Review by Booklist Review
Gr. 2-4, younger for reading aloud. Where are you if you see Danger: Crocodiles (Watch Your Children and Dogs) signs and lizards that stand on their hind legs? Holy dooley, mate, you're in Australia! The Lewins share their top to bottom journey to the land down under in a fresh, funny, fact-filled travelogue that meanders from Kakadu National Park to Kangaroo Island. Striking, realistic watercolor landscapes are juxtaposed with comical sketches and circa-1900 spot illustrations of Aboriginals killing snakes and riding on paperbark rafts. The pictures catch attention, and the text is intelligently written. However, the notion that toilets swirl in the wrong direction in Australia has been debunked on several Web sites. A brief guide to animal facts rounds out this contagiously cheerful Aussie expedition. And remember, salties (crocodiles) can run as fast as 15 miles per hour, so if a salty chases you, run either sixteen miles an hour or in a zigzag fashion. --Karin Snelson Copyright 2005 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Several series add brain-expanding entries this spring. Husband-and-wife team Ted and Betsy Lewin's third in their adventure series (after Gorilla Walk and Elephant Quest) takes readers to Australia for Top to Bottom Down Under. They explore the lagoon habitat of the Yellow Water Billabong and the 200-pound barramundi fish, the freshwater mangrove where bonzer crocs lurk, as well as the flood plains where a pack of dingos feasts on a fallen water buffalo. Kangaroos, koalas and other favorite Aussie critters also abound. (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 3-6-An attractive addition to the Lewins' personal adventure series, which includes Gorilla Walk (1999) and Elephant Quest (2000, both HarperCollins). Ted's handsome, realistic watercolors are complemented by Betsy's colorful field sketches as the two explore Kakadu National Park and Kangaroo Island, respectively, in the hot north and chilly south of the Australian continent. Salt-water crocodiles, dingoes, an echidna, and a platypus are among the wildlife observed, as are encounters with some brush-tailed possums and smallish kangaroos that aggressively demand the Lewins' dinner at "tucker" time (Australian lingo is defined). A few black-and-tan sketches of Aboriginal life are included, oddly labeled "all circa 1900," with no explanation. Nonetheless, this eye-catching and informative title is a treat for animal lovers and adventurers alike.-Patricia Manning, formerly at Eastchester Public Library, NY (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
The celebrated husband and wife team is off on another adventure, this time to the wilder parts of Australia, where Ted's signature lush watercolors are paired with Betsy's quicker, sketchier paintings. The lively, sometimes funny, travel-journal text concentrates on the flora and fauna encountered by the two. Additional information on some of the animals is found at book's end. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
The Lewins' latest travelogue offers typically vivid glimpses of distinctive wildlife, but is marred by anachronistic references to the indigenous human population, plus repeated reference to the persistent but wrong idea that draining water turns in different directions on different sides of the equator. Adding light-hearted commentary to a mix of Ted's distinctive, expert watercolors and Betsy's comic figures, the two visit a billabong in Kakadu National Park in the north of Australia and the wildlife preserve on Kangaroo Island to the south. They catch sight of the likes of kangaroos, sea lions, tall storks, a platypus, several saltwater crocodiles, an echidna and as night brings a sense of closure, a flock of tiny fairy penguins. People seldom appear in the painted scenes, but several sketched vignettes labeled "(ALL CIRCA 1900)," and so presumably copied rather than directly observed, superfluously shoehorn in picturesque groups of thong-clad Aborigines hunting and gathering. Australia's flora and fauna are always worth a gander, but next to the Lewins' Gorilla Walk (1999) and Elephant Quest (2000), this outing has a touristy superficiality. (Picture book/nonfiction. 7-9) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
