Hey Hippopotamus Do Babies Eat Cake Too?

Best known for her series of picture books There’s a Hippopotamus on our Roof Eating Cake, author Hazel Edwards, OAM, writes books and scripts for children, YA and adults. Awarded the Australian Society of Authors’ Medal in 2009, Hazel has been nominated three times for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award. She also received the Monash University Distinguished Alumni award for Education in 2022. She’s Patron of the Society of Women Writers, Victoria. 2025 is her 50th year since first being published and her books have been translated into 10 languages. Wasted? is her latest YA, a Cli-Fic novel being considered for screen. Her audio, digital and print memoir Not Just a Piece of Cake; Being an Author is being translated into Tamil.

Benita Collings's face is synonymous with Australian childhood and Play School, where she has been a presenter since 1969. Benita has worked extensively in television drama with roles in Homicide, Rafferty's Rules, A Country Practice, The Sullivans, and has also made appearances on the TV shows Talkin' 'Bout Your Generation, Rove and the Micallef P(r)ogram(me). She has provided numerous voiceovers for television, radio and audiobooks.