Margaret Wild (born 1948) is an Australian children's writer. She has written more than 40 books for children. Her work has been published around the world and has won several awards. She was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Children's Book Council of Australia in 2022. Life Wild was born in Eshowe, South Africa, an early European settlement now a market town. Her bank manager's family moved frequently and she attended state schools in Johannesburg. She came to Australia in 1972, worked as a magazine feature writer, and finished her education at Australian National University in Canberra. In Sydney she raised a family, worked as a freelance writer, worked sixteen years as a book editor in children's publishing—1984 to 2000, finally at ABC Books, Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Writer Wild's books explore a diverse range of themes but she is particularly noted for exploring issues of identity, trust, and death. Let the Celebrations Begin (1991) focused on the imminent release of Jewish prisoners from a Nazi concentration camp, while in The Very Best of Friends (1989) the death of a farmer prompts his widowed wife to find the love to care for their respective pets, a cat and dog, equally. Fox (2000), illustrated by Ron Brooks using the colours of the Australian landscape, is a powerful story about trust and betrayal. Recently Wild has published two verse novels, One Night and Jinx. These books investigate the trials and anxieties faced by teenagers coping with school, relationships and growing up. In March 2020 Wild was awarded an award for Lifetime Achievement in Literature by the Australia Council. In December 2020 she was nominated as Australia's author candidate for the 2022 Hans Christian Andersen Award. She now lives in Sydney. Works Picture books Chalk Boy, illustrated by Mandy Ord (2018) The Sloth that came to Stay, illustrated by Vivienne To (2017) Bogtrotter, illustrated by Judith Rossell (2015) The Bush book Club, illustrated by Ben Wood (2014) The Treasure Box, ill. Freya Blackwood (2013) Tanglewood, ill. Vivienne Goodman (2012) Vampyre, ill. Andrew Yeo (2011) Puffling, ill. Julie Vivas (2009) Harry & Hopper, ill. Freya Blackwood (2009) The Pocket dogs go on holiday, ill. Stephen Michael King (2008) Piglet and Papa, ill. Stephen Michael King (2007) Woolvs in the Sitee, ill Anne Spudvilas (2006) Chatterbox, ill. Deborah Niland (2006) The Bilbies of Bliss, ill. Noela Young (2005) The Little Crooked House, co-written with illustrator