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An independent Australian picture book imprint

Stories of breathless adventure and unimpressed supervision.

OB Press is home to Oscar and Billie — two real Burmese cats, in a real house, with very different ideas about how a day should go.

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Meet the management

Oscar and Billie are not characters. They are real cats, living in a real house in Sydney, Australia, attended by a real human, whom they regard, fondly, as staff. Everything we publish began as something that actually happened.

— and this, before he’s even said hello, is

Oscar (he saw you from the window and ran the whole way)

Earnest. Curious. Frequently airborne. Oscar throws himself at the world roughly four seconds before thinking it through, and he has never once regretted it — even the time with the fence, which we don’t talk about. Except in Book One. Where we talk about it at length.

Oscar, the real Burmese cat — rarely this still
The actual Oscar. Rarely this still.

Billie will see you now

Billie


Dry. Composed. Entirely unbothered — in the practised way of someone who has rehearsed being unbothered. While Oscar was off having his adventure, Billie ran the household beautifully. She would like you to know she didn’t miss him. She would also like you to stop asking.

Billie, the real Burmese cat — she approved this photograph
The actual Billie. She approved this photograph.

From the house to the page

Real cats. Storybook lives.

Every OB Press book begins with photographs, fur on the furniture, and an actual incident — and ends as a painted picture book. Same cats. Slightly tidier.

Oscar, photographed mid-decision.
Oscar, as he appears in the books.
Illustration coming from the studio.
Billie. She straightened this frame herself.
Billie, as she appears in the books.
Illustration coming from the studio.

Our story

The Sixteen Days

Every imprint starts somewhere. Ours started with an open door.

One morning, Oscar let himself out — as he often did — and didn’t come back. Not that evening. Not the next. For sixteen days the house held its breath, and Billie, who does not hold her breath for anyone, quietly took the throne. The warm spot by the window. The first bowl at breakfast. The undisputed final word.

· · ·

Oscar did not stroll home. Oscar has never done anything that quietly. On day sixteen there was a search, a sighting, and a rescue dramatic enough to fill an entire book — which is exactly what it now does. We won’t spoil it here. Oscar would never forgive us; it’s his favourite story.

What we can tell you is this: he came home thinner, louder, and magnificently pleased with himself — fully expecting a hero’s welcome.

Billie looked at him for a long moment. Then she went back to her window.

We started OB Press to tell what happened next. Four books’ worth, so far. All of it true — witnessed firsthand by their human, who lives with them, feeds them, and has been generously permitted to write things down.

The books

Four stories in the works, all based on actual events. “True-ish,” says Billie.

The Great Escape

Coming soon

Sixteen days missing. One daring rescue. Two very different accounts of what happened.

The Championship

Coming soon

There are no official rules. Oscar made some up anyway. Billie is winning.

The Investigation

Coming soon

Something has gone missing. Oscar is on the case. Oscar may also be the case.

The Window

Coming soon

The best seat in the house. There is only one. You can see where this is going.

Be first through the cat flap.

Leave your email and we’ll write when there’s something worth saying — release dates, first looks at the illustrations, and the occasional dispatch from the household, written by the human and approved by neither cat. No noise. Billie wouldn’t stand for it.

That doesn’t look quite like an email address. Billie checked twice.

One email when it matters. Unsubscribe any time. We’d be sorry, but we’d understand.

Lovely — you’re on the list. Billie has noted your name. Oscar is already telling the whole street.