(3) K-3 Illustrated by Mark Jackson. A platypus--"one of the world's most puzzling animals"--leaves its burrow and searches for food. Lyrical main text and straightforward statements (in a different font) provide a good deal of information about this animal, one of only two monotremes (egg-laying mammals; echidna is the other). Mixed-media illustrations in greens and browns, atmospherically sketchlike, depict the Down Under habitat and creatures. Ind.

Reviewer: Elissa Gershowitz

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Mark Jackson. With charm and appreciation for their full range of behaviors, Wignell conveys information about bilbies through the perspective of a growing baby bilby and the nocturnal movements of its mother as she forages for food in an Australian desert filled with predators and danger. Jackson's impressionistic brushstrokes and contrasting colors of the blue-tinged bilbies in the oranges of Australia emphasize their darting and twitching movements. Ind.

Reviewer: Danielle J. Ford | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2015

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Mark Jackson. A fictional story introduces readers to Australia's diamond python; the narrative covers her molting, hunt for food, and hatching of baby pythons. On each double-page spread, related facts, appearing in a smaller font size, expand the narrative. Mixed-media illustrations downplay any scary factor and emphasize the python's camouflage but mostly prove uninformative. Back matter discusses pythons' characteristics further. Ind.

Reviewer: Betty Carter