James Layton - Publisher, Larrikin House

As the owner of Learning Discovery, one of Australia’s largest booksellers to the education market, James Layton has been buying and selling children’s books for close to 30 years. James is excited to share what he’s learnt from his experience working directly with young readers and believes this gives our new imprint a clear direction and focus to ensure we’re creating books that ‘Little Larrikins’ will love. The name Larrikin is the perfect fit because it fully encapsulates the heartbeat of what he loves most about children’s books; stories with humour & heart.

So far Larrikin House has been described by others as ‘left of centre’, ‘cheeky’, ‘naughty’ & ‘quirky’. – Exactly what James had hoped for! In 2020 Larrikin House published their first fourteen picture books, with another twenty in production for 2021. With new submissions coming in daily, watch this space for some great emerging Aussie talent. Over 80% of Larrikin House books are from first-time published authors & illustrators too!

Find out more about Larrikin House here: 

Website: larrikinhouse.com

Facebook: @larrikinhouse

Instagram: @larrikinhouse

Mary Anastasiou - Creative Director, Larrikin House

Mary Anastasiou has been telling stories her whole life. From the outlandish and silly tales she told as a child growing up in Melbourne, Australia, to the response–driven marketing campaigns she delivers in her career as Creative Director at Imagine Creative.

The arrival of her son Luke in 2008 inspired Mary to fulfil a lifelong dream of writing fun, inspiring, and motivating stories that make kids “giggle ‘til their bellies hurt.” Having originally self-published, Mary’s first picture book ‘I want to be a Rock Star’ was signed and reprinted by indie publishers Larrikin House. ‘Rock Star’ has now become the first in a series of ‘I want to be…’ books with ‘I want to be a Movie Star’ released in 2020 and soon to be followed by ‘I want to be a Sport Star.’

With 30 years of design and marketing experience under her belt, Mary’s new role as Creative Director for Larrikin House sees her responsible for the development, design and production of all new Larrikin titles. She works exclusively with authors and illustrators to create books that (she hopes) will one day become classics.

Ben is a 9-year-old who loves reading stories, hearing stories and - most of all - telling stories. He's read the entire Wimpy Kid several times, and is now working his way through Harry Potter. He also enjoys comics, podcasts, riding his mountain bike and fishing with his dad.

Ben is not only a big inspiration for his dad Mike's Action Tank graphic novels, he's also a big supporter of them, having made more than a few sales at in the playground. 

This episode's special guests, publisher Larrikin House have a manuscript assessment to give away for anyone penning picture books AND a picture book pack with four hardcover new releases – Liz's new book Walking Your Human illustrated by Gabriella Petruso, Ham by Dhana Fox and Anna Demchenko, Reggie Red by Josie Layton and Rebecca Timmis, and Hugo’s Runaway Legs by Alys Jackson and Leigh Brown.

Head to our WIN page and simply tell us what makes YOU a larrikin!

Enter your answer (or ask a parent to) by 5pm Tuesday 16th March to be in the running.