Book review: Eco Warriors to the Rescue!

Eco Warriors to the Rescue! by Tania McCartney, ISBN 9780642277800, National Library of Australia

Reviewed by Rebecca Newman. (A review copy of this book was provided by the publisher.) This post is part of a Blog Tour celebrating the publication of Eco Warriors to the Rescue! You’ll find other stops on the tour here. 

Take a sneak peek at some of the pages inside the book, over at the author’s blog.

Banjo, Ned and Matilda are eco warriors looking for the best ways to care for Australia’s native plants. They consult their favourite book on the subject, and then find themselves falling into the book. (Now they can take us on a tour of Australia’s native plants!)

The pages of Eco Warriors feature photos of the children popping into, through and out of historical botanical paintings sourced from the archives of the National Library of Australia. Would you recognise a Kangaroo Paw, a Wattle or a Flame Tree? The three friends point out favourite plants and share tips on protecting Australian flora. There’s also a green moth to search for on every page. (Test your observation skills!)

At the back of the book you’ll find Flower Facts and a map of Australia showing the Australian floral emblem, and the floral emblem for each state/territory. Over the page you’ll find a chart with the native flower assigned to each month so you can learn what your birthday flower is — Alphabet Soup’s birthday is in October and we discovered that the native flower for that month is the Red Bottlebrush. (Excellent! We love the Red Bottlebrush!)

The artwork is bright and fun to look at and when you’ve finished following these three eco warriors, you’ll look at the plantlife in your neighbourhood with new eyes. (Follow the tips in the book and become an eco warrior too — Australia needs more eco warriors.)

Would you love to own this picture book? We have some good news — we have one copy of Eco Warriors to the Rescue to give away — thanks to the National Library of Australia. Here’s what you need to do to enter the giveaway:

• email our editor with three details —  your first name, postal address and your state’s floral emblem
• Put ECOWARRIORS in the subject line of your email
• Get your entry in by 9am EST on Monday 9 September 2013.

We will put all the entries into a hat and draw one winner on Monday 9 September 2013, and announce it here on the blog.

Some fine print:

• Entries must be emailed by 9am EST on 9 September 2013.
• We will announce the winner (first name and state only) here on the blog on 9 September 2013.
• We will email the winner on 9 September 2013 and post the book to them by the end of September.
• We will post the book to the winner even if we have no response to the email.
• Entries that do not include a postal address will not be eligible for the draw.
• Entries that do not include the correct floral emblem of the entrant’s state will not be eligible for the draw. (Double check!)
• We will not pass your details on to any third party except when required by law.
• This giveaway is open to Australian residents only. Schools are welcome to submit an entry.
• You may only send one entry in per person for this giveaway.

ATTEND THE LAUNCH OF THE BOOK!

If you live in Canberra, you can Join Tania McCartney and her three real-life eco warriors — Banjo (Riley), Ned (Andrew) and Matilda (Claire) — as they launch Eco Warriors to the Rescue! at Canberra’s National Arboretum Gift Shop, Saturday 5 October 2013, at 11am.