Cockatoo (Kaye Baillie, illus Max Hamilton, Windy Hollow)

Cockatoo is the new Australian wildlife picture book from Kaye Baillie and Max Hamilton, the team behind the CBCA-shortlisted title When the Waterhole Dries Up. In this story, Baillie has followed her real-world fascination with yellow-tailed black cockatoos, which nest near her home on the Surf Coast in Victoria. To create an educational yet compelling narrative, she has researched and written about the first vulnerable months of a young bird’s life, following its journey from a tiny yellow chick nesting in an ancient tree to its attempts to take flight for the first time. Along the way, the young cockatoo averts threats from a slithering predator, grows feathers and a hearty appetite, and is guided by its parents, who nurture it in its cosy hollow and eventually coax it out into the world. Readers aged 3+ who enjoy information books, and especially young bird lovers, will enjoy reading Cockatoo. The engaging story is told with poetic language and the illustrations by Hamilton add plenty of charm, particularly in showing how the cockatoo grows and changes. The final illustration adds a touching ending, with the hollow now empty and ready to become a safe haven for another bird.

Books+Publishing reviewer: Karys McEwen is a librarian, bookseller, author and the vice president of CBCA VIC Branch. Books+Publishing is Australia’s number-one source of pre-publication book reviews.

Category: Reviews