The new kid by Jennifer Bain and Deborah Brown

When the students of Burraroo Public School skipped through their dusty red playground and into class, they saw a new student sitting at a desk. But this wasn't another kid to join in their fun and games, but a bunyip!

They're okay with that but Barry doesn't really fit in well - he had chosen Kit's desk to sit at and he's a bit too fat for it and from there the day and the week just go downhill with accident after accident. But rather than shun him, together with their teacher the class works on ways that Barry's special talents can be used.

Fitting in and finding your place at a new school can be daunting but this takes it to an extreme, offering the opportunity for conversations about how we can make newcomers feel welcome. Readers can have fun imagining the positives of having a bunyip come to their school, while others might want to investigate this legendary creature building a display that includes information gathered from their research and other books such as the classic The Bunyip of Berkeley's Creek by Jenny Wagner and the Alexander Bunyip series by Michael Salmon. Standing outside the Gungahlin Library in Canberra is a statue of Alexander so they could also imagine they were the sculptor invited to create it and submit their ideas using what they have learned about its appearance, habitat, behaviour and origins.

A is for Alexander B is for Bunyip C is for Canberra.

Themes: Bunyips, School.

Barbara Braxton