Vale Patricia Wrightson

Pioneer of Australian idiom for kids dies
From: The Australian, March 25, 2010 12:00AM

PATRICIA Wrightson, who died this week aged 88, was one of the first children's writers to use Australian places and idioms in her novels.

Born in the northern NSW town of Lismore, Wrightson's first books were published in the 1950s, and she continued writing until ill health forced her retirement in the late 1990s.
The Rocks of Honey (1960) and The Nargun and the Stars (1973) were two of her four books to be awarded the Children's Book Council Book of the Year. She was also awarded the Hans Christian Andersen Medal.
In 1999, the NSW Premier's literary awards honoured Ms Wrightson by naming their children's literary prize after her. Minister for the Arts, Virginia Judge, yesterday acclaimed Ms Wrightson as an "Australian literary great".

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/arts/pioneer-of-australian-idiom-for-kids-dies/story-e6frg8nf-1225844972765