Koala: Read and Wonder

by Claire Saxby, Julie Vivas (Illustrator)

Overview

“The watercolor illustrations are dramatic, colorful, and attractive. . . . Youngsters will enjoy learning about the marsupial . . . all within a moving tale filled with adventure.” — School Library Journal

When a young male koala outgrows his mother’s pouch, it’s time to find a new home for himself, braving perils and adventures along the way. Rival koalas, fierce storms, and frightening snakes force Koala to keep moving until he finds a safe place to call his own. In this dramatic nonfiction account, two renowned Australian picture book creators bring us a surprising and authentic look at the ever-popular koala.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781536208962
Publisher:	Candlewick Press
Publication date:	09/10/2019
Series:	Read and Wonder
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	1,049,009
Product dimensions:	8.90(w) x 9.70(h) x 0.20(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

 

Editorial Reviews

Watercolor illustrations follow the text closely, showing the koala through days and nights, in all kinds of weather, and using an unusual, kangaroolike gait when he flees from a snake. Relatively challenging words such as "hesitates," "sapling," and "leaf litter" are evident from the context of words and pictures, and "marsupial" is explained early on. The koala's trials are real, but they are also brief enough to assuage any reader anxiety. Solid beginners' zoology.
—Kirkus Reviews

Using the format launched by the Read and Wonder series twenty-five years ago, Saxby combines a narrative story of a single koala with explanatory, expository prose that provides information about the species as a whole.
—Horn Book

The watercolor illustrations are dramatic, colorful, and attractive...Youngsters will enjoy learning about the marsupial’s physical characteristics, child-rearing, mating, and enemies, as well as where they live and what they eat, all within a moving tale filled with adventure. Riveting nonfiction for elementary collections.
—School Library Journal

From the Publisher

11/01/2017
K-Gr 3—The book follows a young koala as he searches for a new home away from his mother. Though only a toddler, he is now too big for his mother's pouch. "When he tries…, his mother swats him away…Climb, little Koala. It's time to find your own way." On the next page, readers learn that a pregnant koala will ignore her joey, who must learn to fend for himself. The toddler inadvertently has a fight with another male, weathers a storm, and has a close call with a snake before finally finding a tree of his own. "Stay, little Koala. This will be a good home." The story is told in a large, easy-to-read text, and factual commentary appears at the bottom of many pages in a smaller font. A final note offers additional information about the animal's day, appearance, and habits. The watercolor illustrations are dramatic, colorful, and attractive. One picture shows him reaching for his mother "in his waking panic…But she is not there." Another shows him climbing a tree with loose bark and suddenly tumbling down. When he encounters a large snake among the twigs, "Koala startles and launches himself across the clearing, reaching with his front paws, jumping with his hind legs." Youngsters will enjoy learning about the marsupial's physical characteristics, child-rearing, mating, and enemies, as well as where they live and what they eat, all within a moving tale filled with adventure. VERDICT Riveting nonfiction for elementary collections.—Barbara Auerbach, formerly at New York City Public Schools

School Library Journal