Alison Lester is a popular and best-selling writer and illustrator of children's books, and has won many awards, including the Children's Book Council of Australia Picture Book Award for Thing by Robin Klein (OUP), and Honour Book for The Journey Home (OUP). Over her twenty-one year career she has produced such classics as the Clive Eats Alligators series, Magic Beach, Imagine and My Farm, and recently she has also started writing novels, including The Quicksand Pony and the Bonnie and Sam series with Roland Harvey. Her picture book, Are We There Yet?, won the CBCA Picture Book of the Year Award in 2005, and Running with the Horses was an Honour Book in the 2010 CBCA Book of the Year Awards and 2010 Prime Minister's Literary Awards.
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.
Alison is also an ambassador for the National Year of Reading 2012.
Find out more about Alison's Project
Alison's Books & Awards
| Title | Year | Publisher | Awards |
| Noni the Pony | (2010) | Allen and Unwin | Shortlisted, 2011, CBCA Awards |
| Running with Horses | (2009) | Penguin | |
| Bonnie and Sam, Saving the Pinto* | (2008) | Allen and Unwin | |
| Bonnie and Sam, Racing the Tide* | (2008) | Allen and Unwin | |
| Moo, Talk to the Farm Animals | (2007) | ABC | |
| Purr, Talk to the Pet Animals | (2007) | ABC | |
| Roar, Talk to the Wild Animals | (2007) | ABC | |
| Bonnie and Sam, The Shadow Brumby* | (2007) | Allen and Unwin | |
| Bonnie and Sam, The Circus Pony* | (2007) | Allen and Unwin | |
| Are We There Yet? | (2004) | Penguin | Winner, Picture Book of the Year, 2005, CBCA Awards |
| The Snow Pony | (2001) | Allen and Unwin | |
| Ernie Dances to the Didgeridoo | (2000) | Hachette | Shortlisted, Picture Book of the Year, Early Childhood, 2001, CBCA Awards |
| The Quicksand Pony | (1997) | Allen and Unwin | Winner, 1999, West Australian Young Readers Book Shortlisted, National Children’s Award, 1998, Festival Awards for Literature Shortlisted, Book of the Year, 1998 Book Data Australian Booksellers’ Association |
| Celeste Sails to Spain | (1997) | Hachette | |
| Alison Lester’s ABC | (1996) | Allen and Unwin | |
| Ruby | (1996) | Hachette | |
| My Farm | (1994) | Allen and Unwin | |
| When Frank Was Four | (1994) | Hachette | |
| I'm Green and I'm Grumpy | (1993) | Penguin | |
| Who's That Knocking | (1993) | Penguin | |
| Yikes! | (1993) | Allen and Unwin | |
| Isabella's Bed* | (1991) | Hachette | Shortlisted, 1992, Multi-Cultural Awards |
| Tessa Snaps Snakes | (1990) | Hachette | |
| Imagine | (1990) | Allen and Unwin | Commended, 1989, ABPA Design Award |
| Magic Beach | (1990) | Allen and Unwin | Shortlisted, 1991, CBCA Awards Winner, 1990, ABPA Design Award |
| Bibs and Boots | (1989) | Allen and Unwin | |
| Bumping and Bouncing | (1989) | Allen and Unwin | |
| Crashing and Splashing | (1989) | Allen and Unwin | |
| Happy and Sad | (1989) | Allen and Unwin | |
| The Journey Home | (1989) | Hachette | Honour, 1990, CBCA Awards |
| Rosie Sips Spiders | (1988) | Hachette | Winner, 1989, ABPA Design Award |
| Clive Eats Crocodiles | (1985) | Hachette | |
| Thingnapped by Robin Klein | (1984) | Oxford Uni Press | |
| Thing written by Robin Klein | (1982) | Oxford Uni Press |
* Illustrated by Roland Harvey