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Protecting the Planet: The Season of Giraffes

Protecting the Planet: The Season of Giraffes

Protecting the Planet: The Season of Giraffes

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Protecting the Planet: The Season of Giraffes

Nicola Davies

Emily Sutton

Walker Books, 2022

32pp., hbk., RRP $A27.99

9781406397093

Once upon a time, the rainy season was also the season of giraffes.  As the hot , dry land turned from red to green and the Earth began to breathe again, the giraffes came, their heads appearing in the tops of the acacia trees and they not only fed themselves but helped to spread the trees’ seeds and pollen so there were more trees to give shade, shelter and firewood. The giraffes were just part of the landscape.

But then the giraffes didn’t come… they were seen as food, the trees were used as firewood and the empty landscape where they had once walked, was filled with farms and roads and buildings.  Human impact took its toll, and then the rains failed. Climate change brought drought which baked the land and there was nothing for the giraffes to come for.  As silently as they had come, they also disappeared. Until…

Written in collaboration with conservationist Kisilu Musya to explain how one of the world’s best-loved animals has dealt with the challenges of climate change, this is the success story of the giraffes in Niger as people realised the impact their actions had and they changed their ways – they stopped hunting, they protected the trees and the places the giraffes liked to be, until there were so many they were able to share them with other places where they had vanished.

Amidst all the negative gloom-and-doom warning stairs of the impact of humans on the natural world, this is a beacon based on a true story that shows that effective changes can be made.

In the mid-1990s there were only 49 West African giraffe left in the wild, and as a result, the subspecies was listed as ‘Endangered’ on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species in 2008.

Comprehensive conservation efforts by the Government of Niger, in collaboration with local and international partners, have triggered an amazing recovery of the West African giraffe population to over 600 individuals today. This positive trend resulted in the downlisting of West African giraffe to ‘Vulnerable’ on the IUCN Red List last month (November 2018).

West African giraffe return to Gadabedji after 50 years of absence

Part of the Protecting the Planet series, which includes Ice Journey of the Polar Bear and Emperor of the Ice,  which show younger readers the impact of human activity on Nature’s creatures, this is not only an uplifting story but also one that may encourage them to learn more about these majestic creatures.

 

What’s That? Australian Frogs, Toads & Newts

What's That? Australian Frogs, Toads & Newts

What’s That? Australian Frogs, Toads & Newts

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What’s That? Australian Frogs, Toads & Newts

Myke Mollard

Woodslane Press, 2024

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

9781922800640

Australia has 240 unique species of frog that are found nowhere else in the world, but they are very sensitive to environmental change and more than 26 frog species are currently listed as endangered or vulnerable to extinction before 2040. 

In this new addition to the new What’s That? series which includes books about Australian  Reptiles, Birds and Mammalsyoung readers are introduced to some of those unique species, then the focus narrows to some that are critically endangered and then the two introduced, invasive species, the smooth newt and cane toads. 

With an appealing layout that includes meticulously drawn illustrations that includes a map of its distribution, each species is introduced with an intriguing question such as “What’s that tiny poisonous frog that sure packs a punch in the wardrobe department?” The illustrations are then surrounded by byte-sized facts in speech bubble format that make both the text and its information accessible to young, independent readers.  

A peek inside...

A peek inside…

This is one in a growing collection of books which includes The Frog Book – Nature’s Alarm Fabulous Frogs,  and Ella and the Amazing Frog Orchestra, that is highlighting both  the importance and vulnerability  of these creatures –  – so that our young students are developing an awareness of the need for their preservation, just as they have with bees.  Once the centrepiece of any classroom nature table, especially  in ‘tadpole season’ when frog spawn were taken carelessly from their natural habitat and shoved into fishbowls for curious eyes to watch and wonder, now we are encouraged to leave them where they are, and even build frog hotels to promote their survival.  

Create a frog hotel.

Create a frog hotel.

It is also one that demonstrates the need to have a robust, print-based non fiction collection because it is deliberately targeted at a younger audience who want their questions answered on the spot,  with information they can understand, absorb and explore further if they choose.  (In this case, the Australian Museum has fact sheets available at a similar level of understanding.) 

The CBCA 2025 Book Week theme is “Book an Adventure”, and this one could certainly be a starting point for that as students not only explore the 597.8 collection of the library, but, as they learn more, start their own journey into discovering and preserving these barometers of nature. 

Caution! This Book Contains Deadly Reptiles

Caution! This Book Contains Deadly Reptiles

Caution! This Book Contains Deadly Reptiles

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Caution! This Book Contains Deadly Reptiles

Corey Tutt

Ben Williams

A & U Children, 2025

140pp., hbk., RRP $A32.99

9781761181030

There is an old adage that says, “Never judge a book by its cover” and it certainly applies to this one for, at first glance, it would appear to be yet another one about the deadly and dangerous reptiles that inhabit the planet. 

But if you look more closely you will see the words, “from the author of The First Scientists” and you realise that the word “deadly” is used in its Aboriginal context of meaning ‘excellent’, ‘fabulous’ or ‘awesome’ and so, instead of having just another addition to your 597.9 collection, you have something new and unique.  For this is an examination of the reptiles that inhabit Australia, arranged by the Country on which they are found while celebrating their original indigenous names so that the links back to thousands of years of knowledge are strengthened.

Beginning with an intro from the author about the why, what and how of the book (which has been a childhood dream), it continues with general information about turtles, lizards, crocodiles and snakes especially their importance to the ecosystems and the threats they face as well as how the individual can help, and then, using the AIATSIS map of Indigenous Australia as a guide, the various reptiles of 20 of the First Nations are featured individually.  Each Country is itself given a brief introduction including a map of its location within the continent and the predominant language.

Accessible text and colourful illustrations offer an insight into favourite feeds, breeding and babies, conservation, predators and prey, and most importantly, what makes that reptile deadly (in a good way) as well as  descriptions of the landscapes where each can be found, and threaded through it all is the author’s passion for the topic. 

This is so much more than an information book about the reptiles of Australia, and, IMO, is an essential addition to the library’s collection for many more reasons than its factual content. 

Every Rock Has A Story

Every Rock Has A Story

Every Rock Has A Story

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Every Rock Has A Story: An A to Z of Australian Geology

Kitty van Cuylenburg

Cher Hart

CSIRO Publishing, 2025

64pp., hbk., RRP $A32.99

9781486316731

Drive a short way out of the city, any city or town, and it’s not long before you see rocks pushing their way out of the ground, remnants of some ancient hill or mountain.  Or head to the coast and watch the waves pound against the rocks, scurry into some hidden cave and emerge again in a plume of spray.  Perhaps you have been to Uluru, the distinctive monolith that seems to rise from nowhere in Central Australia, or maybe the limestone stacks on Victoria’s southern coast known as the Twelve Apostles .

 

Whichever landscape or landshape has caught your eye, it is hard not to wonder at the how and the what of each.  

So this new book from CSIRO Publishing is the ideal introduction to the land beneath our feet (or in front of us), the Country we walk on as it is a comprehensive A-Z of the rocks of this ancient land, their formation and timeline, the factors that make and shape them and some of those that aren’t as familiar. 

For independent readers who want information and explanation rather than just fun facts, but offered in a way that they can relate to,  this is a journey through Australia’s geological wonders with illustrations, diagrams and maps that not only spans the continent but also the 4.4 billion years of the planet’s history with the final entry being about the tiny zircon fragment found in Western Australia in 2001 and which radiometric dating showed to be “the oldest known mineral yet found on Earth – in one of the oldest existing pieces of the earth’s crust.”

While our students are becoming more and more aware of what’s around them and to observe this, giving them a basic understanding of what is beneath them through geology can only give them a deeper appreciation of not only the planet but also Country as it continually acknowledges Traditional Owners as being the first scientists and storytellers and request that their beliefs be respected, such as not taking boats though Ganbadba (the Horizontal Falls in remote WA) when the tide is running because the water is the Woonguss (creator snake) itself.

If you are beginning the new school year with an investigation into the ancient history of either the planer of this country, this is an important addition to that collection, but it is also an ideal companion for Rocks, Fossils and Formations, Giinagay Juluum, Hello Mountains, Our Country: Ancient Wonders,  and The Book of Stone, perhaps even Rockhopping.

 

 

Protecting the Planet: Emperor of the Ice

Protecting the Planet: Emperor of the Ice

Protecting the Planet: Emperor of the Ice

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Protecting the Planet: Emperor of the Ice

Nicola Davies

Catherine Rayner

Walker Books, 2024

32pp., pbk., RRP $A16.99

9781529514414

It’s April, and one of the most important months of the year for the Emperor penguins as the sun gets lower and lower in the sky, the temperatures drop and the sea ice starts to form and provide the platform for them to breed.  Smooth enough to walk and slide on, and low enough for the birds to be able to leap into the ocean, it lasts just long enough to be able to raise a chick and so, as the day shorten, satellites pick up long lines of these creatures – the largest and most majestic of all the penguin species – making their way to Halley Bay, Antarctica “like spidery writing across a blank page.”  There they will bond, mate and raise a solitary chick – but could this be the last time the rituals and routines happen?

In this beautifully illustrated book, we follow a sequence of events that has happened since time immemorial, but, as with so many creatures, climate change is having an impact even in this remote spot.  In fact, it is probably more noticeable in these extreme climates where more severe storms rage than ever before and the amount of sea ice is noticeably less. Since severe storms in September 2016 broke up the sea ice in Halley Bay, no Emperor penguins have bred there. And although satellites have been able to confirm that there are 61 breeding sites (compared to the known 36 before that imagery was available), showing that they have found alternatives, there are estimated to be only just over 250 000 breeding pairs and their changing habitat means fewer chicks are surviving to independence.  

Climate change, human impact on natural habitat, and the planet’s sustainability and preservation are now deeply embedded into the curriculum from the earliest years and even our youngest students have a growing awareness of its potential.  So books like these, which do more than explain what it is by showing its effect on creatures that they relate to, have an important role to play in helping them understand not only what is happening but start them thinking about what they can do to minimise their own footprint.

An ideal companion for the others in the series- The Season of Giraffes  and Ice Journey of the Polar Bear. 

Who Makes an Ocean?

Who Makes an Ocean?

Who Makes an Ocean?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Who Makes an Ocean?

Sally Nicholls

Carolina Rabei

Andersen Press, 2024

32oo., pbk., RRP $A16.99

9781839131318

Take a young child to the beach for the first time and they are almost certain to ask, “Who made the ocean?”  Could it have been an ancient god? A magic spell? A billion firefighters and all their hoses?

No. It was none of these, and in this fascinating book the young reader is taken through the journey of the Earth’s formation and how “it was worlds upon worlds of tiny creatures. It was good luck and bad luck and uncountable shifts and changes…”  Using a father and his children visiting the Sea Museum to connect the story, this makes a very accessible explanation to a complex question.  As well as the timeline thread, there are also pages that focus on ecosystems, the impact of humans and how we can protect them so the ocean and its inhabitants becomes as important as the land and its in our quest to protect and preserve the planet. 

Even for those who have different beliefs about the planet’s and life’s first beginnings, this is a must-have in the school library’s collection if we are to provide students with a variety of viewpoints, and adds to the collection of previously reviewed books that help explain  the origins of this planet and its inhabitants, as well as being a companion to Who Makes a Forest?

Our Country: Ancient Wonders

BANG! The Story of How Life on Earth Began

Australian Backyard Naturalist 

Earth is Big

We are One: How the World Adds Up

Australian Backyard Explorer

The History of Everywhere

The Amazing Meals of Martha Maloney

A Hundred Thousand Welcomes

Atlas of Amazing Migrations

Ouch! Tales of Gravity

The Same But Different

Evolution

How We Came to Be: Surprising Sea Creatures

On the Origin of the Species

 

Costa’s Garden: Flowers

Costa's Garden: Flowers

Costa’s Garden: Flowers

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Costa’s Garden: Flowers

Costa Georgiadis

Brenna Quinlan

ABC Books, 2024

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

9780733343360

In days gone by, lessons about flowers focused on drawing diagrams, sometimes from real-life models, and labelling the parts with terms like petals, pistils, stamens, leaves and so on and that was pretty much it.

But did you know that flowers can be loudspeakers, billboards, memory-makers and even tell stories?

In the first of this new series of narrative non fiction picture books, gardening guru Costa Georgiadis invites young readers to put on their nature goggles and join him in his garden to take a closer look at the flowers that grow there.  But rather than a horticultural tome dumbed down for littlies and prettied up with pictures, it becomes an adventure as we wander through the flower patch and learn how flowers connect us to nature, and, indeed, nature to nature.

“They are a bit like a bum and undies.  They go together.”

As each page is turned and we are presented with stunning illustrations of actual flowers we learn about their critical role in maintaining both the balance in nature and human wellbeing as we learn how flowers engage our heart, head and hands. 

“I believe in gardening the soil as well as the soul.”

A peek inside...

A peek inside…

Over the past few years there have been a number of books for younger readers that have raised awareness about the importance of the local environment, and particularly, the critical predicament of the insects and minibeasts that live there as there habitat diminishes and thus their ability to carry out their vital function in Nature is threatened, and this has inspired many to plant gardens, even if that is just a flower box on a balcony.  But this is one of a few that actually examines what is being planted, how it grows, and its connections and contributions to big picture.  It encourages readers to see and feel the joy in nature, explore its wonders and marvel at how the tiniest things can have the most enormous impact. If the previous books haven’t inspired them to go outside and get their hands dirty, then this one does because who could resist not only being surrounded by the colour, smell and miracles of flowers but also doing something, even if it’s small, to make their world that bit more magical.

“With our nature goggles on, the more we look, the more we learn, the more we learn the more we understand…the more we understand the more prepared we are to act. And when we act, we fall more and more in love with nature.” 

Perhaps taking a troubled child for a walk through a flower-filled garden and then helping them create one of their own could be just the therapy they need.  

The Hullabaloo about Elephant Poo

The Hullabaloo about Elephant Poo

The Hullabaloo about Elephant Poo

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Hullabaloo about Elephant Poo

Dee White

Christopher Nielsen

HarperCollins, 2024

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

 9781460766194

There’s a hullabaloo about elephant poo —
what can you do with that beasty brew?
A hundred kilos daily from you-know-where.
That’s the same body weight as a panda bear!

Where I live, kangaroos are daily visitors and two old bucks, in particular, have made our house their home, obviously relishing the fresh green grass that we maintain as part of our fire management plan because we are surrounded by bushland. So, almost on a daily basis, Hubby has to get the pooper scooper out and collects a small bucketload each time, continually muttering about putting nappies on the culprits. 

Our resident roos

A couple of our resident roos

But having read the amazing facts about the amount of poo an elephant produces in this clever, funny rhyming book, I think he should be grateful that he is only having to deal with a couple of kangaroos!  Together, Dee White and Christopher Nielsen have created one of the most intriguing picture books that is not only going to appeal to many because its subject matter is one that fascinates young readers as anything about bodily functions does, but also demonstrates just what a valuable commodity such waste can be.  Who knew that a pile of poo could hold so much value and the uses it can be put to? From nuggets being ground into coffee, to making paper for books and even bricks for houses, its uses seem endless.

The fun in both the rhyme and the illustrations will engage readers endlessly, but the more serious undertones will also entice them to think about the use of poo from all sorts of creatures, including humans, perhaps investigating what happens when they, themselves, flush the loo. More mature readers might want to explore the meaning of the old adage of “One man’s trash is another’s treasure” while everyone will enjoy playing the very clever game that form the back endpages.  

Teachers’ notes that span a variety of activities from examining the rhyming structure to creating an advertisement to sell elephant poo to investigating the nature and purpose of narrative non fiction and, indeed, zoos themselves, exploit the value of this book in any library collection.  

 

Kind Little Hands

 Kind Little Hands

Kind Little Hands

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kind Little Hands

Kathy Urban

Sally Garland

Little Steps, 2024

32pp., pbk., RRP $A16.99

9781922678423

When a tired, hungry and lost little bee falls into Noah’s hands as he walks through the city with his grandfather, it is a chance encounter that becomes a learning journey for Noah.  His wise grandfather knows just how important bees are, and how to revive this one even though they live in an apartment.  Because while they might not have a garden, they do have a window box of flowers and it’s amazing how restorative a syrup of water and sugar can be.

As they wait for the bee to recover, Noah and his grandfather share books about bees so Noah learns more and more about the importance of these creatures as well as other insects. so that when the bee does eventually fly away, Noah’s efforts continue…

This is another story to add to the collection about bees and pollination so that our youngest readers are aware of the critical contribution bees make to the ecosystem, and with its suggestions of how they, themselves, can be pro-active and help in their protection and preservation.  

Frog Squad: Bungle in the Jungle

Frog Squad: Bungle in the Jungle

Frog Squad: Bungle in the Jungle

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Frog Squad: Bungle in the Jungle

Kate and Jol Temple

Shiloh Gordon

HarperCollins, 2024

144pp.,  pbk., RRP $A16.99

9781460764435

From their super-secret lily pad in the middle of the ocean, the Frog Squad is ready to leap into action whenever they get a distress call – “these frogs don’t just eat flies, they eat DANGER!”  And, in this episode, the second in the series, Captain Tony Rowley and his squad -Dr Jilly Gilly, Agent Quito Gonzalez, Sergeant Nelson Hewitt, and radio operator Roger Rogers must travel to Croakomo Island to face an angry swarm of stink bugs to find out who’s been stealing poisonous jungle plants. Could it be Professor Cain and The Organisation of Amphibious Devious Scoundrels (TOADS).

This is another in the growing collection of fast-paced, action-packed series for newly independent readers that have leap-to-it superheroes ready to fight any foe that threaten the peace, harmony and equilibrium of those who can’t defend themselves.  The enemy is usually led by an evil character with world-domination in mind and who is never quite vanquished, enabling there to be several stories in the series to capture young readers who put themselves on the side of the heroes, and keep them reading.  There is humour, usually based on puns, and almost a 50/50 split between text and graphics both of which carry the story forward at breakneck speed, as well as a more serious undertone of an emotional or environmental message that is delivered with a light touch.

 

This series, though, is told from the perspective of a reporter and camera crew of FrogFlix and so it interspersed with the narrator’s comments, brief explanations of who’s who, and even advertisements, as it mimics what the reader is used to seeing on a screen. While each story builds on the previous one and hints at the next, nevertheless they can still be read as a separate entity so that even those who may be reluctant readers can still feel satisfied that there has been a resolution to the immediate problem.  

Ten years from now this might not be a series that sticks in the mind of the reader, but it could be the turning point that makes them into dedicated readers as it bridges that gap between screen and print in a unique way.