Riley and the Curious Koala

Riley and the Curious Koala: a journey around Sydney by Tania McCartney, illustrations by Kieron Pratt (Tania McCartney Press)
PB RRP $16.99
ISBN 9780980475036
Reviewed by Vicki Stanton
www.buzzwordsmagazine.com

One rainy day Riley stares out the window and watches the clouds roll across the sky making all sorts of shapes. Granny says it looks like the city of Sydney but Riley spies a koala among the "gaggle of buildings". Fascinated, he flies off to Sydney in his fabulous red bi-plane to search out the koala.

McCartney's imaginative text complements her exceptional black-and-white photography of Sydney at its finest. Riley flies past many iconic Sydney landmarks including  the harbour, the beaches, The Rocks, Circular Quay with its ferries, Luna Park, Strand Arcade, Sydney Opera House, Sydney Harbour Bridge as he searches for the elusive koala. Finally he finds the koala sound asleep nestled in a tree at Taronga Zoo. And it is no wonder the koala is exhausted. Children will find it hilarious that throughout Riley's journey, the koala is climbing and snorkelling and getting into all kinds of adventures but Riley fails to spot him.

Pratt's brightly coloured illustrations inject movement and draw the eye across the page. Panda, Lion and Dragon, Riley's friends from the previous two titles, add humour and that touch of companionship to make Riley's journey a shared journey.

From the embossed cover to the illustrated endpapers, Riley and the Curious Koala is beautifully presented and would make a wonderful gift. A percentage of the proceeds of sales will also be donated to the Australian Koala Foundation

Hanging Out

Hanging Out by Catherine Bateson, illustrated by Adam Carruthers (Omnibus Books for Scholastic Australia)
PB RRP $11.99
ISBN 978-1-86291-829-0
Reviewed by Vicki Stanton
www.buzzwordsmagazine.com

Hanging Out is another title in the excellent Mates series for younger readers. Written by one of my favourite authors, the wonderful Catherine Bateson, Hanging Out explores the rivalry between cousins Ben and Weston, and between Melbourne and Sydney.

Bateson states in her author profile that she was born in Sydney and now lives in Melbourne. I have the reverse experience of being born in Melbourne and living near Sydney and can fully testify to the ferocity of the competition between the two cities.

Melbourne boy, Ben, had been in awe of Sydney when he visited cousin Weston but true to the inter-city rivalry Ben had boasted of bigger and better things at home. Ben is aghast when Weston is to visit him and thinks he will be shown up as a fraud after boasting about such things as snorkelling in Port Phillip Bay with sharks and taking a steam train everywhere.

While Weston doesn't swim with sharks, he does see the Penguin Parade as the fairy penguins come ashore in the evening; and goes for a ride on Puffing Billy among other adventures. Weston thinks that everything in Melbourne is awesome.


Hanging Out is really just about that though - hanging out. While there maybe wonderful things to do and see everywhere you go, it is so much more enjoyable when there is someone to do and see all these things with. This is what the two boys come to realise in the end.

As with the other titles in the Mates series, the book is brilliantly presented and attractive to younger and reluctant readers. Adam Carruthers' coloured cartoon-like illustrations are full of life and fun. They are dotted throughout the book, breaking up the text. However, there is still plenty of white space so as not to overwhelm the reader. Variable fonts add to the quirkiness. I thoroughly enjoyed this story and highly recommend it.