Tottie and Dot are two little girls who live side by side. They love all the same things and are the perfect neighbours. Life is lovely and peaceful until, one day, the girls begin competing with each other to create the best house!

As the story unfolds, jealousy takes hold and their competitive spirit gets increasingly out of control. Flamingos run around gardens, rollercoasters fly off their tracks, circuses turn into mayhem… until everything collapses in a disastrous heap! Will Tottie and Dot be able to salvage the situation by realising the importance of their friendship?

Beautifully illustrated and thoughtfully told, the story shines on the page. Each girl’s house is shown over a series of exquisitely illustrated double-page spreads — Tottie on the left and Dot on the right. The detailed illustrations perfectly complement the simple story line and will provide children aged 4–7 with hours of entertainment, as well as a valuable life lesson! Help children learn how to support each other instead of competing to ‘be the best’ with this gorgeous, funny, and thought-provoking book.

Tania McCartney is an author, editor, reviewer and features writer. She has been writing professionally for over 25 years and has almost a thousand articles and reviews in print and online. Passionate about literacy, Tania founded the highly regarded children’s literature website Kids’ Book Review and the 52-Week Illustration Challenge, and is an ambassador for the Australian National Year of Reading 2012. She has spent many years presenting and speaking on reading, books and writing.

Her previous book with Tina Snerling was the bestselling An Aussie Year. Tania is also the author of the very successful Beijing Tai Tai. Described as ‘The Eat, Pray, Love for mothers’, this is her account of the four years she spent living in China’s capital. Tania has also lived in Paris and London, and currently lives in Canberra with her husband and two kids, and a mountain of books.

Tina Snerling is an illustrator, children’s wear designer and graphic artist. Formerly a fashion and textiles designer, she now illustrates the award-winning Kids’ Year series and other picture books, and is the Art Director for a children’s stationery company. She lives in Brisbane with her husband, two kids and a wild imagination to draw the world with childhood innocence.