Trust me, I know as my littlies were tried to grab it from me and it now belongs to them.

Backyard Buddies is a beautifully illustrated somewhat factual introduction to the hoppy, crawly, wriggly, buzzy, fluttery critters that call your backyard home.

When award-winning illustrator Andy Geppert's daughter uttered her first word 'birdie' and began pointing and exclaiming enthusiastically at each one she saw, he was inspired to create children's book Backyard Birdies, a fun and somewhat factual introduction to the birds of Australia.

Backyard Buddies is the perfect companion to Backyard Birdies.

In August, Hachette is excited to publish Andy's follow-up title Backyard Buddies ($19.99), a handy field guide full of buzzy facts (some of them even true) about the insects and creatures - ladybugs, snails, blue-tongues and more - that curious kids are likely to discover living in their backyard.

The contents start with a ladybird and go through moths, butterflies, snails, spikers, bee, termites, blue-tongue lizards and ending with a pet rock (you read that correctly).

Andy said: "Young kids are so curious about all the things that creep and crawl through their backyards. And they want to touch everything! We want them to be brave and curious, and to enjoy learning about the outside world. But we also want them to be safe and to understand what can and what can't be touched or prodded and poked. I hope Backyard Buddies opens up that world of wonder for kids and fuels curiosity, while also being a bit of fun... for adults too."

Backyard Birdies celebrates the colour and joy of the outside world through the eyes of a child while providing fun (and funny) facts about each creature, their colours, size, when you can see them and a handy touch/don't touch guide.

The beautiful illustrations of each buddy incorporate pressed flowers and plants that Andy has collected from local gardens.

Andy Geppert is an Australian illustrator based in Brisbane. He won the Crichton Award for new illustrators for his work on Little Big Tree in 2010. His follow up picture book, Meep, was selected as a Notable Book by the Children's Book Council of Australia (CBCA) in 2016.

Andy is also an award-winning marketing designer.