Quokka Finds a Friend

Katie Stewart, Quokka Finds a Friend, Fremantle Press, July 2024, 32 pp., RRP $24.99 (hbk), ISBN 9781760994204

Quokka finds Seal sitting close to the water. Quokka unsuccessfully tries to make him smile. First he tries funny faces, decorating himself with seaweed, adding a shell onto his nose, using a shell as a mirror. Nothing works. Quokka falls into the water and Seal rushes in to help him out and offers to teach him to swim. The two finally agree that they are different: Seal can’t smile but can thanks Quokka for his efforts, and Quokka doesn’t want to learn to swim.

But the two can be friends and can appreciate the other. This is expressed by being able to watch the sunset before each goes off to find their supper.

This is a gentle story about friendship and recognising that friends can be different but like to share some activities. I had to work quite hard to enjoy this story because I don’t like anthropomorphic animals, that is animals that talk and reflect human characteristics.

Having said that, this book is a good way to start a discussion with early childhood readers about differences and similarities and friendship. I enjoyed the differences between the endpapers: the same scene reflecting the time change over the story. It’s a pity that the publications details, added to the back endpapers, are hard to read.

Reviewed by Maureen Mann

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