Created in partnership with Taronga Conservation Society Australia, ‘Taronga Presents’ is a well researched junior fiction series for animal lovers six years and older. Written by Kristin Darell (author of the Football Fever series) the stories follow best friends Sophia and Ollie as they train to be volunteer zookeepers. As well as exploring themes of friendship and responsibility, each book provides a fascinating behind-the-scenes tour of a day in the life of a junior zookeeper at Taronga Zoo.
Book 1: Poo at the Zoo Sophia and Ollie are thrilled to begin training as volunteer zookeepers, but having parents who work at the zoo doesn’t mean they can skip the less glamorous parts of the job. The best friends must fight their squeamishness as they learn to examine, catalogue, and clean up lots of animal poo.
Book 2: Party Animals When Sophia and Ollie travel to Taronga Western Plains Zoo in Dubbo for Ollie’s birthday weekend, Sophia worries his present won’t be delivered in time. Can the friends still enjoy the special weekend when Sophia is distracted and keeping secrets?
Book 3: Baby Boom It’s school holidays and Sophia and Ollie are volunteering every day, welcoming lots of new baby animals (from Sumatran tiger cubs to tiny water dragons). It should be idyllic, but Ollie’s toddler sister has joined them and Sophia finds working at a slower pace (and sharing her time with Ollie) difficult.
Book 4: Night Owls Sophia and Ollie are excited to camp out at the zoo, helping a keeper move JR (a 50-year-old long-beaked echidna) into his new habitat. But as night falls, their beloved zoo is transformed and new sounds make them both question whether they are brave enough for nocturnal work.
Sophia and Ollie’s animal adventures are brought to life with appealing black-and-white illustrations by Laura Wood, who released another junior-fiction series with Sophie Masson in October. Each story also contains a ‘Fun Fact File’ in the backmatter, with unusual animal facts which would make excellent starting points for research assignments.
Book 3: Baby Boom
