Sand Swimmers

The secret life of Australia s Dead Heart.

The Dead Heart is a desert wilderness in the centre of Australia. It is difficult to imagine anything can exist in such a harsh place. But the Dead Heart has a secret. It holds amazing stories of adaptation and survival. Follow in the footsteps of early explorers like Charles Sturt and learn what the indigenous people of this land first discovered: not all is quite as it seems.

About the Author

Narelle Oliver grew up in Queensland, Australia, in a family who spent every spare moment pursuing interests in visual and performing arts. The linocut print medium, often combined with other media, is a special feature of her illustrations. Narelle is the author-illustrator of a number of award-winning children s picture books: The Hunt won the 1996 Children s Book Council of Australia (CBCA) Picture Book of the Year Award; Sand Swimmers was short-listed for the 2000 CBCA Eve Pownall Award for Information Books and the Queensland Premier s Award for Children s Literature; Home was the winner of the 2007 Patricia Wrightson Prize, part of the NSW Premier s Literary Awards; and in 2010 Fox and Fine Feathers was a CBCA Honour Book and short-listed for the Picture Book of the Year Award. Narelle currently lives in inner-city Brisbane with her husband and the many birds which visit their overgrown rainforest backyard.