Inga Simpson’s website refers to her as a ‘nature writer’ and she’s best known to readers as a literary novelist. With The Peach King, Simpson turns her skills towards the picture book format, delivering a poignant environmental fable, with impressive art by painter Tannya Harricks.

Set in a peach orchard watched over by the Peach King, the story follows Little Peach Tree as they grow and change through the seasons. Autumn leaves fall, spring blossoms appear, and a grasshopper plague is thwarted by birds. The spreads shift between dynamic moments of change, and tranquil moments of hibernation, for the trees, and the humans and animals in their world.

Then comes a summer that is hotter and drier than anyone can remember. The farmers race to pick peaches, ready or not, whilst the animals begin to flee. A fire is coming. The Peach King leads the trees in a song that will bring the rain and turn back the flames, but the heat is too fierce to save the King. Little Peach Tree rises up to rouse the singing. When the rain eventually comes and the environment begins to renew, Little Peach Tree’s branches form a crown.

Themes of stewardship and resilience are evident throughout, as well as an opportunity for research into the actual natural processes of renewal for certain types of trees after a fire. The fable echoes a long history of stories about youngsters rising to heroic royal ranks, whilst being distinctly Australian in its depiction of the flora and fauna, and the scourge of bush fires. The use of the peach seems to unite these narrative elements – like a nod to European fairytales as well as Australian farming. Importantly for the visual dimension, the peach provides the basis for a mesmerising pink, orange and green colour palette. The peaches on the endpapers would make Monet proud, and could be a fabulous entry into discussion of painting and art history.

The suggested reading age is 3+, but this is a sophisticated story that requires some work on behalf of the reader (in a good way) as the trees are not anthropomorphised in the illustrations. It would be best appreciated through shared reading with the very young. It could also be useful at other ages – and in various parts of the curriculum – particularly in sustainability conversations and analysis of fables or fairy tales as a genre. An author’s note adds context around her lived experience of the Black Summer fires in NSW in 2019.

 Hachette Australia 2025

 Inga Simpson

Tannya Harricks