Publisher's synopsis
Did you know that, in 2009, a massive dust storm in Australia blew red dust and sand all the way to New Zealand, where it turned the glaciers pink? That, in 1899, Cyclone Mahina plucked dolphins out of the ocean in Far North Queensland and deposited them on cliff tops? That it snowed at Uluru in 1997?
In Australia’s Wild Weird Wonderful Weather, readers are introduced to the wide range of weather in Australia, with bite-size pieces of information presented alongside graphic illustrations to entice young readers. Older readers will enjoy the detailed explanations about everything weather, from what causes certain phenomena to reading weather maps, exploring the climate of the past and preparing for the climate of the future.
With sections about Australia’s extreme weather and the effects of climate change, Australia’s Wild Weird Wonderful Weather gently introduces young readers to the challenges of a warming planet and encourages them to be mindful of the impact their actions have on the environment.
A resource section and glossary of weather words at the back of the book enable a parent, teacher or older reader to satisfy the deeper interest in weather that the book is sure to stimulate.
Awards
- Winner: Best Children’s Book, Museums Australia Publication Design Awards (MAPDA)
Dr Stephanie Owen Reeder has worked as a school teacher, a librarian, an academic and a Hansard Editor at Federal Parliament. She is the author of over 30 multi-award-winning books for children. Her historical titles include five books in the Heritage Heroes series, including Lennie the Legend – which won the CBCA Book of the Year Award in 2016 and is optioned for a feature film – and Amazing Grace, which won the NSW Premier’s History Award in 2012. Her historical books also include the compilation Courageous Kids and Their Amazing Adventures, illustrated by Liz Duthie, and the picture book Trouble in the Surf, illustrated by Briony Stewart. Her environmental picture books include Swifty, the Super-fast Parrot, illustrated by Astred Hicks, Australia’s Wild Weird Wonderful Weather, illustrated by Tania McCartney and winner of the MAPDA Award for Children’s Books in 2021, and Sensational Australian Animals, illustrated by Cher Hart and winner of the Whitley Award for Children’s Investigative Zoology in 2024. Stephanie is an avid reader who lives in Canberra in a house full of books.
Bio: Australia Reads
Photo: Stephanie Owen Reeder
Tania McCartney is a book creator. She has made over 60 books for children and adults, and has illustrated, edited and designed many of them, too. Her works have shortlisted and won an array of awards, and have reached the hands of children in more than 20 countries around the globe. A children’s literacy ambassador and the founder of Kids’ Book Review and The Happy Book podcast, Tania is also the author/illustrator of the Plume travel series and I Heart the World. She has lived in London, Paris and Beijing, and now writes and draws from her studio in Canberra, Australia. One day, she hopes to visit Antarctica. She’ll travel, of course, on Plume’s Albatross Express.
Bio: Hardie Grant Explore
Photo: Maree Azzopardi, courtesy of Hardie Grant Explore
