Trace Balla

Trace Balla is an Australian children's author and illustrator.

Rivertime won the 2015 Readings Children's Book Prize and the Wilderness Society Picture Book Award in the same year. It was shortlisted for both the 2015 Patricia Wrightson Prize for Children’s Literature, NSW Premier's Literary Awards and the 2016 WA Premier’s Book Awards.

Rockhopping was awarded Book of the Year: Young Readers by the Children's Book Council of Australia in 2017. It was shortlisted for the Children's Award in the 2018 Adelaide Awards Festival for Literature.

The Thank You Dish was named a Notable book in the early childhood section by the Children’s Book Council of Australia in 2018.

Landing with Wings was shortlisted for the 2020 Speech Pathology Australia Book of the Year Award for books for eight to ten year olds.

The Heart of the Bubble was published in 2020 and is a graphic novel set during the coronavirus pandemic about "a family’s awakening to what really matters".

Her 2023 book, Leaf-light, was shortlisted for the 2024 Patricia Wrightson Prize for Children's Books, NSW Premier's Literary Awards and the 2024 Children's Book Award, Queensland Literary Awards.

She lives in Castlemaine, Victoria.

Works

Rivertime, 2014, Shine: A story about saying goodbye, 2015, Rockhopping, 2016, The Thank You Dish, 2017, Landing with Wings, 2020, The Heart of the Bubble, 2020, Leaf-light, 2023,