Australia author Tania McCartney has released the third book in her Riley children’s picture book travel adventure series, Riley and the Curious Koala (Tania McCartney Press, 2010). Readers will take in the sights of Sydney as they travel with Riley in search of an elusive and cheeky koala.
Riley and the Curious Koala
Young adventurer Riley is gazing out of his window on a rainy day. As he looks at the grey clouds, he sees shapes that resemble the famous buildings of Sydney. In the background, a curious, fluffy shadow forms and Riley is intrigued.
Determined to find the fluffy koala whose image he saw in the clouds, Riley and his friends jump in his little red biplane and fly to Sydney. As he wanders past many of the city's best-known landmarks he catches glimpses of the curious koala, but it isn’t until he arrives at beautiful Taronga Zoo that his search comes to an end.
Black and white photographs of significant Sydney landmarks such as Darling Harbour, the Sydney Opera House, the Sydney Harbour Bridge, Bondi Beach and Luna Park are enhanced by the appealing illustrations by Kieron Pratt. In many of the images, the curious koala is hidden, inviting readers to examine each page to search for his fluffy outline.
Riley Adventure Stories
Riley and the Curious Koala is the third book in the Riley travelogue series following his earlier adventures Beijing in Riley and the Sleeping Dragon (Tania McCartney Press, 2008) and Hong Kong in Riley and the Dancing Lion (Tania McCartney Press, 2009).
In all three stories, McCartney’s wonderfully descriptive text is complemented well by the black and white photographs of each location and the fun additional illustrations of Riley and his friends. In Riley and the Curious Koala, Riley is joined by the toy panda who has shared all of his adventures as well as the dragon and lion from the previous two stories.
The Riley travel adventures are a wonderful way to introduce young readers to the cities of Beijing, Hong Kong and Sydney. The photographs showing various locations about these cities provide a wonderful backdrop to Riley’s fun adventures. The text is very descriptive, offering very appealing account the characters and locations Riley encounters on his travels.
Australian Author Tania McCartney
Tania McCartney is an experienced editor and magazine writer, has her own publishing company and is currently a senior editor for Australian Women Online as well as the creator of the website Kids’ Book Review.
In addition to the Riley series, McCartney has published Beijing Tai Tai: A Suburban Journey to Urban China (Tania McCartney Press, 2008), a memoir-style account of her experiences in Hong Kong. She is also part of the creative team behind Handmade Living (Handmade Press, 2010), the first publication of the Canberra Handmade Market.
Travel Adventures Around the World
Preschool and primary school-aged readers will enjoy exploring and learning about some of the world’s most amazing cities with Riley and his fascinating friends. With beautiful multi-faceted illustrations and an engaging text, Riley and the Curious Koala is a wonderful addition to this travelogue seris.
Review copy details
Riley and the Curious Koala: A Journey around Sydney (ISBN: 978-0-9804750-3-6)
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