Kelly Canby & Jaclyn Moriarty

Kelly has designed the covers and illustrated internal pages for all five of Jaclyn Moriarty’s best selling, award-winning, middle grade fiction novels in the Kingdoms & Empires series published by Allen & Unwin.

 
Lillian Velvet lives a very lonely life with her cold and remote Grandmother. That is, until her tenth birthday, when she is given a pickle jar of gold coins, along with a note with clear instructions: don’t go out, don’t open the door for anyone, and don’t spend all your coins in one day.
 
What happens next seems impossible. The coins whisk Lillian away to a different time and place. There she meets a small boy in a circus about to be crushed to death; a lively family, each member in a distinctive form of mortal danger; a boy with a skateboard; and a girl who can Whisper. And a web of dangerous magic closing tight around it all.
 
Why is Lillian here? How is she supposed to help these new friends? And – most importantly – what happens if she fails?
 
An exciting tale in the magical Kingdoms and Empires world, where seemingly disparate elements are spun until all is revealed as one delicious, tantalising whole.
 

The Extremely Inconvenient Adventures of Bronte Mettlestone

This CBCA Notable Book is an enchanting and whimsical spell-filled fantasy novel from Jaclyn Moriarty, the award-winning author of Feeling Sorry for Celia and A Corner of White, and suitable for readers who loved A Most Magical Girl.

Awards
Notable Book: 2018 CBCA Book of the Year, Younger Readers
 

The Slightly Alarming Tale of the Whispering Wars

This Queensland Literary Award-winning, CBCA short-listed book is an enchanting and whimsical spell-filled fantasy novel from Jaclyn Moriarty, the highly-acclaimed author of The Extremely Inconvenient Adventures of Bronte Mettlestone.

Awards
Winer: 2019 QLD Literary Awards, Griffith University Children’s Book Award
Short-listed: 2019 CBCA Book of the Year, Younger Readers
 
 
 

The Stolen Prince of Cloudburst

This CBCA Honour Book is a magical tale of mystery and adventure that proves that sometimes even ordinary middle children can be heroes, from the bestselling author of The Extremely Inconvenient Adventures of Bronte Mettlestone and the award-winning The Slightly Alarming Tale of the Whispering Wars.

Awards
Honour Book: 2021 CBCA Book of the Year, Younger Readers
Short-listed: 2021 Prime Minister’s Literary Awards, Children’s Literature
Short-listed: 2021 Queensland Literary Awards, Children’s Book Award
 
 
 
 

The magical fourth book in the rich and whimsical world of the Kingdoms and Empires about a non-magical boy called Oscar who finds himself caught up in a surprisingly urgent quest in an even more surprising world.

Let me get this straight. I’m on a trip with the following people:
1) Bronte, a girl who makes magical ‘Spellbinding’ rings,
2) Alejandro, a former pirate/current prince who can shoot arrows and make fire from stones,
3) Imogen, who can read broken maps and is a kickboxing master,
4) Esther, who saved her entire world from some kind of ancient monster,
5) Astrid, a smart ten year old who can read minds, and
6) Gruffudd, a surprisingly speedy (and always hungry) Elf.

And who am I? Just a kid who skips school to ride a skateboard.

The Astonishing Chronicles of Oscar from Elsewhere is the account of Monday through Friday of last week. That’s when Oscar found himself on a quest to locate nine separate pieces of a key, held by nine separate people, in order to unlock a gluggy silver spell that had trapped the Elven city of Dun-sorey-lo-vay-lo-hey. The quest was an urgent one. Friday at noon, the spell would become permanent, the Elves would be crushed to death and Oscar would be trapped in this magical world forever. (The account, it should be noted, has been written at the request of a small public school’s Deputy Principal. She wants to know exactly what Oscar considered more important than coming to school last week.)

From the award-winning Jaclyn Moriarty comes an enchanting tale of cryptic challenges, breathtaking danger and 360 kickflips.

 
 
 
“…Kelly Canby’s energetic illustrations are a delight. This jam-packed, chunky novel is ideal for book-devouring readers in upper primary school.” Bronte Coates, Readings

email Kelly canbykelly@gmail.com