Ursula Dubosarsky is the Australian Children’s Laureate for 2020 - 2021

Lara had always wished she was a dog, and one day, just for a short time, she actually became one. This is how it happened.

In a mulberry brick house on the harbour that Lara explores while her mother cleans, Lara meets Pierre, a boy about her age with a beautiful antique puppet theatre. With his puppets, he tells her a story about a boy whose family has been eaten by wolves. The boy is lost. He needs to find his grandmother. Lara takes the part of a dog, but suddenly she can no longer tell where she ends and Dog begins. Or is she Wolf? Caught up in Pierre’s story, Lara has to fight to protect her identity - and her new friend. Can she help Pierre find his way home?

Pierre’s Not There is a lyrical, captivating and imaginative story that can be read on many levels.