Gecko’s Echo

Lucy Rowland

Natasha Rimmington

Bloomsbury, 2017

32pp., hbk., RRP $A22.99

9781408859490

Once there was a gecko
and she lived inside a cave.
She was very, very small
but she was also really brave.

Not only was she brave, but she was also very smart.  For inside her cave were three gecko eggs that needed to be guarded day and night because there were many crafty creatures who thought that gecko eggs would make a tasty snack.  But she was ready for them and when Snake slithered by at sunrise looking for his breakfast she told him he would need to be very brave because inside the cave were 100 geckos! And just one shout would bring them out.  But Snake didn’t have his brave on so he slithered on.

Eagle also thought gecko eggs would make a tasty lunchtime treat but she too turned away when threatened with 100 geckos waiting for her.  But come evening, when Rat was looking for his dinner he wasn’t intimidated.  In fact he decided to call Mother Gecko’s bluff…

Clever use of rhyme and charming illustrations carry this tale of courage and trickery along and young readers will really enjoy the fact that Mother Gecko can outsmart her enemies.  They will also enjoy investigating how echoes are created – they are fascinated by them and whenever you take a child into a tunnel or an underpass or wherever conditions are perfect, they delight in shouting and hearing their voice come back to them.  Why does that happen?  A perfect kickstart for a science lesson as well as a good story!