The Christmas Tree Tangle

Margaret Mahy (Author)

Margaret Mahy is internationally recognized as one of the greatest writers for young readers, with her books translated into every major language worldwide. She was a two-time winner of the prestigious Carnegie Medal, a five-time winner of the Esther Glen Award, and a one-time winner of the Observer Teenage Fiction Award.

Born in a rural New Zealand town, Margaret was the eldest of five children and grew up with a strong sense of family, surrounded by numerous cousins. She passed away in 2012.

In 1936, the year of Margaret Mahy’s birth, only four children’s books were published in New Zealand. Mahy significantly influenced the landscape of children’s literature in her homeland, becoming one of its most prolific authors with over 100 titles to her name. Her extensive work includes poetry, picture books, novels for older children and teenagers, television scripts, and stories for magazines and newspapers.

Mahy grew up in a close-knit family with five siblings. Her vivid imagination made her school years interesting, if not always easy. After seeing The Jungle Book, she playfully told her seven-year-old classmates that she could communicate with animals, demonstrating her “closeness to the Animal Kingdom” with a “gibberish” and by eating leaves and drinking from puddles. She began writing at a young age, admitting to being somewhat of a show-off, carrying her notebooks around to integrate them into conversations.

She started writing children’s books seriously at eighteen while training to be a children’s librarian. Her major breakthrough occurred fifteen years later, in 1968, when an American publisher discovered the manuscript for A Lion in the Meadow and purchased it, along with her existing body of work. Eight books were released simultaneously. Mahy became a full-time writer in 1980 and published The Haunting, a novel that earned her the Carnegie Medal – making her the first non-UK writer to receive this honor. She won it again two years later for The Changeover. In 1986, she received the IBBY Honour Book Award. In February 1993, Margaret was awarded New Zealand’s highest honor, The Order of New Zealand, and held an Honorary Doctorate of Letters from the University of Canterbury.

Margaret was a beloved and energetic performer, frequently visiting schools and libraries. She passed away on July 23, 2012.

Sarah Davis (Illustrator)

Sarah Davis illustrated her first picture book in 2008 and transitioned to full-time illustrating in 2010, leaving her day job. Since then, she has illustrated 37 books and been shortlisted for 30 major awards in Australia and New Zealand. She now considers her work drawing pirates, llamas, dogs, and other imaginative characters as her “job.” She is content with this career path and hopes never to return to a “real job.”

Davis holds an Honours degree in literature, and her illustrations are deeply influenced by her appreciation for language and narrative. She works across various media and continually explores new visual storytelling techniques. As an experienced and sought-after presenter, she speaks at schools, festivals, and universities in Australia and internationally. She serves as an ambassador for Room to Read and is the Illustrator Co-ordinator for the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (Australia East/NZ).

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