Once I was a Giant

A multi-award-winning picture book for all ages about hope for the future, the power of small beings and the special friendship of trees.

2026 ABIA WINNER BOOK OF THE YEAR
2026 ABIA WINNER CHILDREN'S PICTURE BOOK OF THE YEAR (AGES 0-6)
2026 VPLA WINNER CHILDREN'S LITERATURE AWARD
2026 CBCA WINNER PICTURE BOOK OF THE YEAR
2026 ABA SHORTLISTED KIDS' READING GUIDE CHILDREN'S BOOK OF THE YEAR
2026 BOLOGNA RAGAZZI AWARD SELECTED BRAW AMAZING BOOKSHELF
2026 QLA SHORTLISTED CHILDREN'S BOOK AWARD
2026 HIII ILLUSTRATION INTERNATIONAL CHILDREN'S BOOK C-1 AWARD
2026 ABDA SHORTLISTED BEST DESIGNED CHILDREN'S BOOK AWARD

'A picture book that transcends age, extending the idea of what picture books are and who they are for.'
- ABIA Judges' comments, Book of the Year 2026

'Hopeful and poetic.'
- The Guardian

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When a picture-book maker runs out of stories, his pencil decides it's time to tell her own...

'My first memories were of darkness and reaching for sunlight. My roots connected me to everything. I was small but I was also the forest.'

Here is the story of a green giant and a small wanderer who formed a friendship that spanned lifetimes.

From the award-winning author of My Strange Shrinking Parents comes a luminescent and hopeful tale about our living natural world.

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From Zeno: This is a book where the tree is the protagonist and hero. As we all tumble towards an increasingly digital, atomised and urbanised world I wanted to make a story about the natural world that touches on ideas of interdependence, metamorphosis and impermanence. Trees make all of our lives possible but they are often absent from stories because we tend to only care and feel for characters that are like us. This story aims to bring trees alive for young people by telling an imaginative story rooted in recent scientific discoveries about the social lives of trees and their abilities to communicate, learn and feel. The story covers the entire span of an individual tree's life and the intimate relationships it shares with the forest and the creatures that it nourishes and houses.

• Format: Hardback
• Pages: 48
• Imprint: Thames & Hudson Aust
• Supplier: Penguin Random House Distribution
• Subjects: Picture books, Children’s picture books, Interest age: from c 4 years, Children’s / Teenage general interest: Nature, animals, the natural world, Children’s / Teenage social topics: Environment, sustainability and green issues, Relating to the stages of life, Children’s / Teenage general interest: Wildlife and habitats, deforestation; environment; forests; old-growth forests; picture books; pencil; books about trees; the giving tree; shaun tan; Daoism; Taoism; life cycles; books about seasons; books about life cycles; book awards; Charlie Mackesy; The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse; Always Remember: The Boy, the Mole, the Fox, the Horse and the Storm; gift books for children; picture books for children; picture books for adults; bestselling; winner; all ages; zeno sworder family; zeno sworder art; zeno sworder books; childhood; zeno sworder awards; picture books for the whole family; grief; friendship; creativity; nature; making friends; hope; Resilience; Renewal; Cycle of life; Spirituality; Interconnectedness; seeds; growing; lyrical; storytelling; connection to nature; selfless; buddhism; logging; literary classic; courage; wordless picture book; Chinese Australian; lyrical picture books; thought-provoking picture books; books that encourage environmental awareness; poetic storytelling; emotional storytelling; library books; scholastic