The Koala Who Bounced … and kept bouncing

Karri the Koala came to life when the artist/cartoonist Eric Lobbecke asked my wife Sue if he she would write a kids book for him to illustrate. For some reason she suggested that he and I collaborate and meantime she introduced us to Selwa Anthony whose writer management agency was just getting going. With Selwa’s help we produced a kids book together called “The Koala Who Bounced”.
It took me six days to write and Eric six months to draw but we get equal shares of the royalties. How can that be fair? I even get top billing. I wish I could draw as well as Eric – actually, I wish I could write as well as Eric draws.

Eric is now writing his own stories but we still get cheques for that book every six months and it has even been translated into Korean. Why? Maybe someone thought it should be translated into Koalean and something got lost in translation. Anyway, thanks Eric and Selwa – our little bouncing koala has done us proud.

In 2011, Eric and I wrote and illustrated the follow-up The Koala Bounces Back which never really caushgt the public imagination the same way (despite, or possibly because of, its hidden message about refugees (and football)

But Karri is still bouncing around and who knows where he might show up next.