The Stone Baby is a complex multi-layered picture book that is hauntingly evocative. It is concerned with a journey that is somewhere in the mind and needs to be faced and come to terms with. This book deals mainly with feelings.

The beautiful illustrations and the design of the book take readers to places and introduce concepts that provide much food for thought. The illustrations make up a large part of the text interpretation and as such the book is very much concerned with personal responses and associations.

This title will be of interest to students throughout the middle years of schooling and will appeal to those at the higher levels of this group as it brings many issues of interest to the fore.

Beth Norling’s reputation was established with her first picture book illustrations, for Princess Priscilla, in 1992. She grew up surrounded by paintings and sculptures. Beth’s parents were both artists and would often describe things to their children with a quick sketch rather than words. She won her first drawing prize at 16 and after completing her qualifications in fine art, became a professional illustrator whose work has been much sought after. Beth has illustrated many picture books by well-known authors and she has written several of her own. Beth and her husband and two children live in the Blue Mountains, NSW.

Find out more about Beth Norling and how she created her previous book Sister Day Sister Night on this fabulous website http://www.statelibrary.vic.gov.au/slv/exhibitions/bethnorling/