Author: Bindi Irwin and Chris Kunz
Illustrator: n/a
© Date: 2010
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Pages: 78
Chapters: Yes
Illustrations: Not really, a few small animal silhouettes are at the start of each chapter
Publisher Recommended Age: 7 and up
Bonus Activities at End of Book: Animal facts on key animals of the story
Summary from Book: Bindi’s birthday party at the zoo is going to be HUGE. Karaoke, animal rides, dancing contests—it’s all going on!
But when a spoiled ten-year-old boy decides he wants to take home one of the zoo’s precious water dragons, Bindi, her brother Robert, and a green-winged macaw come to the rescue. Can Bindi save the water dragon and her party?
Note: This review is done from memory. I originally read this awhile ago.
Page Pig Thoughts: This one was a decent read. Page Pup found it just okay, but I think if we had found this one a few years ago, Page Pup might have really enjoyed this one. An animal based adventure in a zoo featuring kids that live in a zoo, seems like the makings of a story that some children would fall in love with. The writing was okay and I missed having illustrations, but this one was still pretty good. I appreciated the humorous bits, but I also appreciate the efforts of Bindi Irwin trying to engage people in taking an interest in wildlife.
Family Unit:
- Bindi, Robert, and their mother, Terri, live at Australia Zoo
- Holly (6yo) and older brother Zac (10yo) live with their mother and father
Conflict/Social Issues:
- Zac is grumpy about having to spend his birthday at the zoo celebrating Bindi Irwin’s birthday.
Positive Items:
- Bindi and Robert find a way to rescue a zoo animal while helping a boy save face from shame or punishment.
- A portion of all proceeds go to Australia Zoo Conservation Projects.
Items of Interest:
- The start of the story mentions that after Bindi’s father passed away, she vowed to continue his work.
- Australia Zoo was having the annual birthday party for Bindi Irwin (now 11yo), so lots of guests came in costumes/fancy dress.
- Zac was bitter that he had to spend his birthday at Australia Zoo, not doing his own thing. He enjoys animals, but was still bitter.
- Robert sees Zac with a frown on his face and tries to cheer him up with an animal joke.
- Zac decides that he will catch a water dragon at the zoo and take it home with him. He believes that catching the animal will brighten up his birthday. He tucks it into his backpack but doesn’t realize that Robert sees him doing it.
- Robert tells Bindi about the animal thief. They hatch a plan to recover the animal. At the big celebration in the Crocoseum, Bindi gets a macaw to fly to Zac and open up his bag. The water dragon crawls out of the open backpack with the whole audience believing that it was part of the show.
- Zac felt badly about trying to take the water dragon, so when he gets a chance to talk with Bindi, he apologizes for his behavior. She tells him that it was a silly idea and that if a zookeeper would have seen what he did, he would have been in serious trouble. Zac promises not to do anything like that again.
- A page at the end of the story says how you can become a Wildlife Warrior.
Other Books in Series (At Time of Posting):
- 20 books are in the series