At the back of a yard, not yours and not ours
Lived a bed-full of raggedy, half-dying flowers
For it’d been more than three months and a quarter
Since Mad Jack McCann had bothered to water.

Now that might not have been so cruel or so painful
If the season was one that was good for some rainfall
But this was the height of a terrible drought
As those raggedy flowers were now finding out.

My second picture book The Thirsty Flowers is an epic tale of horticultural survival that until now has just been passed down from flower to bulb as part of their floral tradition. It’s written in rhyming couplets and is sort of like The Lord of the Rings but shorter, and with Sauron as the beer-swilling Aussie yobbo, Mad Jack McCann.

The Thirsty Flowers is illustrated by Julie Knoblock who has brought beautiful character and humour to Sunflower Sam, Lily, Rose, Iris, Cactus, Doctor Hydrangea and the rest of the gang.

"(A) joy to read. Inspired by Dr Seuss and Henry Lawson, his poem-like text romps along"- Frances Atkinson, The Sunday Age - Full Review

"a hilarious rhyming children's book … reminiscent of Dr Seuss and full of Wilson's idiosyncratic humour." - Jason Steger, Bookmarks, The Age - Full Review

‘This book rivals the work of Graeme Base for ingenious poetry with a comical touch and eye catching illustrations’ - Kids On The Coast, November December 06 - p38

Dymocks

Booktopia

For more information and a short reading from The Thirsty Flowers, visit http://www.hardiegrantegmont.com.au/books/picture_books_highlights