“The watercolor illustrations are dramatic, colorful, and attractive. . . . Youngsters will enjoy learning about the marsupial . . . all within a moving tale filled with adventure.” — School Library Journal

When a young male koala outgrows his mother’s pouch, it’s time to find a new home for himself, braving perils and adventures along the way. Rival koalas, fierce storms, and frightening snakes force Koala to keep moving until he finds a safe place to call his own. In this dramatic nonfiction account, two renowned Australian picture book creators bring us a surprising and authentic look at the ever-popular koala. Watercolor illustrations follow the text closely, showing the koala through days and nights, in all kinds of weather, and using an unusual, kangaroolike gait when he flees from a snake. Relatively challenging words such as "hesitates," "sapling," and "leaf litter" are evident from the context of words and pictures, and "marsupial" is explained early on. The koala's trials are real, but they are also brief enough to assuage any reader anxiety. Solid beginners' zoology.
—Kirkus Reviews

Using the format launched by the Read and Wonder series twenty-five years ago, Saxby combines a narrative story of a single koala with explanatory, expository prose that provides information about the species as a whole.
—Horn Book

The watercolor illustrations are dramatic, colorful, and attractive...Youngsters will enjoy learning about the marsupial’s physical characteristics, child-rearing, mating, and enemies, as well as where they live and what they eat, all within a moving tale filled with adventure. Riveting nonfiction for elementary collections.
—School Library Journal