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Protecting the Planet: Ice Journey of the Polar Bear

Protecting the Planet: Ice Journey of the Polar Bear

Protecting the Planet: Ice Journey of the Polar Bear

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Protecting the Planet: Ice Journey of the Polar Bear

Martin Jenkins

Lou Baker-Smith

Walker Books, 2023

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

9781529505801

High in the Arctic regions, it snowed last night – the first fall of the season and more is on its way. As the days get shorter, and the nights longer, for this polar bear, this is a sign it’s time to make a den, a safe place to sleep through the harsh winter and to give birth to her cubs. But she has a long journey to make to find the right spot to make her safe haven, and eat enough to sustain her for the months ahead as she sleeps through the wild weather,  

But the Arctic is changing; familiar landscapes are melting. What kind of world will her cubs grow up in? 

The plight of polar bears as the Arctic ice shrinks as climate change takes hold is becoming more well-known, and readers  will feel for the mother bear who only wants a safe future for her babies. The narrative is in accessible, direct text telling the mother’s story without a lot of extra detail but these are included in the dramatic illustrations which portray a harsh world , where surely only the strongest can survive – but with less and less of what they need, what is the future for the cubs?

Part of the Protecting the Planet series which includes Emperor of the Ice and The Season of the Giraffes, its narrative non fiction format which focuses on a particular animal rather than the species will appeal to younger readers, while those who are independent readers may want to extend their knowledge through Hannah Gold’s The Last Bear and Finding Bear  

As yet, there are only three in this series although with so many creatures who could be candidates there is scope for many more, but as each includes notes about what climate change is and how even small changes in what we do can make a difference, it is a valuable series to add to the collection as we try to protect and preserve the planet.  

 

Creature Corridors

Creature Corridors

Creature Corridors

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Creature Corridors

Billie Rooney

Anke Noack

CSIRO Publishing, 2025

32pp., hbk., RRP $A26.99

9781486318100 

Crawling, hopping, climbing or flying, wild creatures are on the move.  They search rivers and bush for food and water, places to breed and spaces to stay..”

Sadly, you don’t have to drive too far out of the city limits to see the impact of human-made buildings, streets, highways, and other structures on our wildlife as their carcasses litter the roadsides in a vain attempt to get where they needed to go. Where once they roamed freely and unimpeded,  they now find blocked with both food and shelter more difficult to find.  So it’s not only cars and trucks taking their toll but also starvation and the lack of places to breed and have babies safely.

A peek inside...

A peek inside…

But there is hope, and it’s shown in the beautifully illustrated new release as the reader follows kangaroos, koalas, birds, fish, crabs, cassowaries and lizards through wildlife corridors that exist across forests, rivers and seas. Whether it’s a stream left undammed for the platypus or a tunnel created under the highway for kangaroos, or even a special netted bridge for the crabs of Christmas Island, there are all sorts of devices that can be a corridor to safety and survival. And while some of those shown are elaborate structures created by those with the power, skills and dollars, there are still things young readers can do to create safe havens in their own backyard. Whether that’s not disturbing the leaf litter and fallen branches where who-knows-what is hiding, or leaving the shells and rocks in the rockpool, putting a shallow bird bath or old plant pot in the garden, encouraging parents to plant a variety of shrubs and flowers, or maybe building a bee motel or a frog hotel in the school grounds, each can contribute to resetting the world that has been disturbed as well as growing their own knowledge and appreciation of the world around them.

CSIRO Publishing has an outstanding record of bringing the wider world into the realm of young readers, and this is another wonderful addition to that collection.  But, IMO, their value lies not just in increasing knowledge and awareness but in the way the final pages always add extra information that shows the child that they CAN do something, that the world is not all gloom and doom, and they can arm themselves with the power to make a difference, however small that might seem.  In a world where anxiety levels in children are increasing to the extent that 7% of Australian children will receive such a diagnosis each year, connecting them to their natural world and enabling them to contribute to it through works like this, has to be a positive step.

 

 

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. 

Elvis the Crocodile

Elvis the Crocodile

Elvis the Crocodile

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Elvis the Crocodile

Aussie Ark

Woodslane, 2023

32pp., pbk., RRP $A14.99

9781922800152

When many people hear the name “Elvis” they associate it with Elvis Presley, the American singer who revolutionised the modern music industry in the 50s and 60s, but for others it refers to a very cranky crocodile.  Because he was scaring people in Darwin Harbour, he was captured and sent to The Australian Reptile Park   on the NSW Central Coast.

Now 59 years old – they can live for 70 years in the wild or even 100 in captivity – and measuring just under 5 metres, he is one of the park’s most popular attractions and this book for young readers not only describes his life there but also provides lots of other information about the species.  Abundantly illustrated with photos, simple accessible text that has keywords in bold so the young reader can find their meaning in the glossary, this is part of a series that features creatures that have been rescued from the wild and are now resident at the park, including – George Wombat (book 1), Elvis Crocodile (book 2), Elsa Koala (book 3), andKraken the Komodo Dragon (book 4) with proceeds going to support the work of Aussie Ark, a charity that supports endangered Australian wildlife..  

Because many students may well have seen Elvis for themselves, or live with saltwater crocs as part of their natural environment, this is one that they will appreciate having access to so they can learn more about these creatures that appear to be direct descendants of the dinosaurs. 

 

Wave Atlas

Wave Atlas

Wave Atlas

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wave Atlas

Sarah Zambello

Suzy Zanella

Thames & Hudson, 2025

80pp., hbk., RRP $A34.99

9781760764524

Many students (and staff) are returning to school having spent a relaxing break at the beach, and whether they have spent their time ducking and diving in the waves, marvelling at their force as they crash on beaches and rocks, or just gazing out to sea imagining and dreaming as they listen to gentle swells whisper their stories, each will have had their time influenced by the incessant coming and going of what seems to be the planet’s heartbeat.

But why does the sea move all the time? Where do the waves come from and why are some huge and threatening, while other gentle and toe-tickling?  Is there a way to identify them and predict what’s coming? What stories can the sea’s language tell and inspire?

Answering these sorts of questions has been the focus of many scientists for decades, and in this new release, a companion to Cloud Atlas, both author and illustrator have tried to put the complex theories into language and pictures that bring them into the realm of young, independent readers who want to know more about what they have seen and experienced.

Beginning with theories about how oceans are formed, including the discovery of zircon crystals in Western Australia.  the reader is taken on an intriguing and fascinating journey that explores everything from the water cycle, currents, tides, and waves and then narrows down its focus to the Douglas Sea Scale that measures the height of the waves and the swell of the sea, based on the wind because its inventor Henry Percy Douglas, Director of the [British] Naval Meteorological Service, knew that in order to understand the sea you needed to measure the wind. Thus, in 1921, using his knowledge of the Beaufort wind scale, he developed 10-point systems for both wave height and sea swell,  used to forecast sea conditions and they are the focus of the main part of this book with each category explained and dramatically illustrated.

More advanced and more technical than Who makes an Ocean?this is the perfect resource to answer questions that might extend from that, as well as being ideal for those who live near the sea and observe its changing moods daily so they can begin to make their own predictions and venture out safely. 

Being one who was brought up literally a stone’s throw from the ocean, at the southernmost tip of New Zealand’s South Island where the next stop was, literally, Antarctica, one of my favourite lessons to do with older children was to introduce them to Robert Southey’s The Inchcape  Rocka poem which begins…

No stir in the air, no stir in the sea,
The Ship was still as she could be;
Her sails from heaven received no motion,
Her keel was steady in the ocean…

And it seems like the perfect introduction to marry the fiction of the poem and the fact of this book and bring a whole new world of wonder to another group of students!!!

Queen of my childhood kingdom - no wonder this book resonated with me!

Queen of my childhood kingdom – no wonder this book resonated with me!

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.

 

 

Turtle Bubbles

Turtle Bubbles

Turtle Bubbles

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Turtle Bubbles

Diane Schaffer

Georgina Hart

Little Steps, 2024

32pp., pbk., RRP $A16.95

97811922833068

Along the river, the creatures are waking up to a new day.  Business as usual really, until Frog spots Mrs Turtle blowing bubbles out her bum!

Written in rhyme with eye-catching illustrations for younger readers, this is a light-hearted revelation that many species of turtles like the punk turtle of the Mary River in Queensland,  breathe through their cloaca enabling them to stay underwater much longer, not only to search for food but to keep safe from predators.  

A peek inside...

A peek inside…

While it is bound to evoke giggles, nevertheless it can lead those readers to other stories  as it is another in a growing collection which includes not only Poppy’s story but also The Turtle and the Flood, Yoshi and the Ocean. and Turtle Moon (for independent readers) that helps young readers understand more about these intriguing creatures and thus, book their own adventure using stories to grow their knowledge.  It might even lead to an exploration of other adaptations that the natural world makes to stay safe and survive. 

 

 

The Mightiest Bite

The Mightiest Bite

The Mightiest Bite

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Mightiest Bite

Howard Calvert

Mike Moran

Andersen Press, 2024

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

9781839131745

As a little girl munches on an apple, she thinks she must have the mightiest bite. Suddenly, along comes a parade of animals to compete for the title, including a shark with its 300 teeth in rows, and a t-rex with 60 huge bone-crunchers, each set to show that their bite is even mightier than all the others.  

But even the mighty hippopotamus with teeth and a bite that can sever a human body in half is no match for the twist in the end of this absorbing competition, and then the final twist is the best of all.

Young readers love stories about the animal kingdom, particularly those that teach them unusual and unlikely facts that they can drop into the conversation around the dinner table and this one fills the bill,  With bright illustrations that give the animals life and personality this is a game of one-upmanship that not only engages but educates, although it is a little disappointing that our own Tasmanian Devil which has the strongest bite of all mammalian carnivores in relation to its body mass, did not get a mention.  Nevertheless, I completely agree with the winner of the competition – ask me how I know!!!!