This book looks at 145 unique and wonderful Australian animals and helps us learn about them through sight, hearing, touch, taste and smell.
We meet the southern marsupial moles who live underground. They don’t have eyes and find their food using sound, smell and touch.
There are insects and animals who use their colours to trick predators into thinking that they are something they are not. Did you know that scallops have up to 200 eyes around the edges of their shells?
We then learn how ears capture and process sound waves, sending them off to the brain, which interprets them. Our ears also keep us balanced too! Humans and animals make a variety of sounds. We even discover some that don’t have any vocal cords.
There’s great information in this book including fabulous gross bits kids will love. Like the southern petrel, also known as stinker. When threatened it vomits foul-smelling oil onto a predator. It can even projectile vomit up to a metre or more. And there are the Australian herrings who gulp air from the surface at night, store it, then release high-pitched farts – accompanied by bubbles! Great stuff!
Reviewed by Jane Stephens
Age Guide 8+
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Born on 7 August 1951 in Sydney to Frank and Margo Baker, Stephanie grew up in the Northern Beaches area of Sydney, with a short stint in Adelaide. In many ways she had an idyllic childhood, playing in the bush and at the beach with her three siblings and friends. However, her favourite pastimes were reading, writing and drawing.
During her childhood, Stephanie’s parents moved house a lot, and she attended six different primary schools, including three in one year.
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