Martine Murray – författare

A Marginalian Favorite Book of 2025! • From award-winning author Martine Murray (dubbed Australia’s Kate DiCamillo) and artist Anna Luisa Read comes a timeless and timely tale about the monstrousness of envy, and every creature’s—even a monster’s—need for love.It starts with a whisper in your ear. A prickly feeling that something isn’t quite right. And it builds until a sneaky, possessive thought wriggles into your mind, and an insidious want burrows into your heart.Before you know it, you’re discontent, convinced that you’re owed more than what you’ve got. This is the work of the Wanting Monster.One day, the Wanting Monster arrives in a small village, but no one notices him, despite his antics. Feeling snubbed, he starts sowing discontent and envy of one’s neighbor. So infectious is the wanting and greed awakened by the Wanting Monster that even the stars are plucked, one by one, from the sky.Covetousness and distrust reign. Will the village people ever return to their senses? Will they ever learn that it’s the monster of wanting that’s been poisoning their minds? The Wanting Monster almost triumphs . . . fortunately, he is finally seen for what he is, and this recognition unleashes the purifying force of collective lamentation and a coming together to reroot and rebuild.

Hello everybody, it's me. Henrietta the Great Go-Getter, and I'm having a big think. Right now I'm thinking I'd like a baby sister, so I can dress her up in different sorts of hats. But Mum says we'll have to wait and see. I'm terrible at waiting.Meanwhile, I'm an explorer of life, and that includes trees, bugs, animals and all mysteries. I'm going to school for the very first time, which means I might have to go as a spy so that I can have a secret peep inside...When Henrietta sees Olive Higgie crying in the classroom, she goes on a rescue mission and finds that you only need one friend in a room full of strangers to feel perfectly happy.Henrietta's stories are full of funny thoughts and discoveries, and maybe the best are the ones that take a long time to come.

Hello everybody, it's me, Henrietta. I have a baby brother, two white mice, a chocolate-coloured dog, a woolly mammoth, two long green socks with toes, one pickle-eating best friend, a bathtub for sailing in, and definitely a huge HUGE amount of discoveries to discover. And if anyone tells you I make things up, you'd better believe it...These four irresistible stories, full of funny thoughts and adventures, are perfect for curious children with curly imaginations.'Brimming with charm and originality.' The Sunday Age'Filled with the joy of living.' Good Reading