Jess Racklyeft, Australia’s Baby Animals, Affirm Kids, October 2024, 48 pp., RRP $29.99 (hbk), ISBN 9781923022812
This is a wonderful large-format addition to books for young readers about Australia, following on from Australia: Country of Colour. This time, Racklyeft focuses on baby animals found throughout our country. The book starts with eggs in their camouflage colours and shown in relative size, from the very large green cassowary and blue emu eggs, through the light blue Glossy Ibis egg, and the smallest, Corroboree frog eggs. Then a simple glossary with clear explanations. Classification shows vertebrates and invertebrates. Then the book is divided the animals into several broad biomes: earth, sky, tree, river and sea with short facts about the different species and their life cycles. Each of these zones has a focus animal which is given a more in-depth description.
Though the information is brief, it is not simplistic and is sure to be enjoyed by readers of many ages: from pre-schoolers through to adults. I certainly learned about several creatures I didn’t know, and I enjoyed the information on how long some of the pouch-reared young stay in the pouch.
Racklyeft, using her signature watercolour painting in realistic colours, has included many well-known animals but also some more unusual ones. And some with unusual names. Readers can look for the Red Gum Lerp Psyllid, the solitary Blue Banded Bee, the Maugean Skate and the Red Handfish (both endangered), the Pobblebonk, the Rose Sponge, the Lord Howe Spider or the Steel-Blue Sawfly, and many others which are easily recognised. Those are not the only ones which might surprise the reader.
The book concludes with suggestions how the reader might be able help protect our native animals and their environments. There are links to supporting organisations and groups which help injured animals, organised by state.
This book celebrates the many and varied native animals found in our Australian environment. It will be a great addition to all libraries, home, school and public.
Highly recommended.
Reviewed by Maureen Mann
