Smooch & Rose (8 page)

Useful websites

www.savethekoala.com

The Australian Koala Foundation is the main non-profit organisation in Australia dedicated to the conservation and management of wild koalas and their habitats. This website has information on what you can do to help save koalas, including fundraising ideas, koala spotting and tree planting information.

www.wildlifewarriors.org.au

Australia Zoo Wildlife Warriors support injured, threatened or endangered wildlife in Australia and worldwide. Their website gives an insight into their wildlife hospital, how they fundraise and how everyday people (like you!) can make a difference.

www.koalacentral.com.au

Koala Central is the creation of Redland City Council – the area where Rose found Smooch. Their website has many positive suggestions about what you can do to help save koalas, plus information for school projects and fun games to play.

www.kids.nationalgeographic.com

National Geographic Kids has great stories and pictures about animals from all over the world and details how people are trying to help them. There are also lots of activities, games and interesting facts.

www.wwf.org.au

WWF-Australia promotes conservation and protection of critical areas and species around the world. Their site is jammed full of information on all sorts of animals, their environments, and ways we can help preserve our beautiful planet.

www.ehp.qld.gov.au/wildlife/daisyhill-centre/

The Daisy Hill Koala Centre is a free information centre located near Brisbane. Their website has heaps of information about koalas including what to do if you find a sick or injured koala and how to make your yard koala-friendly, plus some great activity sheets. They also offer education programs for schools about koala conservation.

Fun koala facts

Did you know that . . .

• A baby koala is the size of a jellybean when it is born and is called a joey?

• Koalas sleep for around 20 hours and eat about two shopping bags of leaves a day?

• Koalas have spotty backsides so that they can't be seen from the ground?

• Koalas have unique fingerprints . . . just like humans!

Acknowledgements

A heartfelt thank you to my friends and family for all of the conversations starting with, ‘Now, about my book . . .' In particular, thank you to my wonderful husband Don, beautiful daughters Bethany and Charlotte, my parents Joan and Chris, and the wild card, a secret literary fan, my brother Ralph.

Thank you to my patient and invaluable critiquing friends, Marci Dahlenburg and Ann Harth, who read and re-read my stories with remarkable enthusiasm and tact. I am also grateful to Debbie Pointing from the Koala Action Group, Jeff Regan from Paradise Country, Wayne from Wellington Point Farm, Natalie from Ascot Demolition and Glenda Emmerson for their help with technical matters; to Deborah Tabart OAM, Chief Executive Officer, Australian Koala Foundation for her support and enthusiasm; and to Kristen Collie from the Daisy Hill Koala Park, Jill Richardson from the Australian Koala Foundation and Bridget Chenoweth from Australia Zoo Wildlife Warriors, for their generous contributions to the factual pages of this book.

A big warm hug to my students in the Ronald McDonald Learning Program, whose perseverance and courage inspired Rose in the first place
.

And finally, to the amazing team at UQP. What a fabulous experience to be published by you. Thanks to Kristy Bushnell (project editor), Aileen Lord (cover design and artwork) and to the talented Cathy Vallance (editor), for finding all the ‘gasps' and ‘hugs' (and much more) in the manuscript. And thanks to Kristina Schulz (publisher) for believing in me.

First published 2013 by University of Queensland Press

PO Box 6042, St Lucia, Queensland 4067 Australia

www.uqp.com.au

[email protected]

© Samantha Wheeler 2013

This book is copyright. Except for private study, research, criticism or reviews, as permitted under the Copyright Act, no part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior written permission. Enquiries should be made to the publisher.

Cover design and illustrations by Aileen Lord

Typeset in 13/20 pt Adobe Garamond by Post Pre-press Group, Brisbane

Printed in Australia by McPherson's Printing Group

Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

National Library of Australia

Wheeler, Samantha, author.

Smooch & Rose / Samantha Wheeler.

ISBN 978 0 7022 4986 0 (pbk)

ISBN 978 0 7022 5168 9 (pdf)

ISBN 978 0 7022 5169 6 (epub)

ISBN 978 0 7022 5170 2 (kindle)

For children.

Nature conservation – Juvenile fiction.

A823.4

University of Queensland Press uses papers that are natural, renewable and recyclable products made from wood grown in sustainable forests. The logging and manufacturing processes conform to the environmental regulations of the country of origin.

UQP is not responsible for the content found on non-UQP websites.