Two eggs hatch. One is a platypus and one is a kookaburra. The kookaburra is very sure of his talents and identity but the platypus is confused. What is he? He cannot flap his wings or fly like the kookaburra, he doesn't have ears and fussy fur like the koala and of course he cannot run fast like the emu. As he sits by the river crying, a sleek glossy creature pops out of the water - this is a platypus, a girl, "and they danced off into the water. As platypuses do."
This is my second post featuring a book by Australian author Nette Hilton. Little Platypus is still in print and it would make a splendid gift to send to a child living overseas. It features so many of our wonderful Australian animals - Kookaburra, Koala, Emu, Wombat and of course the Platypus.
This book uses the repeated refrain
"And it probably shouldn't have mattered.
Not everyone can be a kookaburra/koala/emu/wombat/frog
But it would have helped, just a little."
You will recognise the format of this book - it is all about the search for identity. You can see the full book here. With older children the perfect book on this topic which is also Australian is The Bunyip of Berkeley's Creek. I would also link this book with Wombat Divine by Mem Fox and the classic story Are you my mother?
August is Platypus month. Read more here from my friend at Kinderbookswitheverything.
One more little piece of children's literature trivia. One of our earliest Australian Children's books featured the quirky platypus The Story of Shy the Platypus (1944) illustrated by Walter Cunningham the husband of Noela Young.
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