Kangaroo by Julia Kirby

Charlie misses her Dad and her home in Broome, and resents having to move to Silver Gum in the Northern Territory. She’s not interested in making new friends or attending a new school. If she has to be in this place she would rather spend her time looking after the orphaned joeys she’s rescued, their mothers victims of speeding cars on Australia’s outback roads. It is a passion she shared with her father: a love of nature, and especially the wildlife.

A disgruntled TV weatherman, down on his luck, turns out to be  an unlikely collaborator when his sense of responsibility, and more than a little guilt, kicks in, and the newcomer to the town finds himself drawn into Charlie’s plans to save baby kangaroos.

This is the premise of the book, and soon to be released movie, based on the story of Chris ‘Brolga’ Barns, the man who established Alice Springs’ Kangaroo Sanctuary. It makes for a wonderful heart-warming story, and with actors including Deborah Mailman, Wayne Blair and Ernie Dingo, plus lots of adorable big-eyed joeys, the film is sure to be a winner. So what better way to get young children into reading the next step up from picture books, than to provide an easy-to-read film tie-in, that allows them to imagine or re-imagine a story with strong themes of caring for wildlife, determination, perseverance and friendship, and quite a few laughs thrown in.

Themes: Kangaroos, Nature, Wildlife, Responsibility, Determination.

Helen Eddy