Peculiar Parents takes on a tour of Australian native animals and their dating, homemaking and parenting practices. Many of them quite peculiar!
There are eye-catching antics to attract a mate. The handsome peacock spider will raise his iridescent tummy up and down at the same time as he claps his third pair of legs together. As he scurries from side to side towards a female waving his legs, if she waves back, success! If not, he’ll make a tasty dinner.
Other animals give gifts, mock-fight or give off a stinky pong. The giant cuttlefish put on a colour, patterning and texture show on their skin.
The Heath monitor digs a hole in a termite nest to lay her eggs, then the termites helpfully cover them up to keep them warm and safe. The channel-billed cuckoo uses prebuilt homes, shooing other birds from their nest, so the mother bird can quickly lay her egg, leaving the owners to rear their chick.
The mallee fowl dad will sit on his nest for weeks, all the while testing the temperature of his mound with his beak to make sure the correct temperature is maintained. When the eggs hatch, the chicks ignore dad and head off into the bush.
Peculiar Parents is beautifully illustrated, complementing the engrossing information. There is lots to learn about Australian native wildlife within this book. Did you know that a Lumholtz’s tree kangaroo can safely drop to the ground from a tree branch 18 metres up? Or that humpback whale’s milk is the consistency of toothpaste?
Reviewed by Jane Stephens
Age Guide 6+
ABOUT THE AUTHOR AND ILLUSTRATOR
Dr Stephanie Owen Reeder is the author of over 25 books for children and adults. She has worked as a schoolteacher, a librarian, a book editor, a university lecturer and a Hansard Editor at Federal Parliament. Stephanie has won many awards, including the CBCA Book of the Year Award and the NSW Premier’s History Award. In 2019, Stephanie was presented with the CBCA Laurie Copping Award for Distinguished Service to Children’s Literature. Her latest children’s books include the Heritage Heroes compilation Courageous Kids and Their Amazing Adventures and the non-fiction picture book Australia’s Wild Weird Wonderful Weather.
Based in Meanjin/Brisbane, Ingrid Bartkowiak is an artist and illustrator who works primarily in watercolour. Her hand-painted work features native flora, fauna and fungi. Ingrid has a fascination with all things small and intricate, from tufts of moss on a footpath to the fungi sprouting from a wombat dropping. Ingrid has worked across a diverse array of projects, including picture book illustration, murals, packaging designs and even pet portraits.
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