The Forgotten Map

Whisker is a cyclone-surviving circus rat with a troublesome tail and a boat load of luck. When a strange ship pulls him out of the ocean, Whisker's new life as a Pie Rat apprentice begins.

Welcome aboard the good ship Apple Pie - a peculiar pastry-inspired ship where cannons shoot mouldy pies, coloured pencils are used as peg-legs and the champion swords-rat fights with two scarlet scissor swords.

About the Author

Cameron was born in Hobart in 1977. He attended school in Adelaide before his family moved to Bundaberg, QLD. In primary school, Cameron wrote many short stories for the local newspaper (after his poor spelling was corrected by his mother). He still has a shoe box of gold certificates for his efforts. In high school Cameron discovered (with his first pair of glasses) that he had a passion for art. Cameron stresses the word passion rather than the word talent here, as hard work and reasonable vision go a long way!

After academic scholarships and seven straight years of Art College in Brisbane, Cameron took his new Dr title and went to live in London for a much needed gap year. Over-qualified as a 24 year old, he stumbled into a job at the Natural History Museum. It was here that he rekindled his love for children's literature and began writing stories inspired by the animals in the museum.

When Cameron returned to Australia, he completed a graduate diploma in education and released the first instalment in his The Stroogle series of picture books. Eight years later, the sixth book in the series was published and followed on from three additional how-to-draw books. In 2012 The Stroogle series won a silver medal in the PICA print awards and Cameron received an RADF grant to create the first book in his new Pie Rat series. The Pie Rat series have gone on to win a number of books awards internationally.