UWA Publishing has acquired world rights to a four-book series by Nic Gill through Sarah McKenzie Literary Management. The series is inspired by real-life working dogs and each book will feature cover art by award-winning illustrator Jake A Minton with black and white internal illustrations.
The first book in the series, Maya Follows Her Nose, features a timid border collie who’s been abandoned at an animal shelter, but is rescued by ecologist Dr Romane ‘Rom’ Cristescu to work in the field of koala conservation. The following books in the series will follow the stories of other working dogs from across Australia.
Nic Gill says: “Maya’s story is one that’s very close to my heart, as meeting this remarkable dog and her beloved humans literally changed my life — she inspired me to become the conservation dog handler and researcher I am today. For years, I searched for the perfect ‘forever home’ for Maya, and I’m so delighted to have found it with the wonderful team at UWA Publishing. And the best part is that this is just the beginning — I’m so pumped to share more stories of real conservation dogs lending a paw for wildlife across Australia — stay tuned for more Sniff Squad adventures!”
Kate Pickard, publisher of UWA Publishing, says “We are delighted to be publishing Nic Gill’s new junior fiction series Sniff Squad. These stories are full of adventure; they’re rooted in conservation practices and universal themes of friendship and compassion.”
Nic Gill is an award-winning Tasmanian author, who writes on nature, humans and other animals for readers of all ages. Nic was actually inspired to switch career and work with conservation detection dogs after interviewing and being wildly impressed by Maya and Romane when she was researching her first book, Animal Eco-Warriors. This book went on to win multiple awards, and was a CBCA notable, and since then, Rom and Nic have written multiple books together. Nic is the current President of the Australasian Conservation Dog Network, and when she’s not busy writing, she works as a field ecologist, often with her own conservation detection dogs, Zorro, Gromit and Morello, in the Tasmanian wilds.
Jake A Minton is a children’s book illustrator and graphic novelist. His picture books have been shortlisted by the CBCA and his work is in print in over 12 countries. Jake has been described as one of Australia’s most naturally gifted illustrators and visual storytellers.
The first book in the Sniff Squad series Maya Follows Her Nose will be published by UWA Publishing on 1 September 2026.
For media enquiries please contact UWA Publishing’s Marketing Department.
EMAIL: marketing-uwap@uwa.edu.au
PHONE: (+ 61 8) 6488 3670