The Peach King
Inga Simpson
Lothian Children’s Books, 2025
Inga Simpson is an Australian novelist and nature writer whose work celebrates the natural beauty of Australia and the rhythms of Australian life. Her novel Willowman, for example, details a cricketer’s rise to fame and his deep connection to his bat, crafted and gifted by a local artisan.
The Peach King is a picture book that had its origins in a story told in her first novel Mr Wigg and is beautifully illustrated by Tannya Harricks.
The largest of the peach trees in the orchard, The Peach King, guards and protects the other trees through many seasons of growth and renewal. Little Peach Tree has only just started growing and feels the magic of the seasonal renewal of flowering and fruiting for the first time. The Peach King wards off insect plagues by summoning birds to eat the attackers, but when the drought comes, the danger of fire is imminent. The orchard is threatened by fire and Little Peach Tree comes to the rescue, but not before The Peach King has to sacrifice itself for its community.
Inga Simpson has written an engaging fable about the endurance of nature and the resilience of the Australian spirit in the face of a harsh climate.
