SHORT-LISTED: CBCA Book of the Year, Early Childhood, 2011 Noni the pony is friendly and funny. Her shimmering tail is the colour of honey. She lives on a farm at Waratah Bay, and likes eating apples and carrots and hay. Would you like to meet Noni? She loves to entertain the cows and play with the hens and the ducks, and her best friends are Dave Dog and Coco the Cat. Alison Lester's books are favourites with children and adults around the world. Magic Beach, Imagine, My Farm and Are we there yet? are Australian classics. Alison was the Autralian Children'sLaureate 2012-2013.

Author Biography

Alison Lester grew up on a farm by the sea, and first rode a horse as a baby in her father's arms. Her picture books mix imaginary worlds with everyday life, encouraging children to believe in themselves and celebrate the differences that make them special. Alison is involved in many community art projects and spends part of every year travelling to remote Indigenous communities, using her books to help children and adults write and draw about their own lives. In 2012, Alison became Australia's first Children's Book Laureate, a position she shared with Boori Monty Pryor. In 2016, she was awarded the Dromkeen Medal for her outstanding achievement in the creation of Australian children's and young adult literature, and in 2018 she became the first children's book writer to win the Melbourne Prize for Literature, for her outstanding contribution to Australian literature and cultural and intellectual life.