kookaburras. australian animals

Santa's Aussie Mix-Up, by Colin Buchanan & Simon Swingler

Santa is in desperate need of help to get the Christmas presents delivered on time. All the Aussie animals want to help, but in the end Santa chooses Kangaroo and Emu. Thus begins the biggest Christmas mix-up ever, with the wrong presents delivered far and wide. Santa’s Aussie Mix-up is a humorous song and picture book which youngsters will love…

‘Australians all I need your help,’ said Santa Claus one day,
‘to get my Christmas stocking stuffing done by Christmas day!
I need an Aussie animal, but who can pass the test?’
‘Pick me! Pick me!’ the creatures cried. ‘Pick me ‘cos I’m the best!’

Santa’s Aussie Mix-up is a humorous song and picture book which youngsters will love. Sung to the tune of ‘Advance Australia Fair’, the song features all the silliness which we’ve come to expect from singer/songwriter Colin Buchanan and, of course, the book includes a CD recording of the song. Illustrations, by Simon Swingler are digitally produced and full of life and colour.

Perfect as a Christmas gift and for classroom use.

Santa’s Aussie Mix-up, by Colin Buchanan and Simon Swingler
Scholastic Australia, 2011
ISBN 9781742830070

Available from good bookstores or online from Fishpond.

You are My Special Baby, Carol Chataway & Danny Snell

You are My Special Baby is a lovely tribute to the relationship between a parent and a child. The cover art depicts a sugar glider parent and child atop a waratah and each opening reveals another Australian pair in their particular Australian habitat. From the platypuses underwater to the kangaroos in the red sand inland, each pair is accompanied by an affirmation of the relationship between an infant and a caring adult. Illustrations are acrylic paint on board and full double page with text imposed on the paintings. Extraneous detail has been omitted to keep the focus on the relationships portrayed.

This is a lovely book, perfect for a new baby, and/or new parent. (Or grandparent, or any carer or significant person in a child’s life. The words are simple, the images clear. There are little puns reflected in the connection between text and image. It would also be a perfect book for sending overseas, depicting as it does our wonderful fauna, flora and landscape. Highly recommended for babies and young children or as a gift.

You are My Special Baby, Carol Chataway & Danny Snell
Working Title Press 2011
ISBN: 9781921504181

review by Claire Saxby, Children’s Author
www.clairesaxby.com

This book is available from good bookstores or online from Fishpond.

Kookaburra School, by Jill Morris

There was a great chuckling and chortling, gurgling and cackling, as all the kookaburras of the tribe gathered together in a little forest at the top of a hill for Kookaburra school.

The kookaburra parents are all bringing their children to be tutored by Wise Old Bird in the ways of the kookaburra – take offs, landing, hunting for food and all manner of other important skills. BigEye isn’t so sure that he needs to go to kookaburra school, but his sister and parents convince him it is necessary, so off he goes.

At kookaburra school Big Eyes, his friends Blue Tail and Stripe and the other fledglings learn Pecking up Worms, Fast, Straight and Low Flying, Calls and Sitting still. They also learn to huddle together on a high branch before sunset, to be safe from danger.

But one afternoon, just before sunset, BigEyes chases a snake into the shed. The snake disappears, and BigEyes finds himself trapped behind cold hard glass. He has to spend the night trapped alone in the shed. How will he get out?

Kookaburra School, by Jill Morris, is a fictional story based on a real event at Jill’s home. One morning she found a kookaburra trapped in her studio, and rescued it. Later she watched a large group of kookaburras meeting in the forest near her home.

The delightful illustrations of Heather Gall make an excellent complement to this story, suitable for reading aloud to preschoolers and independent reading by six to eight year olds.

Kookaburra School, by Jill Morris
Greater Glider Productions, 2002. rrp $14.30