Known for children’s books including Tea and Sugar Christmas, Radio Rescue and The Man with Small Hair, Jane Jolly is a Strathalbyn author and retired teacher whose works have won multiple awards including an ABIA award for Children’s Small Publisher (Tea and Sugar Christmas), a CBCA Honour Award for non-fiction (Tea and Sugar Christmas) and a CBCA Honour Award in Picture Fiction (One Step at a Time).
What sparked your love for writing?
As a child I always loved writing stories and it just continued form there. I have written for local town bulletins, staff celebrations et cetera.
What prompted you to begin writing children’s books?
As a teacher I was always reading picture books and novels to my classes and I often thought that I could do better than some of the books I saw.
It is actually a lot harder than I ever thought it would be. Not just the writing, but finding a publisher.
Where do you find your inspiration?

I find inspiration all around me. I am constantly listening and watching and I probably get a few ideas every day. The problem is that if I don’t write the idea down straight away, I forget it.
What kind of books did you love to read as a child?
I loved adventure books – Famous Five, Secret Seven, Trixie Beldon.
What was the first work you had published and how did it feel?
My first picture book was Limpopo Lullaby, which was published by Limelight Press and illustrated by Dee Huxley.
It is the most amazing feeling, seeing your words in a book, with illustrations that just add another dimension to the story.
That story went to 22 publishers over two years before it was finally picked up and then it received a CBCA Notable Award.
What do you hope that children get out of your books?
I hope children get a sense of delight and wanting to explore more. I hope they enjoy the rhythm of the words and want to talk about and question the story.
What is your career highlight so far?
My picture book One Step at a Time, illustrated by Sally Heinrich and published by SA company MidnightSun Publishing, won an Honour Award in the CBCA Book of the Year. This was a story that no other publishers wanted to touch. It tells the story of a young boy and his baby elephant Mali. Mali steps on a landmine, but is saved and eventually given a prosthetic leg.
It was based on the true story of Mosha, an elephant on the Thai/Burma border who stepped on a landmine and became the first elephant in the world to be fitted with a prosthetic.
Which book are you most proud of and why?
I am really proud of Tea and Sugar Christmas, which tells the story of a young girl living in a tiny railway town in the Australian outback. Kathleen can’t wait for the Tea and Sugar Train to arrive, which is bringing Father Christmas. This book has been very popular and has had many, many reprints. People often buy it to send to friends and relatives overseas.
What’s your all-time favourite book and why?
Shaun Tan’s graphic novel The Arrival is my favourite.
Although it is very hard to pick just one favourite.
This book tells the story of an immigrant to Australia and all of the problems they face and the loneliness.
The illustrations are all done in sepia and are outstanding.
Are there any other books in the pipeline?
No contracts at the moment, but I am always writing new stories and refining older stories.
Getting a picture book published is not easy.
It is very competitive and a picture book is very expensive to publish so therefore the publishers must be confident that it will sell.
When you’re not writing, what do you love to do?
When I’m not writing I love gardening.
I have a large spray-free veggie garden, an enclosed orchard with chooks running underneath and a large backyard garden with a mixture of natives and exotics.
I also love cooking and baking and have almost perfected the art of sourdough. I have also just started teaching myself the art of bookbinding. And I love eating! Especially chocolate.
If you could meet one author, living or dead, who would it be and why?
I’d love to meet the English author Neil Gaiman
(The Sandman, Good Omens) and get inside his mind!
He is an absolute huge talent.