The National Centre for Australian Children’s Literature has ‘clippers’ across Australia. Their job is to pick up posters, programs and unusual books we might not have. One of our Centre’s volunteers in Melbourne discovered a gem—a book—in her favourite op shop: ‘The Little Goat’ written by Elizabeth Fletcher and illustrated by Deborah and Kilmeny Niland, published in 1971. We sent this news to Deborah Niland and she responded, giving us permission to share her story below.
‘Your acquiring a copy of ‘The Little Goat’ brought back many memories. Whilst in London from 1968 to 1970, Kilmeny and I did the usual thing with taking a portfolio of sample illustrations around to various publishers, forever hopeful that something might develop. We received rejection after rejection, although some editors were kind and helpful. Then came the day when we received positive feedback! With great excitement we travelled to Ealing and met Anne Wood and Gillian Osband from Transworld publishers. They were starting up a series of children’s books to be sold in bookshops and newsagents at a reasonable price, and to make reading more accessible to more young children and their parents. Anne Wood was a visionary. She was only in her early thirties when we met her and because of her massive success with Books for Your Children magazine and her reputation as the UK’s leading voice on children’s literacy, Transworld asked her to help parents navigate their new paperback lines.
We were only 19 at the time and it was even more of a thrill that they were willing to put their faith into complete unknown, inexperienced illustrators. However the series of books employing many writers and artists was phenomenally successful. Our title alone went through many, many reprints over the years. Their encouragement and belief in us at that time in our lives was something we always valued and always appreciated.’
Our National Centre for Australian Children’s Literature has accepted many donations over the years from Deborah Niland under the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program. Deborah Niland’s artwork which we hold is listed on our website.
Posted by: NCACL | Published: 21 Jul 2026
