Rodda, Emily 1948-

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RODDA, Emily 1948-

(Jennifer Rowe; Mary-Anne Dickinson)

PERSONAL: Born Jennifer Rowe, 1948, in New South Wales, Australia; married; children: one girl, three boys. Education: University of Sydney, M.A., 1973. Hobbies and other interests: Reading.

ADDRESSES: Home—Sydney, Australia. Agent—c/o Author Mail, Omnibus Books, 52 Fullarton Rd., Norwood, South Australia 5067, Australia.

CAREER: Full-time writer, 1994—. Former editor, Angus & Robertson publishers; former editor, Australian Women's Weekly.

AWARDS, HONORS: Children's Book of the Year, Children's Book Council of Australia (CBCA), 1985, for Something Special, 1987, for Pigs Might Fly, 1989, for The Best-Kept Secret, 1991, for Finders Keepers, and 1994, for Rowan of Rin; Bilby Award, Ipswich Festival of Children's Literature, 1995, for Rowan of Rin; Dromkeen Medal, Courtney Oldmeadow Children's Literature Foundation, 1995, for contributions to Australian children's literature; Children's Honour Book of the Year, CBCA, 1997, for Rowan and the Keeper of the Crystal.

WRITINGS:

FOR CHILDREN

Something Special, illustrated by Noela Young, Angus & Robertson (Sydney, Australia), 1984, Holt (New York, NY), 1989.

Pigs Might Fly, illustrated by Noela Young, Angus & Robertson (Sydney, Australia), 1986, published as The Pigs Are Flying!, Greenwillow (New York, NY), 1988.

The Best-Kept Secret, illustrated by Noela Young, Angus & Robertson (North Ryde, Australia), 1988, Holt (New York, NY), 1990.

Finders Keepers, illustrated by Noela Young, Omnibus Books (Norwood, Australia), 1990, Greenwillow (New York, NY), 1991.

Crumbs!, illustrated by Kerry Argent, Omnibus Books (Norwood, Australia), 1990.

The Timekeeper, illustrated by Noela Young, Omnibus Books (Norwood, Australia), 1992, Greenwillow (New York, NY), 1993.

Power and Glory, illustrated by Geoff Kelly, Allen & Unwin (St. Leonards, Australia), 1994, Greenwillow (New York, NY), 1996.

Yay!, illustrated by Craig Smith, Omnibus Books (Norwood, Australia), 1996, Greenwillow (New York, NY), 1997.

Game Plan, illustrated by Craig Smith, Omnibus Books (Norwood, Australia), 1998.

Green Fingers, illustrated by Craig Smith, Omnibus Books (Norwood, Australia), 1998.

Where Do You Hide Two Elephants?, illustrated by Andrew McLean, Omnibus Books (Norwood, Australia), 1998, Gareth Stevens (Milwaukee, WI), 2001.

Fuzz, the Famous Fly, illustrated by Tom Jellett, Omnibus Books (Norwood, Australia), 1999.

The Julia Tapes, Puffin (Ringwood, Australia), 1999.

Bob the Builder and the Elves, illustrated by Craig Smith, ABC Books (Sydney, Australia), 2000, published as Bob and the House Elves, illustrated by Tim Archbold, Bloomsbury (London, England), 2001.

Gobbleguts, ABC Books (Sydney, Australia), 2000.

Dog Tales, Omnibus Books (Norwood, Australia), 2001.

Squeak Street, illustrated by Andrew McLean, Working Title Press (Kingswood, Australia), 2002.

The Long Way Home, illustrated by Danny Snell, Working Title Press (Kingswood, Australia), 2002.

Editor of anthology She's Apples: A Collection of Winning Stories for Young Australians.

"ROWAN OF RIN" SERIES

Rowan of Rin, Omnibus Books (Norwood, Australia), 1993, Greenwillow (New York, NY), 2001.

Rowan and the Travellers, Omnibus Books (Norwood, Australia), 1994, published as Rowan and the Travelers, Greenwillow (New York, NY), 2001.

Rowan and the Keeper of the Crystal, Omnibus Books (Norwood, Australia), 1996, Greenwillow (New York, NY), 2002.

Rowan and the Zebak, Omnibus Books (Norwood, Australia), 1999, Greenwillow (New York, NY), 2002.

Rowan of the Buckshah, Omnibus Books (Norwood, Australia), 2003, published as Rowan and the Ice Creepers, Greenwillow (New York, NY), 2004.

"DELTORA QUEST" SERIES

The Forests of Silence, Scholastic Australia (Sydney, Australia), Scholastic (New York, NY), 2000.

The Lake of Tears, Scholastic Australia (Sydney, Australia), 2000, Scholastic (New York, NY), 2001.

City of the Rats, Scholastic Australia (Sydney, Australia), 2000, Scholastic (New York, NY), 2001.

The Shifting Sands, Scholastic Australia (Sydney, Australia), 2000, Scholastic (New York, NY), 2001.

Dread Mountain, Scholastic Australia (Sydney, Australia), 2000, Scholastic (New York, NY), 2001.

The Maze of the Beast, Scholastic Australia (Sydney, Australia), 2000, Scholastic (New York, NY), 2001.

The Valley of the Lost, Scholastic Australia (Sydney, Australia), 2000, Scholastic (New York, NY), 2001.

Return to Del, Scholastic Australia (Sydney, Australia), 2000, Scholastic (New York, NY), 2001.

The Deltora Book of Monsters: By Josef, Palace Librarian in the Reign of King Alton, illustrated by Marc McBride, Scholastic Australia (Sydney, Australia), 2001.

Cavern of the Fear, Scholastic Australia (Sydney, Australia), Scholastic (New York, NY), 2002.

The Isle of Illusion, Scholastic Australia (Sydney, Australia), 2002.

The Shadowlands, Scholastic Australia (Sydney, Australia), 2002.

"FAIRY REALM" SERIES; ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED UNDER NAME MARY-ANNE DICKINSON IN "STORYTELLING CHARMS" SERIES

The Charm Bracelet (also see below), Bantam Books (Sydney, Australia), 1994, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 2003.

The Flower Fairies (also see below), Bantam Books (Sydney, Australia), 1994, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 2003.

The Third Wish (also see below), Bantam Books (Sydney, Australia), 1995, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 2003.

The Last Fairy-Apple Tree (also see below), Bantam Books (Sydney, Australia), 1995, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 2003.

The Magic Key (also see below), Bantam Books (Sydney, Australia), 1995, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 2004.

The Unicorn (also see below), Bantam Books (Sydney, Australia), 1996, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 2004.

The Fairy Realm (contains The Flower Fairies, The Charm Bracelet, The Third Wish, The Last Fairy-Apple Tree, The Magic Key, and The Unicorn), ABC Books (Sydney, Australia), 2002.

"TEEN POWER INC." SERIES

The Secret of Banyan Bay, Ashton Scholastic (Sydney, Australia), 1994.

The Sorcerer's Apprentice, Ashton Scholastic (Sydney, Australia), 1994.

The Bad Dog Mystery, Ashton Scholastic (Sydney, Australia), 1994.

Beware the Gingerbread House, Ashton Scholastic (Sydney, Australia), 1994.

Cry of the Cat, Ashton Scholastic (Sydney, Australia), 1994.

The Disappearing TV Star, Ashton Scholastic (Sydney, Australia), 1994.

The Ghost of Raven Hill, Ashton Scholastic (Sydney, Australia), 1994.

Green for Danger, Ashton Scholastic (Sydney, Australia), 1994.

Poison Pen, Ashton Scholastic (Sydney, Australia), 1994.

Breaking Point, Ashton Scholastic (Sydney, Australia), 1994.

Nowhere to Run, Ashton Scholastic (Sydney, Australia), 1995.

Crime in the Picture, Ashton Scholastic (Sydney, Australia), 1995.

The Case of Crazy Claude, Ashton Scholastic (Sydney, Australia), 1995.

Fear in Fashion, Ashton Scholastic (Sydney, Australia), 1995.

Dangerous Game, Ashton Scholastic (Sydney, Australia), 1995.

Danger in Rhyme, Ashton Scholastic (Sydney, Australia), 1995.

The Missing Millionaire, Ashton Scholastic (Sydney, Australia), 1995.

Haunted House, Ashton Scholastic (Sydney, Australia), 1995.

Cry Wolf, Ashton Scholastic (Sydney, Australia), 1996.

Photo Finish, Ashton Scholastic (Sydney, Australia), 1996.

Stage Fright, Ashton Scholastic (Sydney, Australia), 1996.

St. Elmo's Fire, Ashton Scholastic (Sydney, Australia), 1996.

Bad Apples, Ashton Scholastic (Sydney, Australia), 1996.

Dirty Tricks, Ashton Scholastic (Sydney, Australia), 1996.

The War of the Work Demons, Ashton Scholastic (Sydney, Australia), 1997.

Hit or Miss, Ashton Scholastic (Sydney, Australia), 1998.

Hot Pursuit, Ashton Scholastic (Sydney, Australia), 1998.

Deep Freeze, Ashton Scholastic (Sydney, Australia), 1999.

The Secret Enemy, Ashton Scholastic (Sydney, Australia), 1999.

Dead End, Ashton Scholastic (Sydney, Australia), 1999.

AS JENNIFER ROWE

The Commonsense International Cookery Book, Angus & Robertson (Sydney, Australia), 1978.

(Editor) More Poems to Read to Young Australians, Royal New South Wales Institute for Deaf and Blind Children (North Rocks, Australia), 1980.

Eating Well in Later Life, Angus & Robertson (Sydney, Australia), 1982.

Grim Pickings, Allen & Unwin (Sydney, Australia), 1988.

Murder by the Book, Allen & Unwin (Sydney, Australia), 1989.

Death in Store, Allen & Unwin (Sydney, Australia), 1991, Doubleday (Garden City, NY), 1993.

The Makeover Murders, Allen & Unwin (St. Leonards, Australia), 1992, Doubleday (Garden City, NY), 1993.

Stranglehold, Allen & Unwin (St. Leonards, Australia), 1993, Bantam (New York, NY), 1995.

(Editor) Love Lies Bleeding: A Crimes for a Summer Christmas Anthology, Allen & Unwin (St. Leonards, Australia), 1994.

Lamb to the Slaughter, Allen & Unwin (St. Leonards, Australia), 1996, Bantam (New York, NY), 1996.

Deadline, Allen & Unwin (St. Leonards, Australia), 1997, published as Suspect, Ballantine (New York, NY), 1999.

Something Wicked, Allen & Unwin (St. Leonards, Australia), Ballantine (New York, NY), 1999.

Angela's Mandrake and Other Feisty Fables, Allen & Unwin (St. Leonards, Australia), 2000, published as Fairy Tales for Grown-Ups, Allen & Unwin (St. Leonards, Australia), 2001.

SIDELIGHTS: When she finished her first children's book, Emily Rodda submitted it to a publisher under her grandmother's maiden name rather than use her own birth name of Jennifer Rowe. Little did she know at the time that "Emily Rodda" would become one of Australia's favorite children's authors and a five-time winner of the Children's Book Council of Australia's Children's Book of the Year Award. Rodda has written numerous picture books as well as several series for older readers, most notably the "Rowan of Rin" and "Deltora Quest" books. Her fantasy novels are said to introduce carefully drawn imaginary realms where quests are complicated by riddles, magic, and mixed motives. Rodda also helped launch an adventure/mystery series for young readers for Scholastic Australia, "Teen Power Inc.," to which she has contributed more than two dozen titles. Writing under her real name, Jennifer Rowe, she has produced adult mysteries as well as cookbooks. This prolific output is particularly remarkable because Rodda did not become a full-time writer until 1994. Before that she held a job as a magazine editor, while raising four small children. "I feel very lucky to have a job I love so much," she said on her Web site.

Born in New South Wales, Rodda worked as an editor at both an Australian publishing house and at a woman's magazine before turning her hand to juvenile fiction. She chose her grandmother's maiden name as a pseudonym because at the time of her first publication, her publisher, Angus & Robertson, was also her employer. Rodda's first novel, Something Special, was an attempt to document her daughter's growth, and with four children, Rodda had a lot of material at hand for subsequent titles. Aimed at primary graders, Something Special tells the story of a little girl, Samantha, who becomes involved in her mother's rummage sale. Set in contemporary times and with a realistic setting, the book nonetheless contains an element of fantasy: Samantha and her friend, Lizzie, become involved with the spirits of the former owners of the clothing donated for the sale.

At the sale, Sam's friend Lizzie leaves the stall for a while. Sam takes a short nap and is surprised by a quartet of spirits who are admiring their donated clothes. Upon Lizzie's return, these visitors have gone and she suspects they were just a dream of Sam's, but the next day one of them actually returns in the flesh to reclaim a favorite "second skin," a tartan dressing gown he had for years. Ron Morton, writing in Books for Your Children, noted: "This is a well written book. . . . Its strength is perhaps its warm, embracing dialogue." Morton concluded that though the "essence" of the story was fantasy, "there is still something quite believable about what happened." A Books for Keeps critic called Something Special a "thought-provoking and eerie tale" which "catches quite brilliantly the dash, excitement, and movement of the preparations" for the sale. Writing about the U.S. edition, a Kirkus Reviews critic commented that the book offers an "unusual story, beautifully structured and simply but gracefully told," while School Library Journal contributor Elisabeth LeBris noted that the book "is told in a light tone with lots of dialogue."

With this first book, Rodda won the Australian Children's Book of the Year Award, one of the most prestigious prizes in Australia, which not only helped sales of the initial title, but also had reviewers and readers alike awaiting a second book. Rodda commented in an interview in Magpies: "I was astounded and surprised because I hadn't held out the faintest hope of actually winning. . . . As a child I had always wanted to be a writer; now maybe I really was one." Rodda also noted in the interview, however, that "second books are much harder to pull off than first ones."

Rodda's second book, Pigs Might Fly, is a lighthearted fantasy that employs mystery and magical travel to another world. Rachel, about age seven, is in bed with a cold and longs for some excitement to break up her boring days. A picture drawn by a sign-painting friend of her father's is meant to cheer Rachel up but leads to much more radical results. The picture shows Rachel riding a unicorn in her pajamas while pigs fly overhead. Soon Rachel finds herself on the unicorn while actual pigs are playing in the sky. Left at the door of a peasant couple who insist on calling her Grace, Rachel soon discovers that what is transpiring is known locally as a flying pig storm. The peasants think that Rachel has come from "Outside," a rare event that has also initiated the pig storm. Rachel stays in this fabulous land a day and a half, filled with anxiety about how she will get back home, but she eventually does return through the aid of a rhyme discovered at the library. Many reviewers have noted the parallels in the book to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland as well as to The Wizard of Oz, though Rodda's tale is much shorter and far less complex than either of those two. Howard George, writing in Reading Time, commented that Rodda's second novel was "bound to be a great success with young readers" because "only people with a sense of the ridiculous can appreciate unlikely events." George concluded that "this is a finely crafted book" and that "the humour used is never slapstick nor banal." Reviewing the U.S. edition, published as The Pigs Are Flying!, Karen P. Smith commented in School Library Journal that this is "an engaging fantasy for beginning fans of the genre," while Karen Jameyson called the story a "comfortable swirl of suspense, adventure, and amusing characters" in Horn Book. A Books for Keeps contributor concluded by stating that Pigs Might Fly is a "beautifully unfolded tale from an illuminating, fresh-voiced writer." Award committees reached conclusions similar to reviewers', for this second book also earned a Children's Book of the Year Award from the Children's Book Council of Australia (CBCA).

Rodda stuck with fantasy for her third title, The Best-Kept Secret, which features a magical carousel ride. When this carousel comes to town, the residents all find reasons why they should take a ride on it into the future, including young Joanna, who rescues a boy lost in the future. None of the characters who take the magic ride realize that they are at crossroads in their lives; Joanna has just learned she is to become a big sister. Rescuing the young boy in the future, then, is an unconscious acceptance of this new role. Gerald Haigh, reviewing the book in the Times Educational Supplement, noted that Rodda's story "is subtle and layered, and pricks at the emotions in all sorts of ways." A Kirkus Reviews critic dubbed it a "deceptively simple tale" and a "charmingly original, neatly structured story," while School Library Journal contributor Joanne Aswell concluded that The Best-Kept Secret is an "amusing, optimistic chapter book fantasy to read alone or aloud."

Rodda's first male protagonist appears in her fourth book, Finders Keepers, a longer and more sophisticated juvenile novel. Rodda herself has characterized the book as being special not only for the use of a boy as the central character, but also for the fact that she used "family relationships as a background to the fantasy," as she explained in Reading Time. When Patrick takes part in a novel interactive quiz game on his television, he has no idea he will pass through the "Barrier" separating his reality from the "Other Side," but that in fact is exactly what happens. Patrick becomes a Finder of all those things people misplace day to day. His prize is a computer he has been longing for. As Laurie Copping commented in Reading Time, the story moves at "a rapid pace, fantasy and reality interchanging so rapidly that sometimes the reader may wonder whether or not they are experiencing the real or the unreal." A Publishers Weekly reviewer also noted the "lightning speed" at which Rodda keeps her story going and concluded that the book was "an uncommonly satisfying read."

Patrick reappears in The Timekeeper, a sequel to Finders Keepers, in which he is once again summoned through the Barrier, this time to prevent the destruction of worlds on both sides. Obstacles make his mission all the harder, and Rodda blends elements of computer technology to create "an action-filled fantasy with warm, believable depictions of family relationships," according to Anne Connor in School Library Journal. A Kirkus Reviews commentator called The Timekeeper an "engaging light fantasy."

Rodda has also used the contemporary world of high tech in other books for young readers, including Crumbs! and the picture book Power and Glory. The successive competency levels of a video game form the core of the latter title, which Carolyn Phelan dubbed an "unexpected pleasure" in a starred Booklist review. John Sigwald, writing in School Library Journal, called Power and Glory a "big, bold, colorful and cartoony quest for control over electronic nemeses," while a Kirkus Reviews contributor noted the "clever analogies" Rodda makes between the witch, goblin, and ogre of the video game and family members of the boy who is playing the game. "Rodda builds up a throbbing rhythm that approximates the intensity of the play," observed a Publishers Weekly reviewer of this "rousing" picture book.

Far afield from the techno world of the 1990s are Rodda's series of novels about the adventures of Rowan, two of which have been honored by the CBCA. The first title in the series, Rowan of Rin, tells the magical story of the village of Rin, where the locals awake one morning to discover that their source of water, a nearby river, has slowed to a mere trickle. As the days pass, matters get worse and the stream almost totally dries up. The villagers depend on this stream to water their animals, the "bukshah," and these can no longer get enough water. Something must be done. The villagers agree that someone must travel up the Mountain, an eerie and frightening place, to find out what the problem is. The Wise Woman provides the villagers with a map along with a guiding chant, but it is only the boy who tends the bukshah, Rowan, who can figure out the meaning of the map. Rowan sets out on his quest with six others, braving obstacles, including a dragon, until he reaches the top of the Mountain and is able to restore the stream to life. In the process, Rowan also saves the life of his protector, Strong John.

Horn Book correspondent Karen Jameyson called Rowan of Rin a "quest adventure of the highest order" and a "riveting fantasy." Jameyson also noted that Rodda's characters "step off the page as individuals." Magpies contributor Joan Zahnleiter commented that the "text is very visual, sparkling with vivid imagery. It would lend itself to an exciting TV production." The "Rowan of Rin" series has become popular worldwide, with Internet chat rooms dedicated to its plots. Throughout the series, Rowan has evolved from a sickly and timid youngster to a careful but courageous lad to whom others look for leadership. In a discussion of Rowan and the Travelers, published in Australia as Rowan and the Travellers, a Kirkus Reviews critic commended Rodda for her novels that "prove . . . that a weak body can hide a hero's heart."

In Rowan and the Travelers, it falls to Rowan to save his fellow villagers from a strange curse that causes them to fall asleep where they stand. "Once again Rodda's fantasy world, a folkloric Anytime, becomes a vivid reality for readers," commented Kay Weisman in Booklist. In School Library Journal, Trish Anderson observed that Rowan and the Travelers "proves heroism comes in many sizes." Rowan and the Keeper of the Crystal, the third book in the series, finds Rowan in a desperate quest to put together an antidote after his mother is poisoned at the critical moment in which she must choose a new leader for the village. Horn Book correspondent Anne St. John felt that the novel "offers an ideal mix of suspenseful plot, unusual characters, and an engaging hero."

The Zebak are the historic enemies of Rowan's people, and in Rowan and the Zebak, the young hero must journey to their land to rescue his kidnapped sister. As with the previous titles in the series, Rowan's success depends upon his courage and upon his ability to understand magic and the enigmatic riddles posed to him by the wise woman Sheba. In her Booklist review of the title, Weisman declared that "Rowan's adventures are riveting, with plot twists sufficient to keep the outcome in doubt." Writing in School Library Journal, Mara Alpert noted that Rowan "is not the flashiest of heroes, but in each story he grows a little more confident."

While the "Rowan of Rin" series is perhaps better known internationally, Rodda is also building an audience for her "Deltora Quest" fantasies, which number a dozen titles. In this series, three friends—Leif, Jasmine, and Barda—face perils both ordinary and fantastic to retrieve a set of seven precious stones that their people have used to ward off enemies in the past. When the stones are restored to the Belt of Deltora, the land will be freed of the Shadow Lord, a force with evil intentions. In the Australian editions of each "Deltora" novel, the belt appears on the spine of the book, with the stones that have been rescued in each previous volume. In his Magpies review of books five to eight in the "Deltora Quest" series, Russ Merrin wrote: "The full series is quite simply, a huge achievement. It is vividly written, rich in detail and highly imaginative in its execution. It melds together well, flows cohesively, and reads easily."

Rodda's "Fairy Realm" series, originally published as the "Storytelling Charms" series under the name Mary-Anne Dickinson, is aimed at middle-grade readers having their first taste of fantasy. Jessie, the heroine of these volumes, is an ordinary girl who discovers that her destiny lies equally in the everyday world and in an alternative universe peopled by fairies, elves, trolls, ogres, and other fabulous creatures. In the series debut, The Charm Bracelet, Jessie discovers that her grandmother is actually queen of the fairies, and that the two of them must go into the fairy realm to renew its magic and ensure its safety. Booklist critic Ellen Mandel suggested that "intergenerational teamwork and a girl's levelheaded thinking combine" in the novel to produce an "exciting fantasy." A Publishers Weekly reviewer called The Charm Bracelet a "taut, engaging fantasy tale" with "an intriguing plot and appealing characters." According to a Kirkus Reviews contributor, "Rodda tells a suspenseful, well-knit tale, enlivened by humor and heroism."

Through the first decade of her writing life, Rodda worked late at night after her children had gone to bed. Now she devotes her days to her craft and enjoys it so much that she says her favorite hobbies are "reading and writing," as she related on her Web site. She has written for nearly every age reader from preschool to retirement, having also penned almost a dozen crime novels for adults under her real name. Rodda said on her Web site: "I am married with four children, and live in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney. We have a dog called Sunny. And because we live next to the bush, the garden is always full of frogs, lizards, magpies, cockatoos, and kookaburras." In a Magpies interview, she described the kind of book she likes to write. "I love things that all tie up and in fact I find things that don't very irritating if they're that type of book," she said. "The kind of book that I regard as an adventure or a fantasy or whatever, I think that deserves a good, neat ending. . . . There' no little clue that doesn't have a meaning. . . . Maybe it's a response to the general messiness of life, but I find it very satisfying."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

BOOKS

Children's Literature Review, Volume 23, Gale (Detroit, MI), 1994, pp. 207-213.

Helbig, Alethea K. and Agnes Regan Perkins, editors, Dictionary of Children's Fiction from Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand, and Selected African Countries, Greenwood Press (Westport, CT), 1992.

Rodda, Emily, Something Special, illustrated by Noela Young, Angus & Robertson (Sydney, Australia), 1984, Holt (New York, NY), 1989.

PERIODICALS

Booklist, September 1, 1990, p. 52; April 15, 1996, Carolyn Phelan, review of Power and Glory, p. 1441; January, 1997, p. 768; November 15, 2001, Kay Weisman, review of Rowan and the Travelers, p. 574; January 1, 2002, Kay Weisman, review of Rowan and the Keeper of the Crystal, p. 859; March 1, 2002, Kay Weisman, review of Rowan and the Zebak, p. 1133; January 1, 2003, Ellen Mandel, review of The Charm Bracelet, p. 892.

Books for Keeps, September, 1986, review of Something Special, p. 23; March, 1989, review of Pigs Might Fly, p. 18; January, 1996, p. 10; May, 2001, Annabel Gibb, review of Bob and the House Elves, p. 21.

Books for Your Children, spring, 1985, Ron Morton, review of Something Special, p. 11.

Horn Book, November-December, 1988, Karen Jameyson, review of The Pigs Are Flying!, p. 784; November-December, 1993, Karen Jameyson, "News from Down Under," review of Rowan of Rin, pp. 778-780; September, 2001, Anne St. John, review of Rowan and the Travelers, pp. 593-594; March-April, 2002, Anne St. John, review of Rowan and the Keeper of the Crystal, pp. 217-218.

Kirkus Reviews, November 1, 1989, review of Something Special, p. 1597; May 15, 1990, review of The Best-Kept Secret, p. 802; October 1, 1993, review of The Timekeeper, p. 1278; February 15, 1996, review of Power and Glory, p. 299; October 1, 2001, review of Rowan and the Travelers, p. 1432; January 1, 2002, review of Rowan and the Keeper of the Crystal, p. 50; May 1, 2002, review of Rowan and the Zebak, p. 666; January 1, 2003, review of The Charm Bracelet, p. 65.

Magpies, July, 1990, "Emily Rodda," pp. 19-21; November, 1993, Joan Zahnleiter, review of Rowan of Rin, p. 31; September, 1998, Rayma Turton, review of Bob the Builder and the Elves, p. 35; March, 2001, Russ Merrin, "Two Series for Independent Readers," review of Dread Mountain, The Maze of the Beast, The Valley of the Lost, and Return to Del, p. 35.

Publishers Weekly, October 18, 1991, review of Finders Keepers, p. 25; May 6, 1996, review of Power and Glory, p. 81; June 9, 1997, p. 46; February 10, 2003, review of The Charm Bracelet, p. 188.

Reading Time, number 3, 1987, Howard George, review of Pigs Might Fly, p. 66; number 4, 1990, Laurie Copping, review of Finders Keepers, p. 25; number 4, 1991, Emily Rodda, "CBCA Acceptance Speech," p. 5.

School Library Journal, September, 1988, Karen P. Smith, review of The Pigs Are Flying!, pp. 185-186; January, 1990, Elisabeth LeBris, review of Something Special, pp. 106, 108; January, 1991, Joanne Aswell, review of The Best-Kept Secret, pp. 79-80; October, 1993, Anne Connor, review ofThe Timekeeper, p. 128; May, 1996, John Sigwald, review of Power and Glory, p. 97; January, 2002, Trish Anderson, review of Rowan and the Travelers, p. 140; May, 2002, Janet Gillen, review of Rowan and the Keeper of the Crystal, p. 160; July, 2002, Mara Alpert, review of Rowan and the Zebak, p. 124; August, 2003, Debbie Whitbeck, review of The Charm Bracelet, p. 140.

Times Educational Supplement, February 17, 1989, Gerald Haigh, "Daredevils," review of The Best-Kept Secret, p. B28.