Karen Treanor

Karen Treanor has been writing about animals since the age of six. While working in Southern Africa, she wrote several reading books based on local folk tales for the Ministry of Education in Swaziland, and a number of radio scripts for the English Language program of the Ministry of Education in Lesotho.

Since settling in Western Australia and meeting bandicoots in her own backyard, Karen has been dedicated to improving public awareness of these charming little native animals, which often suffer for their superficial resemblance to rats. She thinks bandicoots would have been a more appropriate State Animal for Western Australia than numbats, “who got the job because of their flashy suits”.

She started Quenda Books, which publishes the Scoot, Scoot, Bandicoot® series, in 2003. There are now 5 books in the series, plus a book of real-life short stories , A Tree in Mundaring and three murder mysteries.

Karen lives in Mundaring with many visiting bandicoots, possums, bobtail lizards, kangaroos, huge spiders, and magpies; plus some resident chickens, cats and a very tolerant husband. She visits schools, libraries and social groups to give talks about bandicoots, book publishing and writing. She’s pictured outside Dr Sam Johnson’s house in London, one of her favourite spots.

Author's website: Bandicoot Books