‘Tap, tap, CRACK! Three stripy chicks hatch from forest green eggs …’
After patiently incubating his mate’s eggs, Cassowary Dad must raise the chicks alone as the mum Cassowary heads off to breed some more. Dad nurtures, teaches and protects his chicks for more than nine months. But looking after three chicks is not easy. When a hungry Lace Monitor approaches or when a cyclone tears through their rainforest home, will this devoted dad be able to save his family without human help?
A heart-warming tale about the magnificent Australian cassowary, a large flightless bird which resides in only a very small area of the rainforest and swamps of the Northern Queensland Tropics and Cape York regions, and its importance to the regeneration of the rainforest ecosystem through seed dispersal.
Beautiful and colourfully illustrated with some extra informational data and an additional glossary make this book a must for all schools and libraries.
Beverley McWilliams writes across many genres and has a passion for stories based on non-fiction and animals. She has published two historical middle-grade novels, The Reindeer and the Submarine (2022) and Spies in the Sky (2023) which won the ARA Historical Novel Prize 2024, was shortlisted for The Readings Prize and longlisted for the Booklinks Award for Historical Fiction. Her two picture books, Willow’s Gumboots (2024) illustrated by Helene Magisson and Born to Fly (2019) illustrated by Timothy Ide, are both Children’s Book Council of Australia notable books.
Julian Teh is a young Australian photographer and Natural History illustrator, currently based in Canberra who focuses mainly on birds, but also enjoys both scientific and design approaches.
‘Tap, tap, CRACK! Three stripy chicks hatch from forest green eggs …’
