You are a wildlife warrior! by Bindi Irwin with Smriti Prasadam-Halls. Illus. by Ramona Kaulitzki

Ernest wildlife warrior Bindi Irwin shares her knowledge about saving animals and their place in the planet in this new book, You are a wildlife warrior, as she shows her daughter the range of animals seen at Australia Zoo. A walk around this zoo reflects the range of animals kept there, and underlines the endangered status of many of them, encouraging children to celebrate conservation and protection. She walks past zebras, giraffes, turtles, rhinos, crocodile, kangaroo, and several very loud birds.

As each exhibit is passed, information can be found which will interest children. The rhyming stanzas will intrigue as children predict the rhyming word, looking at the things they have learnt about the animals pictured. On some pages a more informative fact box can be read, informing the readers further. Koalas, meerkats, echidna, lemurs, and cheetah are also focussed. Bight, informative illustrations by Ramona Kaulitzki show the animals clearly, allowing children to look more closely at their attributes. 

On each page more information is given through the illustrations as Bindi and her daughter are shown doing some of the work needed in a zoo. They feed, groom and count as they pass through the zoo, promoting the ideas of conservation, encouraging children to take part in caring for the animals they see and encouraging them to see how much work is involved in maintaining these animals in the zoo or in the wild. The second to last page tells children a little about the zoo’s hospital which treats over 10,000 animals a year, and more surprisingly has had 11,000 koalas admitted since 2004.

Two pages at the beginning of the book introduce Bindi and her daughter, Grace, and two pages at the end of the book will inform the reader about their role in saving these animals, following on from the work begun by her father, Steve Irwin.

An easy to read and brightly illustrated book will attract young readers wanting information about animals they have heard of and encourage their knowledge of conservation and how they can help.

Themes: Conservation, Animals, Zoos, Steve Irwin, Australia Zoo.

Fran Knight