Peculiar parents by Stephanie Owen Reeder. Illus. by Ingrid Bartkowiak

Each of us has parents that we regard as peculiar in some way, but on the whole they're all pretty much the same in the way they meet, mate and raise their offspring. While they might put on their best dress to catch the eye of a prospective partner, it's unlikely they change colour completely like the giant cuttlefish, play follow-the-leader and emit a strong smell like the echidna or, having attracted a mate, give birth to thousands or raise their offspring in mud nests and feed them vomit!!

But these are just some of the behaviours of the 60 birds, beasts and insects that inhabit Australia that are explored in this intriguing new book. Focusing on the parenting habits of creatures as different as the humpback whale to the spinifex hopping mouse, young readers learn about the diversity of picking a mate, making a home, having babies, finding food and looking after one another. as they seek to continue the species through generations. Using images that are artworks held by the National Library of Australia (which can all be then viewed online by following the instructions on p65) as well as portrait-style illustrations in watercolours that echo the landscape, Reeder offers an introductory insight into the unusual ways that these particular species have managed to adapt to their surroundings, situation and circumstances so they have been able to survive and thrive over the millennia.

As well, there are explanations of how the first European settlers viewed, described and portrayed these strange creatures and tools to help the young reader navigate the text including a glossary of peculiar words, an index of creatures by name as well as by the animal group they belong to, the various names given to animal babies, and where the reader can go to find out more, including access to teachers notes from the book's homepage on the NLA website. Both content and presentation have kept the intended audience firmly in mind.

https://youtu.be/by9-jzfmAQ0?si=sJg31dn3WkohK8mK

Despite the doom-and-gloomers who declare that kids today don't read, the fact that publishers continue to invest books such as this, and that they remain successful demonstrates that our young ones are curious about and are interested in the real world around them and are very willing to read about it, particularly when it is written in such an accessible way as this one and accompanied by real-life illustrations that can lead them on all sorts of new investigations and adventures.

Maybe our parents aren't so weird after all!

Themes: Animals - Australia, Animal behaviour.

Barbara Braxton