Mark is an award-winning children’s author, musician, educator and editor, and is well known for his books and series exploring wordplay. His books have involved collaboration with some of the world’s leading authors and illustrators.
Mark is a May Gibbs Children’s Literature Trust Fellow: Brisbane (2013) and Adelaide (2020 and 2021). His achievements in writing have also been acknowledged via a Distinguished PhD Award from Swinburne University of Technology.
Mark’s The Gobbling Tree, illustrated by Susy Boyer, won the Speech Pathology Australia’s 2009 Book of the Year. The Moose is Loose!, is illustrated by Matt Stanton and published by HarperCollins/ABC Books.
The Dingle Dangle Jungle, illustrated by Dave Atze, was shortlisted in the 2020 Educational Publishing Awards.
Mark’s latest picture book The Thing That Goes Ping!, illustrated by Shane McGowan (Shane McG), was shortlisted in the 2021 Speech Pathology Awards.
talks and workshops
Mark presents interactive sessions for primary age levels as well as fun read aloud, musical story-time sessions for kinder and younger primary groups. Students have fun with stories, jokes, illustration styles, visual puns, puppets, songs, play-scripts, movement, and gain insights into book creation and design.
Mark also conducts talks to parents about literacy learning, adult writing groups, conference panels and keynotes.