Surviving the Wild
Rainbow the Koala
by Remy Lai
Henry Holt and Company, 2022. 108 pages.
Review written May 4, 2022, from a library book
This is part of a new graphic novel series fictionalizing the lives of baby animals in actual situations of environmental danger.
Rainbow the Koala is, no surprise, almost unbearably cute. It features a tiny baby koala still living in his mother’s pouch. (Did you know koalas are marsupials like kangaroos?) As Rainbow grows up, he learns from his mother to always climb trees when in danger.
Before long, she sends him out on his own. He has trouble finding water because the forest is drier than ever. He has some encounters with humans in his efforts to survive.
But then a terrible wildfire strikes. Rainbow does what he was taught and climbs as high as he can. Amazingly, he survives — and this story is based on the story of a little koala found high in a eucalyptus tree after the fires of 2019-20 in Australia.
There’s another book in this series, Star the Elephant that tells about a little elephant whose home is threatened by deforestation. The graphic novels are easy for young readers to understand, and oh my goodness, these books are cute.
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Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.
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