FOR THE KIDS

Chloe and Joey Meet a Very Wise Kiwi

Chloe was worried. A mob of 26 kangaroos in her town, Mill Park, were about to be killed because their homes were needed for new developments. She and her classmates wrote letters to the government pleading for the kangaroos’ lives, but they were ignored.  She wrote “Dear Minister, I’m really angry and sad. It feels like I’m going to cry” and it was published in the Whittlesea Leader newspaper in Victoria.
After befriending little Joey, whose mother was killed by the school bus, Chloe had a cunning plan to fly to New Zealand with Joey and find out how the kiwi (New Zealand’s national icon) managed to get support from the New Zealand people and government. In the South Island they met a kiwi and asked him all their questions. What the kiwi told them was a really important message to the Australian government and people. To help them make this message heard, the kiwi gave them a magic green stone. Immediately Joey was able to speak English. Everyone was amazed – whoever heard of a talking kangaroo? At last, kangaroos had a way of conveying their terrible plight as the world’s most massacred land-based wildlife. What would they do next? Would they be able to persuade the government in Australia to save this mob in time? Find out by ordering your copy here.

Kangaroo Footprints

The Kangaroo is recognised world wide as a symbol of Australia. Six macropod species have already become extinct in the past 200 years and a number of species are listed as endangered or threatened. Kangaroos belong to the family of animals known as macropods, which means ‘big foot’. The macropod family contains around fifty species of kangaroos and their relatives ranging from the 90kg Red Kangaroo to the small Musky Rat-Kangaroo at half a kilo. They are found all over Australia and live in many diverse habitats. You can learn more about kangaroos and have fun doing lots of puzzles in this wonderful educational book – Kangaroo Footprints.