The big Cooee by Jack Carty. Illus. by Natasha Carty

This richly illustrated voyage around our planet, begins with a cooee which then reverberates through many cities and landscapes. The book will be eagerly picked up by readers, wanting first to practise saying the word themselves, and then recognise the places the call goes to.

A boy and a girl sing out a big cooee and watch as it rises over the forest of trees nearby. It weaves its way over the bubbling ocean, over a small boat and over a city street, then on to Central Park. Here they play with other children and they all hear the sound and look up. The cooee continues over Brazil, through the night, the children look up at the noise and they smile and laugh.

Going on to London the call encompasses the big red bus, and the population is just waking up.

Cooee wraps its way around many cities: London, Paris, New York, Rio de Janeiro, Rome, Cairo amongst others. And the big cooee comes back to where it started.

The rhyming lines fill the reader with amazement and fun as they scope out all the planet and its variety. Children will love picking out the things which make each city unique, and placing the cities in their place on a world map.

The idea of the Australian call wrapping its way around the world, shows not only our differences but also how close we all are. The view changes from the Australian coastline then across the globe, all brightly illustrated by Natasha Carty. Readers will have great fun noticing all the detail in the illustrations of the various cities.

Themes: Travel, Journeys, Adventure.

Fran Knight