Australian animals feature as a major part of this great new chapter book for fluent readers by Terry Denton. The characters are uniquely created and the character development is well handled and appropriate for the targeted seven to eleven age group. Character development in the story occurs partly through sharp, snappy text and dialogue, and partly through the expertly drawn cartoon style black, grey and white illustrations.
The characters are first introduced in the beginning pages of the book with a simple outline of each one and an illustration. This is a useful strategy which works even for fluent readers, as it gives them a page they can refer back to if needed, and means all readers begin the story with a good understanding of the 'who' element of the book.
There is:
Wombat - one of the 'cute and cuddly' variety of Australian animals, created here with a particularly 'urban' flavour
Fox - obviously not a native Australian animal, but prolific in many areas nonetheless!
Bandicoot - one of the less well known of the Australian animals, and created in this story with a liking for making money and eating oysters
Croc - (short for crocodile) one of the 'sharp teeth and may eat you' variety of Australian animals, somewhat akin to the American alligator
