
The Wilderness Garden: A Radical New View of Australian Growing Methods (1993)
The Salad Garden (1993)
Organic Control of Household Pests (1993)
Organic Control of Common Weeds, Aird Books (1993), second version released 1997
The Earth Gardeners Companion: A Month-by-Month Guide (1993)
The Chook Book (1993)
A to Z of Useful Plants (1993)
New Plants from Old (1994)
Book of Lavender (1994)
Book of Mint (1994)
Book of Rosemary (1994)
Book of Thyme (1994)
Book of Chilli (1994)
Book of Garlic (1994)
Book of Parsley (1994)
Book of Basil (1994)
Jackie French's Guide to Companion Planting in Australia and New Zealand (1994)
Switch! A Book of Home-Made Power, Water, and Garbage Systems (1994)
Household Self Sufficiency (1994)
Yates Guide to Herbs (1998)
New Plants from Old (1994)
Back Yard Self Sufficiency (1995)
The Organic Garden Problem Solver (1995)
Plants That Never Say Die (1995)
Soil Food: 3,764 Ways to Feed Your Garden (1995)
Jackie French's Top Ten Vegetables (1995)
Jackie French's Cook Book (1995)
The Pumpkin Book (1996)
Yates Guide to Edible Gardening (1996)
Growing Flowers Naturally (1996)
Making Money from Your Garden (1997)
Yates Guide to Herbs (1998)
Jackie French's Household Herb Book (1998)
Natural Solutions (1999)
The Best of Jackie French: A Practical Guide to Everything from Aphids to Zuchinni Chocolate Cake (2000)
The House That Jackie Built (2001)
Earthly Delights (2001)
New Plants from Old: Simple, Natural, No-Cost Plant Propagation (2007), second edition of A to Z of Useful Plants (1994)
The Wilderness Garden: Beyond Organic Gardening (2007), second version of The Wilderness Garden: A Radical New View of Australian Growing Methods (1993)
The Earth Gardener's Companion (2009)
Other books for adults
Seasons of Content (1998), with pictures by Gwen Harrison
Rocket Your Child into Reading (2004)
Awards
To the Moon and Back (Bryan Sullivan and Jackie French, illus. by Gus Gordon)
2005 - Children's Book Council of Australia Awards Eve Pownall Award for Information Books
Diary of a Wombat (Bruce Whatley and Jackie French)
2004 USA Benjamin Franklin Award
2004 USA Lemmee Award
2004 KIND Award USA
2003 Notable Children's Book by the American Library Association (ALA)
2003 Voted Favourite Picture Book of the Year in the Cuffie Awards in the USA
2003 Tied with Diary of a Worm'' for Funniest Book in the Cuffie Awards in the USA
Number two on the 'Best 20 picture books for 2003' in the USA
COOL Award, for Best Picture Book, voted by the kids of the ACT
2003 Winner Young Australian Readers' Award
2003 Winner KOALA Award for Best Picture Book
2003 ABA/A A Neilson Book of the Year
2003 Honour Book, Children's Book Council of Australia Awards - Picture Book of the Year
Shortlisted - books that were on the list to receive an award, but were unsuccessful.
2004 - Bilby Award
2003 - KOALA, COOL and YABBA awards, Children's Book Council of Australia Awards for Picture Book of the Year, Australian Publisher's Association Book Design Awards for Best Designed Children's Picture Book, and also for a Galley Club Award, Picture Book category of the Children's Choice Book Awards
The Secret World of Wombats
Shortlisted - 2006: NSW Premier's Literary Awards Patricia Wrightson Prize
They Came on Viking Ships
Shortlisted - 2006: for New South Wales Premier's History Awards - Young People's History Prize
My Dad the Dragon
Shortlisted - 2005: Children's Book Council Awards, the Younger Readers Award and Picture Book of the Year
Tom Appleby, Convict Boy
2005 Children's Book Council Awards - winner of the Younger Readers Award
Shortlisted - 2005: Picture Book of the Year
Pete the Sheep (Jackie French and Bruce Whatley)
2005 KOALA (Kids Own Australian Literature Awards)
Hitler's Daughter
2003 Children's Book Council of Australia Awards - Book of the Year, Young Readers
2003 Named a "Blue Ribbon" book by the Bulletin for the Center of Children's Books in the USA.
UK National Literacy Association WOW! Award
Shortlisted
2004: COOL and Yabba Awards
2002: KOALA, COOL and YABBA awards, the Older Readers' category of the Children's Choice Book Awards
2001: the Older Readers' category of the Bilby Award, YABBAs and the WAYRBA.
2000: the Sanderson Young Adult Audio Book of the Year Awards: Vision Australia Library
How to Guzzle Your Garden
Shortlisted - 2000: Children's Book Council of Australia Awards - Eve Pownall Award for Information
Flesh and Blood
2004 Aurealis Award for Fantasy and Science Fiction - Best Young Adult Novel
Valley of Gold
2004 - CBCA Notable Book
Ride the Wild Wind
2003 - CBCA Notable Book
Shortlisted - 2003: New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards - Patricia Wrightson Prize for Children's Literature
In the Blood
2002 - ACT Book of the Year
Blood Will Tell
Shortlisted - 2004: Aurealis Award
CafE on Callisto
2000 - winner of the Aurealis Award
Lady Dance
2001 - winner of the Children's Book Council of Australia, Notable Book and Book of the Year
Stamp, Stomp, Whomp
2001 - winner of the Children's Book Council of Australia, Notable Book and Book of the Year
Missing You, Love Sara
2001 - Notable Book: CBCA Book of the Year
Shortlisted
2002 - for the KOALAs, YABBA
2001 - West Australian Young Readers' Book Award (WAYRBA) in the Older Readers' category
Too Many Pears!
2004 - CBC Notable book
Shortlisted - COOl and KOALA Awards
Daughter of the Regiment
Shortlisted - 1999: Children's Book Council of Australia Awards - Book of the Year, Young Readers
Somewhere Around the Corner
1995 - Honour Book, Children's Book Council of Australia Awards - Book of the Year, Young Readers
1994 - Highly Commended in the Annual Australian Family Therapists' Award for Children's Literature
Walking the Boundaries
1994 - Notable Book, CBCA Book of the Year: Younger Readers
Shortlisted in the Junior Section of the Australian Multicultural Children's Literature Awards
Rain Stones
Shortlisted
1993 - Primary Age Group of the WAYRBAs
1992 - Children's Book Council of Australia Awards - Book of the Year, Young Readers
1991 - Children's Book Award in the NSW Premier's Literary Awards
The Roo that Won the Melbourne Cup
1992 - Notable Book, CBCA Book of the Year: Younger Readers
References
Other websites
Official website
Publisher's website
CBC Award website
1953 births
Living people
Australian children's writers
Writers from Sydney
Australian novelists