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Katherine Battersby is an Australian-Canadian children's author, illustrator and public speaker. In total, she has written and contributed to over 10 published books, including several from her Squish Rabbit series. The Squish Rabbit series focuses on a small rabbit trying to navigate a big world, learning valuable lessons and making new friends along the way. These stories are a reflection of the experiences a child may go through as they grow up.

Life and career
Katherine Battersby was born in Perth, Western Australia, to nomadic parents. She spent her youth on the beaches of North Queensland, where she would swim and catch fish. As an imaginative child, she would often get lost in her thoughts at Whitsunday Anglican School as she created new stories in her head.

When deciding what career to pursue, Katherine knew she liked working with kids. She decided to study Occupational Therapy in Brisbane, Australia, focusing on the field of pediatric counselling. After years of working with children she came to realize that her passions were in writing children's literature. Katherine returned to university to improve her illustration talents and received a Bachelor of Visual Communication Design from the Queensland College of Art.

She has since published several novels that she wrote and illustrated, in addition to illustrating Shelly Unwin's birthday book series.

Katherine currently lives in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, but frequently returns to Australia to visit family and speak at local events. Some of these events include presentations at schools, reading at book fairs, and being featured at festivals around the world.

Awards and honours
Katherine has won and been shortlisted for multiple awards including:


 * Recipient, 2010 Marten Bequest Travelling Scholarship
 * Shortlisted, 2012 CBCA Book of the Year Awards – Crichton Award for Debut Illustrator
 * Recipient, 2015 Creative Industries Career Fund