The World We Can Build

From the award-winning creators of Come Over to My House comes this light-hearted picture book about accessibility and disability, and two kids who are inspired to build a better world.

Carla and Sam want to play together, but there’s nowhere in their neighbourhood that’s accessible to them both! That is, until Carla and Sam put their heads together to dream up a place where all kids can play together, and a wonderful new space is born.
 
This fun, child-centred romp through a local neighbourhood belies a powerful picture book about accessibility, and what it truly means to be disabled. With Sally Rippin’s characteristic lightness of touch and Eliza Hull’s depth of knowledge, this appealing story demonstrates the social model of disability; namely, that people are disabled not by their own bodies, but by their environments. 
 
It’s a powerful lens through which to talk about and understand why accessibility is an issue for everyone.

Accolades for Come Over to My House:
★ WINNER of the DANZ Award for Picture Books (Diversity in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand)
★ WINNER of ‘Best Conversation Starter’ category in the 2023 Bookstagang Picture Book Awards 
★ SHORTLISTED as a Children's Book Council of Australia (CBCA) Notable Book for Early Childhood
★ SHORTLISTED for the Panda Book Awards
★ SHORTLISTED for the Speech Pathology Australia 2023 Book of the Year Awards
★ Best Picture Book of the Year (2022) as voted by Readings Staff
 

Sally Rippin is a best-selling and beloved author for children, and the eighth Australian Children's Laureate. Her most popular series include Billie B Brown, Hey Jack! and School of Monsters, and she has over 10 million books in print worldwide. She has also written one book for adults: Wild Things: How We Learn to Read and What Can Happen If We Don’t. 
As the Australian Children’s Laureate, Sally is the national ambassador for reading and Australian children’s literature. Appointed every two years to promote the importance and transformational power of reading, creativity and story in the lives of young Australians, the Children’s Laureate spends extensive time speaking directly with children, education specialists, government ministers and librarians, in both metropolitan and regional communities across the country. They speak on behalf of all creators and for the entire industry representing reading advocates, educators, librarians, booksellers and publishers.
Every Laureate has a mission for their two-year term. For Sally, it is: All kids can be readers. Through this mission, she works towards creating public awareness around learning difficulties as well as the most effective practice in teaching children to read. Sally's work spotlights the reading challenges faced by millions of Australian children – including but not limited to discussions around neurodiversity, disability, mental health, access to books and language barriers. 
 
Currently, as well as working on new books and her Laureate duties, Sally is working with an Australian production house to adapt her work for screen.

Daniel Gray-Barnett is an award-winning illustrator and author based in the Huon Valley, lutruwita/Tasmania. A self-taught artist, he once studied medical science before realising storytelling had a far lower mortality rate.
His books have been recognised by the Children’s Book Council of Australia, the Society of Illustrators, and the International Youth Library and he has collaborated with Children’s Laureates Sally Rippin (Australia) and Joseph Coelho (UK). Daniel lives with his husband, kids, dogs, and chickens – and hopes to tell a few more stories before turning into a grumpy old man.