Author and illustrator Tania McCartney in front of the National Library of Australia bookshop which specially decorated its window for the launch of her new book, Flora. Photo: Supplied.
It’s every adult’s dream: finding out stuff their kids don’t know.
For Canberra’s Tania McCartney, it’s a passion – something her gifts as a writer and illustrator allow her to do and be rewarded for by either the young people (and adults) who read her books or the industry that regularly rewards her for her efforts.
Tania’s latest book, Flora, Australia’s Most Curious Plants, is a companion to her multi-award-winning 2019 book Fauna, Australia’s Most Curious Creatures – both of which allowed her to do one of her favourite things – apart from finding out stuff kids don’t know – that is, dig through the National Library of Australia collection in Canberra.
As one of its most popular authors and illustrators, Tania has had a long connection with NLA Publishing, which produces books based on the NLA collection.
“Yes, I spend a lot of time at the National Library,” she joked, “but I love it there. I love the collection.
“It was while I was researching Fauna that I realised there could be a follow-up book, just going on the information I found out about our curious plants. And also because I am obsessed with plants.
“With this book, I was really keen to find out the coolest plants, plants that not everyone knew about.”
Flora, she said, celebrates Australian plants, from the quirky to the rare and dangerous – just the ticket when it comes to young, enquiring minds.
Matching the success of Fauna was always going to be a big ask with that book proving to be a best-seller for the 30-year industry veteran. It also received more than seven awards. But her readers’ passion for the unique Australian landscape, particularly its flora, seems to know no fences.
The author brings her trademark skill in writing and illustrating – as well as designing – to examine Australia’s botanical riches so she can share diverse facts with her readers.
“I’ve tried to balance the information across the states,” she said.
“There was so much here in Canberra to write about. I was quite surprised by the variety we have with so much rural land and forests.
“There are also a lot of critically endangered plants, the Canberra spider orchid, for example. There are only three population sites of it left.”
She also breaks down some myths – like how Australia is the real home of mistletoe – and rather than this plant just being loved by romantics after a sneaky kiss at Christmas, it is, in fact, a parasite featuring sharp wooden “blades”. Or the Strangler Fig, known as “one of the biggest moochers” in the plant world with its deadly poo, and in the ‘did you know?’ category – the more than 250 species of meat-eating plants.
There’s also a section on bush tucker, with First Nations advisers helping to check out the information she uncovered.
“I had the bones of this book in my head for some years before I sat down to do it,” she said.
“I was doing other things at the time, but because I wanted it to be so comprehensive, I needed to do it with a clear head.”
She said it took some time, explaining: “I had tens of thousands of words but had to bring that back to a couple of thousand”.
Tania said much of her time was spent on research. But she opted for an organic process when it came to fitting pockets of text onto a page or making the illustrations not too complicated.
“I did the layout, the design, typesetting – I sound like a control freak!” she laughed, “but I prefer to do the whole thing myself. If my name is on something, I want it to be all my work, but it can take a village.”
Tania, who has lived in Canberra for 16 years, moved here with her husband for his job. She reckons she has lived in almost every state in the country, as well as some overseas, but has decided Canberra is “home”.
“It has the best coffee outside Melbourne, which has the best coffee outside Italy,” she said.
“And it has the best people … so educated, so well-travelled, so open-minded, and it has this massive undercurrent of creativity which I love.”
Flora: Australia’s Most Curious Plants, by NLA Publishing, is available at the NLA Bookshop.
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