Martha B. Rabbit faces hardship when a trio of wicked rats steals her carefully stored supplies. Bravely, she sets out into the snow in search of a solution to her troubles. After a scary encounter with a fox, she arrives at the guesthouse of Mr Gnome, and from there, a new life for her begins.
Shirley Barber grew up in Guernsey in the Channel Islands. She is a third-generation artist and dreamed of writing and illustrating children's books. She moved to Australia in 1965. This was her first picture book, published by Five Mile Press in 1988.
It became an instant success. The following year it won first prize at the Critica Erba awards at the Bologna Children's Fair, an extraordinary achievement for a first book.
Shirley Barbers' books have sold over 10 million copies and have been published worldwide.
