The Most Amazing Thing

NOTABLE BOOK: 2025 CBCA Book of the Year, Early Childhood

‘What is the most amazing thing?’ asks Henry.
‘Life,’ says his sister.
‘The mind,’ says his brother.
‘The universe,’ says his father.

Henry can see these things are amazing, but are they the MOST amazing thing?

A timely story with an enduring message about the different ways to find wonder in the world.

Philosopher and primary school teacher Ian Hayward Robinson teams up with the bestselling illustrator of Rosie the Rhinoceros, Matt Shanks, to show young readers that while the world is full of wonders, the search for meaning is an individual quest.

Author Biography

Ian Hayward Robinson is a former head of Professional Writing and Editing at Chisholm Institute where he taught for 14 years. He has run courses on Story Structure and conducted workshops at many writing conferences across Australia, including for the Storytellers Guild, the Romance Writers of Australia and Writers Victoria. He is a trained primary school teacher who worked for many years in curriculum development and teacher development for the Victorian Department of Education, and has written over two dozen mathematics textbooks for primary schools. He has had two full-length plays performed at La Mama in Melbourne and won several one-act-play awards. The Most Amazing Thing, illustrated by Matt Shanks, is his first picture book. Ian was a tutor in Philosophy at the University of Melbourne and taught Philosophy of Education at Coburg Teachers College. He is President Emeritus of the Rationalist Society of Australia. Ian lives on Phillip Island in south-east Victoria within walking distance of the sea.

Matt Shanks is an internationally published and critically acclaimed author/illustrator of over twenty picture books, several of which have been awarded CBCA Notable Books. Simplicity, humour and the art of the unseen are strong themes in his illustration work, and he works primarily in watercolour. Matt has collaborated with some of Australia’s most loved writers including Jackie French, Peter Helliar and Jimmy Barnes. He is a two-time fellow of the May Gibbs’ Children’s Literature Trust and an Australian Literary and Numeracy Foundation ambassador. Matt was born in Sydney and now lives in Melbourne with his partner and cat. www.mattshanks.com.au