The Australia survival guide by George Ivanoff
Puffin, 2019. ISBN: 9780143796572.
(Age: 8+) Highly recommended. What an entertaining, clever and
informative book this is! I picked it up as a possible present to
give my grandchildren from London when they visit and quickly became
engrossed in the descriptions of all the dangerous things that can
be found in Australia and how you can survive them. The way the book
is set out is sure to grab the attention of both children and adults
as they learn about deadly things on the land (spiders, snakes,
mosquitoes); in the water (sharks, crocodiles, jelly fish); in the
environment (thirst, deadly vegetation) and finally everything else.
Each section has a description of the deadly things, facts and first
aid, photographs and a news story about survival. I was particularly
taken with chapter 5, 'Cute but dangerous animals' (1. Kangaroo 2.
Tasmanian devil 3. Platypus 4. Wombat) and loved the section on the
wombat with a picture of its cube poo and a description of an attack
on a woman by a wombat.
Kids will enjoy the avatar that guides them through the book and
will love the humour of the sections like 'Totally fake death' where
they can learn about mythical animals like the bunyip and the
Hawkesbury River Monster. This is a book that would be a boon to
take on a family holiday because it would provide kids with hours of
interesting reading that could be shared with the whole family. At
the same time the content is informative and well described, with
the first aid sections and instructions being particularly clear and
concise should any of the deadly creatures and events be
encountered.
This is a keeper, useful for not only travellers and holiday makers,
but all libraries.
Pat Pledger