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Turtle Moon

Nov12
Turtle Moon

Turtle Moon

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Turtle Moon

Hannah Gold

Levi Pinfold

HarperCollins, 2024

336pp., pbk., RRP $A17.99

9780008582081

Life has been unflash in the Trevelon household for some time as Silver’s parents try unsuccessfully to have another child and discover that it is not going to happen.  So much so that 11 year-old Silver feels she is second-fiddle to that unborn child and there is nothing that she can do to please her parents, particularly her mother.  She can’t even do well in a school art competition, even though her father is an artist. So when her father is invited to visit a turtle sanctuary for three months to paint pictures of the turtles to be turned into fund0raising souvenirs, it seems just like the circuit-breaker the family needs.

Life in the jungle of Costa Rica could not be more different than their English home, but, despite that, her parents’ melancholy continues – her mum spending her day reading and sleeping in a hammock and her dad unable to see the colours around him and confining himself to using black, regardless of the best efforts of Tickle, the capuchin monkey.  Silver finds a friend in Rafi, the son of the sanctuary’s overseer and who goes nowhere without Speedy, the baby sloth, draped around his neck.  Rafi recruits her to his secret one-man TAPS – the Turtle Agency Protection Society – that has its headquarters high in a treehouse – and Silver and the reader begin to learn about the turtles of the seas and the dangers they face, especially the eggs they lay in the sands on the beach. While all are endangered and in danger, it is the leatherback that hasn’t been on the beach for two years that is of the most concern, so when Silver sees one crawl up the beach and lay eggs, not only does she feel a special connection with the mother, but it sets off a train of events that others have described as Gold’s best story ever.

From her first novel, The Last Bear,  its sequel, Finding Bear, and The Lost Whale, Gold has become synonymous with offering stories for young independent readers that shine a spotlight on some of the world’s most endearing and endangered species, entertaining and educating at the same time. But this one is a little different because, although its lead character is again somewhat lost and alone because of parents not available physically or emotionally, Gold has drawn on her own experience of not being able to have children to show that even if your life doesn’t follow the path you expect, there are other pathways you can take.  Thus, Silver’s parents play a more prominent role in this story than its predecessors, but nevertheless, in all four, there is a strong theme of the humans learning as much about themselves as they do about the creature that is their focus, and offering the reader pause for reflection.  

Offer me a book with Hannah Gold’s name on the cover and it’s straight to the top of the TBR pile – and this one proved its promise. 

Our World Full of Wonder

Nov8
Our World Full of Wonder

Our World Full of Wonder

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our World Full of Wonder

Jevita Nilson

Jess Racklyeft

CSIRO Publishing, 2024

32pp., hbk., RRP $A24.99

9781486318155

Floating in space, our world seems just a sphere of blue and green, but when you explore it, you discover there is a place where the night sky is a ballet of light; there is a place where an everlasting storm electrifies the sky; there is a place where a forest of stone creates an eerie shadow..

Our world is, indeed, full of amazing natural wonders and in this new release for younger independent readers, they are taken on a journey to just a dozen of them through the lyrical text and vibrant, come-hither illustrations.  Some like the “multi-coloured maze” where ocean creatures roam may be familiar but most will be unknown and as mysterious as their descriptions imply. Luckily, at the end there is a map and an explanation of where the journey has taken us from the North Pole (Aurora borealis,) to Australia (The Great Barrier Reef}, China (The Rainbow Mountains), Iceland (Reynisfiara Beach), back to Australia and Lake Hillier, the USA into the Sequoia National Park and half a dozen other natural phenomena, each inspiring the reader to know more and discover more about the landscapes and the landshapes of this planet. While teachers’ notes suggest ways to use the book in the classroom, it opens up all sorts of possibilities to research those places already identified or to add some extra pages of other features such as the dazzling blue flames that stream down mountains, the rainbow trees in a forest of green, or even the mud pools that boil like huge puddles of porridge, delving in to all sorts of science, geography, and history.

This is another awe-inspiring publication from CSIRO Publishing that encourages our young people to know more about their planet so they are more likely to protect and preserve it and it will be joined by a companion  Our World of Wild Wonders in early 2025 that has a focus on the creatures that inhabit it. 

Giinagay Juluum, Hello Mountains

Nov2
Giinagay Juluum, Hello Mountains

Giinagay Juluum, Hello Mountains

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Giinagay Juluum, Hello Mountains

Melissa Greenwood

ABC Books, 2024

24pp., hbk., RRP $A24.99

9780733343025

The juluum (mountain) watches over us as we walk proudly on Country.
Me, Jinda, Miimi and Gami take note of all the subtle changes in nature
as we walk up, up the rocky path towards the peaks…

As the mountains and their ancestors watch over them, the family under the guidance of Aunty make their way through the oft-trodden pathways to the mountain peaks for the corroboree acknowledging and respecting the land and it inhabitants  as they go.  It is Spring and there is fresh, green growth on the trees (jaliigirrin). birds are singing, and the bandicoots (duura), kangaroos (nunguu), koalas (dunggiirr),  snakes (dungguuny) and goannas (wirriiga) are calling, moving and mating while the bindarray (river) rises and falls with the snow melt, threading through the land connecting everything and bringing life to all.

And as they walk barefoot through the landscape, the children learn its stories, how it was made and how to walk it respectfully and pay homage to those who have gone before and those who will come after.

Much as I love the ocean and its endless motion soothes my soul, my home now is in Australia’s mountains, and, while so different from the mountains of my homeland in the south of New Zealand’s South Island, there is nothing quite like the silence, solitude  and  size of this land, such as is spread before me as I write this.  I can see much of what is described in the story – all except the river although the Murrumbidgee is only 200 metres at the bottom of the valley – and while we are not blessed with duura or dunggiirr we do have kangaroos, wallabies, possums, echidnas, wombats aplenty and the most amazing parade of native birdlife.  For now it is the season of the crimson rosella and the magpie, but soon it will be the cockatoos, galahs, gang gangs and kookaburras as the new Spring growth turns to flowers and seeds as the warmth spreads.  

So while Giinagay Gaagal, Hello Ocean took me back to my roots of growing up on the seashore of Bluff, this one brings me into the here and now revitalising the senses that drew me here originally. 

As with its predecessor, the text is woven together by stunning artwork that tells its own story and the full text is included in both English and Gumbaynggir in the final pages, adding to the resources for preserving and revitalising First Nations languages.  But most significantly, as again they thank the land for its protection and it awaits their return, there is that inner feeling of being in the moment, taking note of surroundings and what is going on in them, seeing through eyes not a camera lens and being connected that gives meaning to the now-familiar Acknowledgement of Country so that it more than a collection of words, encouraging readers to see with new eyes and listen with new ears.   

Willow’s Gumboots

Oct30
Willow's Gumboots

Willow’s Gumboots

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Willow’s Gumboots

Beverley McWilliams

Hélène Magisson

Midnightsun, 2024

32pp., hbk., RRP $A29.99

9781922858535

Willow’s gumboots are pink with green spots and she loves them!  No matter where she went, she wore them – the garden, the beach, parties… And how special they looked when she flashed them up with green ribbons.  No one had shoes like hers.  But then one day she discovered they were worn out – right through to holes and now, instead of keeping the dirt and the sand and the prickly grass out, they let them in.

So her beautiful boots were hidden under her bed all through the cold winter when all she had to wear were plain sneakers, not nearly as joyful as pink gumboots!  But as Spring came and her mum was out in the garden again at last, Willow has an idea – and her beautiful gumboots are back on show again!

So many children often have a favourite piece of clothing that they hang on to well after its first useful life is over, but that doesn’t mean it can’t have a second life as something else.  Willow’s idea to upcycle her boots means they will go on for a lot longer, and the author has provided some ideas for upcycling so others can follow Willow’s example.  There are even instructions for making gumboot plant pots just like Willow’s – imagine a garden of gumboots along the school wall as we encourage our students to do the same as they plant and nurture seeds as part of the science program.  Teachers’ notes are available but the children’s imaginations will probably suggest so many ways they can upcycle favourite things so they last a bit longer.  Who knows how many will begin a lifelong habit. 

Taronga Big Book of Animals

Oct29
Taronga Big Book of Animals

Taronga Big Book of Animals

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Taronga Big Book of Animals

Taronga Conservation Society Australia

Penguin, 2024

256pp., hbk., RRP $A39.99

9781761347467

The inhabitants of our natural world have always fascinated young people, but never before has their existence been such a focus as they battle human intrusion on their lives, to the extent that some believe that in addition to the five catastrophic events such as the Ice Age and the asteroid which wiped out the dinosaurs 65 million years ago, there will be a sixth and it will be entirely due to human choices, decisions and actions. 

Currently there are over 8 000 000 animal species that share this one planet with humans, and the authors of this book, the Taronga Conservation Society Australia a not-for-profit organisation whose vision is to secure a shared future for wildlife and people, want to encourage our young readers to continue to be curious about them and continue to learn more so their new knowledge and understanding leads to greater care and protection. 

Especially designed to be accessible to young readers, the book is divided into the eight key habitats of the world – rainforests, rivers and lakes, deserts, grasslands, oceans and coastlines, mountains, forest and scrublands and polar regions – and then each section is packed with information and surprising facts about some of the creatures to be found there.  For example, I first learned about pangolins from a Kindy kid whose fascination for them meant he became an early reader, but now I know they are the only mammals that have scales and, when threatened, they curl up much as an echidna does to protect their bare belly.  They are also the most trafficked wild mammal, and that the illegal wildlife trade is the second biggest cause of global species loss. 

I’ve also learned that of all the kangaroo, wombat, wallaby, possum and other poo that we regularly have to pick up (or watch where we tread), that that which is glittery belongs to the occasional echidna that visits and makes itself comfortable in the pot plants.

While credit is rightfully given to the individual authors and the four artists whose illustrations are remarkable, special credit goes to the designer Astred Hicks who has drawn such a diverse manuscript together into something that is so accessible to and fascinating for our younger readers.  As well as being one of those big, thick, heavy books that young boys, particularly, like to tote around to show off their reading prowess (even if their ambition outweighs their abilities) it has the potential to actually engage them with the contents, such is its appeal.  

It is also a perfect companion to those who are enjoying the new Taronga Presents,,, series so they can take their interest and broaden their horizons beyond those stories, and for those who are keenly interested, there is also the television series Taronga: Who’s Who in the Zoo 

An outstanding contribution to student knowledge and a stand-out among the many books about animals.  

Tardigrades: Nature’s Toughest Survivors

Oct22
Tardigrades: Nature's Toughest Survivors

Tardigrades: Nature’s Toughest Survivors

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tardigrades: Nature’s Toughest Survivors

Anne Morgan

Jennifer Faulkner

CSIRO Publishing, 2024

32pp., hbk., RRP $A24.99

9781486316052

Questions about these creatures pop up in trivia games and quiz shows all the time – particularly about their space adventures – so  imagine if you’re the little person who can be first to shout out the answer because you have read this new book from CSIRO Publishing. 

Such tiny little creatures that scientists need a microscope to see them, yet common enough they could be living on the moss, in the leaf litter, on tree trunks, even in the sand or in other damp places nearby.  Creatures so tough they outlasted the dinosaurs but so fascinating that already much is known about them, and much of that has been encapsulated not just in the text but in the remarkable drawings that must have involved many hours of peering through a microscope to create. 

This is one for your young readers who are fascinated by those that they share the planet with and there are teachers’ notes to help them delve deeper.  

Remember the name – it could win you your next trivia comp!

The Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Extinct Animals

Oct18
The Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Extinct Animals

The Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Extinct Animals

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Extinct Animals

Sami Bayly

Lothian Children’s, 2024

130pp., hbk., RRP $A39.99

9780734421395

From the introduction…

Extinction is not an unusual phenomenon. In fact, 99 per cent of species that heave ever roamed the earth are now extinct. Most prehistoric animals no longer exist because of five mass extinction events that happened over a 540-million-year period. Research continues to this day to discover the exact conditions that the the Big 5 but each one was the result of catastrophic events like cooling climate, volcanic eruptions or, in the case of dinosaur extinction, an asteroid colliding with the planet 65 million years ago. 

Today , the rate at which species are becoming extinct is thought to be 1000 to 10 000 times higher than the natural extinction rate. Hunting, overfishing, habitat destruction , pollution, climate change and the introduction of invasive species are all modern causes of extinction. If we aren’t careful, the sixth mass extinction event will be the result of human choices and actions…

Sadly, words like ‘extinction’, ‘endangered’, ‘sustainability’, ‘climate change’ are all part of the vocabulary of even our younger students these days, and learning about the destruction of the environment and the need to protect the planet are an integral part of the classroom curriculum as much as literacy and maths.  Thirty years ago I was asked to write a series of teaching units focused on sustainability and based on children’s stories for a national curriculum body, and while we were able to identify a sufficient number eventually, it was not an easy task.  Today almost every other book has an environmental message of some sort.

Nevertheless, children have always  been fascinated by those creatures that are extinct, creatures that they are not ever going to see again in their lifetime (unless the science and ethics of cloning are resolved) and in this new release from award winning, natural-history illustrator Sami Bayly , they can discover so much information about 60 of the natural world’s 45 300 extinct and critically endangered animals  whether that be something familiar like the African Forest Elephant which is classified as critically endangered on the IUCN Red List, something long-gone like the quinkana, a large land-dwelling crocodile, or something close to home like the southern corroboree frog, also critically endangered. Each has its own double-page spread with a full=page full-colour illustration as well as data and details about their appearance, diet, status, habitat and other ‘fun facts’.

A peek inside...

A peek inside…

At a time when there is a belief that “everything is available on the internet”; our children have greater access and connectivity than ever before; and some schools are dismantling their non fiction collections, it can be unusual for students to make more than a general inquiry for “books about…”  But when you discover them seeking out a particular author and requesting “anything new from Sami Bayly” in the way they would ask for something by Anh Do or another favourite fiction author, then you realise that not only do they have a deep and abiding interest in the world around them- testament to the efficacy of the curriculum –  but they know whose work is accurate, current, reliable and accessible. 

Read any bio of Sami Bayly and it is littered with awards she has won for her work, and my prediction is that this is another that will be attracting great attention.

 

Fabulous Frogs

Oct8
Fabulous Frogs

Fabulous Frogs

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fabulous Frogs

Katrina Germein

Suzanne Houghton

CSIRO Publishing, 2024

32pp., hbk., RRP $A24.99

9781486317875

It’s that time of the year when, if you’re lucky, you can step outside at dusk and hear a chorus of frogs calling to each other as they not only seek a mate but also signal, that by their presence, the local environment is happy and in harmony.

But just which frog is it that is making the noise? Because, depending on where you live, it could be any one of 240 types of frogs that call Australia home.

Australian frogs live in many terrains, from tall frost mountains (Alpine tree frog)

To dry dusty plains. (Crucifix frog)

Some live in trees and some live in sand (Green tree frog)

Some live in swamps or under the land (Striped marsh frog)…

As well as all the information about frogs that we expect to find in a book for young readers, this is unique because its focus is those that are native to this continent and while we learn about eggs and tadpoles, it is the unusual features that are highlighted such as the tadpoles where I live take 13 months to emerge as frogs, and that some complete the transformation in the pouches of their father rather than in water; while other are on the ground in the care of their dad until the rains come…

Written in rhyme that has been perfectly crafted to convey so much information in language that its intended audience can understand, and illustrations that are so lifelike they hop off the page,   this  is another outstanding collaboration between author and artist that shines a spotlight on these creatures that are so critical to the environment but face many threats such as the critically endangered corroboree frog.  Thus the more in-depth notes about frogs generally in the back matter, the glossary, the instructions for creating  a frog-friendly garden and the endpapers which have portraits of 18 species are all an essential part of the whole to help develop understanding and awareness, protection and preservation.

When it comes to teaching younger students about life cycles, frogs would be the go-to topic and there are many books that have the species as their focus, but for its spotlight on Australia’s varieties and its outstanding illustrations, this is a must-have addition to the collection. 

Djinang Bonar: Seeing Seasons

Sep11
Djinang Bonar: Seeing Seasons

Djinang Bonar: Seeing Seasons

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Djinang Bonar: Seeing Seasons

Ebony Froome

Leanne Zilm

Fremantle Press, 2024

32pp., hbk., RRP $A24.99

9781760994211

In some parts of Australia, the yellow of wattles and daffodils, fierce winds and can’t-make-up-their-mind temperatures are heralding Spring, one of four distinct seasons that our littlies learn about.  In other parts, the heat and humidity are starting to build as the monotonous dry season ends and the Wet comes in with its tumultuous times: and in others First Nations peoples are seeing other signs as they move through their traditional cycles.  For the Noongar in south-west region of Western Australia, this is the time of Djilba, the season of conception when the “koolbardi is swooping to protect his nest, when the dark emu is high in the kedalak sky, when the balgga stems emerge tall and strong, when the yonga and the koomool carry their babies.”

For generations, so many children have been taught that during this planet’s annual journey around the sun, we experience just four seasons – Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter – but now perspectives are widening and beautiful books like this show that different peoples in different places have entirely different timeframes and different names for the patterns of Nature and its phenomena.  For those on Noongar boodja there are six seasons, each with its own distinct signs and times…

  • Birak—season of the young. First summer: December-January. …
  • Bunuru—season of adolescence. Second summer: February-March. …
  • Djeran—season of adulthood. Autumn: April-May. …
  • Makuru—season of fertility. Winter: June-July. …
  • Djilba—season of conception. First spring: August-September. …
  • Kambarang—season of birth.

Written in a mix of English and Noongar but with indigenous words easily distinguishable by looking at the beautiful illustrations (with a glossary for clarification), the reader is taken on a journey through the calendar that, unlike the “English” version which has changes in weather at its heart. focuses on the subtle but significant changes that happen in the life of the local flora and fauna and form the patterns and cycles of life.

But even children on the East Coast, or those for whom Noongar is not their first language can appreciate the beauty and value of this book because it encourages them to look beyond those most obvious signs of change (many of which involve introduced species anyway) and examine the changes in the original, natural environment, and, indeed, their connections and interdependence.  “On Noongar boodja, we know the season is Kambarang when… the kaaril [blue swimmer crab]  is spawning and it’s best not take them.”  It could also inspire an investigation into the indigenous weather knowledge of their own country  as they not only learn to appreciate the knowledge that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have developed over thousands and thousands of years, but also better understand that connection to Country that is at the heart of their culture.

Purinina

Sep10
Purinina

Purinina

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Purinina

Christina Booth

CSIRO Publishing, 2024

32pp., hbk., RRP $A24.99

9781486317264

“At the bottom of the world, on the edge of an island, through a deep valley lined with pine trees that point to the sky, deep in the darkest corner of a warm , dry cave…” So begins the story and the life of one of Australia’s most iconic creatures – Purinina, the Tasmanian Devil.

Nurtured by her mother as she grows from being a jelly-bean sized baby attached to a nipple in her mother’ pouch, to being a mother herself, young readers can follow this new, revamped version of the 2007 classic that captivated so many.  Life is not easy for Purinina ( the official indigenous name for the species) particularly as her mother dies before she and her brothers are independent, and there are strange things to learn as she grows up such as the nature of the “tree that walks, with a light for an eye” who lifts her dead mother and carries her away.

As iconic and integral to the story of Tasmania as the Tasmanian Tiger, the misnamed Devil sits in an elite group of creatures unique to this continent, sadly on the IUCN Redlist  of endangered species because as well as the usual threats of loss of habitat and other human impacts, it is plagued by Devil Facial Tumour Disease (DFTD) and so this beautifully told story with its informative back matter is an important addition to the small but growing collection that raises awareness of this species and its vulnerability. Teamed with titles like Tasmanian Devil by Claire Saxby from the Nature Storybooks series, and Devils in Danger, a novel by Samantha Wheeler, it could form the basis of any investigation into some of our not-so-prominent fauna as well as demonstrating how humans are now actively seeking to undo the harm that has been inflicted on our wildlife over time, which, in itself, can offer students hope that the planet is not doomed as they are consistently told.  Teachers’ notes are available to assist a deeper study.

When this was first released in 2007, it became a CBCA Notable and given the increase in awareness and activity in environmental preservation,  it has the potential to do so again.