Warambi by Aleesah Darlison and Andrew Plant
Working Title Press, 2012. ISBN: 9781921504280. paperback
(Age: 6-10) Highly recommended for readers from 6-10 and as a
teaching resource from Years 1-6. Themes: Bats - Life Cycle.
Survival.
Warambi the little-bent wing bat is born into a large colony
of bats living in warm safe cave. At birth she is no bigger than a
bean. Every evening her mother leaves to find insects to eat.
When the home of the bat colony is destroyed, Warambi is separated
from her mother. Feeling scared and lonely she seeks shelter in a
place far from home. Her journey is dramatic, confronted with dogs
and humans, scary noises and an unfamiliar environment.
Aleesah Davison's story is emotive, sensitive and draws the young
reader in with alliterative phrases - 'she learned to sip from the
stream by swooping low'. She mixes this with short informative text
to engage the reader in to the bat colonies' plight. She contrasts
the invasiveness and destruction by humans with the nurturing
protection shown as the story concludes.
Andrew Plant's illustrations really showcase the plight of Warambi
and the colony as well as complimenting the story. The darkness of
the cave with the blue black shows the caring of the mother bat for
her young. The illustrations are striking and powerful, using both a
bold and soft palette for the different environments shown.
The endpapers provide many interesting facts on the Little Bent-Wing
Bat and are a great resource for Science - life cycles, diet,
habitat and human impact.
Rhyllis Bignell