Mother Earth welcomes the wet in stunning picture book Big Fella Rain

This bright children’s picture book from writer Beryl Webber and illustrator Fern Martins is a colourful introduction to the changing seasons. Mother Earth is waiting for rain, and when it falls she will celebrate! The very essence of northern Australia is captured in Beryl Webber’s first children’s book Big Fella Rain. This vibrant picture book pays homage to the transition from dry to wet season in our unique and sunburnt country. Through Webber’s beautiful storytelling readers will smell the rain as it falls on red, cracked earth and hear the frogs rejoice. Illustrated by the acclaimed Fern Martins, the artwork within this book is rich with colour and pattern, as black liquorice clouds hover over red dirt and smoky green bushland stretches as far as the eye can see. Young readers will wait with the thirsty animals and tiny creatures who rely on monsoons to survive, and watch as the whole landscape is transformed by rain. Martins brings the vast Australian landscape to life with a unique playfulness as frogs grin, emus bat their eyelids and dragonflies dance to welcome the new rain and change of season. Author Beryl Webber is descended from the Gunggari people of southern Queensland. Her father was a dam sinker and she grew up on stations. Her family had a keen awareness of when the ‘big fella rain’ was coming because it often meant they had to prepare for flooding. She currently works in the health industry as well as being a writer. Illustrator Fern Martins is a descendant of the Ngarabul people of northern New South Wales and the Waki Waki people of the southern coastal area of Queensland. She has exhibited at the National Gallery of Australia and was a co-founder of Boomallil, the Sydney Aboriginal Artist’s Collective. Fern has illustrated several children’s picture books including the celebrated The Toast Tree (Corina Martin, Magabala Books 2015). Big Fella Rain is available now from Magabala Books priced at RRP $17.99