All of the birds contribute to the bush chorus. You can hear the little blue wren, the fantail, the Sulphur crested cockatoo, and the laughter of Brown Feather. Little Puggle longs to join them but he just cannot make a sound. Even the Kangaroo and Koala can grunt and click. Brown Feather is in charge of the orchestra. Brown Feather is a kookaburra but on the day they all need to sing to help the emu family with their eggs, Brown Feather is ill. How can the chorus still sing without their leader? Little Puggle has the answer. He has been quietly watching Brown Feather. He plucks a long quill from his back and the singing can begin!
Little Puggle's Song was a Notable Early Childhood Book of the Year by The Children's Book Council of Australia in 2020. Here are some brief teachers notes. I this interview Vikki Conley talks about the inspiration for her story and here is her webpage. Read this extensive review on The Neverending Bookshelf. In this video Vikki Conley reads her book.
Early in 2024 Orchestra Victoria turned Little Puggle's Song into a performance - I wish I had known about this - it must have been very special.
Hello and welcome to Little Puggles Song, one of Orchestra Victoria’s special Storytime Series, designed for our young and young-at-heart audiences. Telling stories is at the heart of what we do here at Orchestra Victoria, and we are so thrilled to bring you Vikki Conley’s book in a new and interactive way, with an enthralling composition by well-known composer Maria Grenfell and featuring a selection of our talented Orchestra Victoria musicians. We hope you enjoy the musical prowess of today’s performance as they bring this exciting musical score to life telling the story of Puggle, the young echidna who wants to find his voice so he can take part in the bush choir.
Here is the sequel:
I guess by now you have worked out the word puggle is the term for a baby echidna. I have often thought I would love to talk to an international audience of children's literature fans about our Australian animals and the way they are portrayed in picture books - especially the less well-known animals such as the echidna.
- Echidnas, along with the platypus, are the only mammals known to lay eggs, placing them in the unique mammalian subclass of monotremes.
- An echidna’s tongue can shoot out of its snout at remarkable speeds, up to 100 times per minute, to capture ants and termites.
- Echidnas have a highly developed sense of smell and a significant portion of their brain is dedicated to olfactory processing.
- Echidnas make up 4 of the 5 surviving species of monotremes.
- Echidnas are great swimmers.
- Echidnas are covered in quills. These quills are made of keratin, the same material that makes up hair, claws, and fur. The keratin proteins harden into spikes that protect the echidna from harsh conditions and predators.
- Echidnas are powerful diggers.
- They produce milk from patches of skin. Young echidnas suckle on these patches and draw milk through pores in the mother echidna’s skin.
- Young echidnas suckle on these patches and draw milk through pores in the mother echidna’s skin.
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