August 21, 2026 — 11:59am
Long before Zeno Sworder’s Once I Was a Giant was named Australia’s picture book of the year, it faced its toughest judging panel.
Sworder, who works on his intricate children’s books at night after his family has gone to bed, showed a rough version to his daughters when they were about six and 11. Their reaction convinced the Melbourne-based author and illustrator to continue with his tale of a tree whose wood is turned into a pencil and then tells the story of its life.
“I think it moved them. That gave me the personal connection to it, and so a year and a half of actually making the book properly was just about doing something that would live up to what they saw in their imagination that had its impact on them,” Sworder said.
“To have the passion, the drive, to give up all of those nighttimes. It has to be something that I feel really strongly about and if I know it’s something they will enjoy and something they will potentially be able to share with their children, then that just gives me the motivation to power through a whole book.”
