Quokka was hopping on the beach in the afternoon when he saw a young fur seal sitting on a rock. Quokka wanted to be the fur seal’s friend. Fur seal thought that sounded nice, but what should they do?
Quokka thought the seal looked unhappy so he decided to try and make him smile. Quokka is very excited. He pulls all sorts of funny faces. But it doesn’t make seal smile. He goes about collecting things from the beach and putting them on his head. He wears a cone shell on his nose and uses a shiny shell for a selfie. But seal just looks unimpressed. While he enjoys Quokka’s silly antics, he doesn’t particularly want to smile.
As Quokka keeps trying, he slips and falls in the water. Lucky the seal is there to save him. Would Quokka like seal to teach him to swim? Quokka doesn’t think so.
This book is funny but ends with heart. Quokka certainly gets a smile from the reader, especially with the bold and colourful illustrations that Katie Stewart is known for.
Quokka succeeds in that you can’t help but have a big grin at his silly faces. But Quokka Finds a Friend is not just about making you smile. It’s about being friends no matter that we like different things.
Reviewed by Jane Stephens
Age Guide 3+
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
ABOUT THE AUTHORKatie Stewart is an author and illustrator. Born in the north of England, she came to Australia at the age of nine.
She started her working life as an archaeologist and ethnohistorian, went on to teaching and then to being a mother. She later worked in a school library, but her lifelong dream was to be what she is now.
Katie is married to a farmer, has three children and lives north of Northam, where her love of animals means she has a lot of pets and takes lots of nature photos.
Her books have been shortlisted for the Speech Pathology Australia Book of the Year (2020 and 2021) and shortlisted for the WA Premier’s Book Awards (2022).
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