Small and Certain. A Bush Fable from Dryandra Woodland

A numbat no longer than a lunchbox. A kangaroo who tells her she is too small to matter. And an old tree that knows better. Small and Certain is an Australian animal picture book for ages 4 to 8, about a small creature who does not know what she is for, and the day she finds out. In a woodland of white-barked trees in Western Australia, Nim steps out of a hollow log into the sun. She is the smallest of four. Her hole is small. Her tongue is small. Her breakfast is small. Then a big grey kangaroo stops beside her, tall as a stump and twice as sure. "What are you for? The woodland needs big things. You are too small to matter." Nim stops digging. She asks two tiny birds, and they do not know what they are for either. So she asks the oldest tree in the woodland, and the tree says it will answer her tomorrow, if she will do it one small favour today. What happens next is true of real numbats, real termites and real trees. The smallest worker in the woodland opens a door that other animals will live behind for a hundred years. Inside this book A 12-page picture story with warm, painterly illustrations of the wandoo woodlandA page of true numbat facts, with a simple "How are they doing?" chart showing their conservation status in Australia and worldwideThe real story behind the how fox control brought the numbats back, and why Dryandra became a national park in 2022Three questions to talk about together, including "Is there something you do that helps someone you never see?"Four words to marsupial, termite, hollow, pardaloteFour full-page woodland scenes to colour inThree activity a maze (Home before dark), a page of four word puzzles, and a draw-and-write pageOne thing every family can do to help numbats A good fit for Bedtime reading, and classroom read-alouds from Foundation to Year 4Any child who is the smallest, the youngest or the quietest in the roomFamilies who like nature books, endangered animals and true storiesA gift for a 4, 5, 6, 7 or 8 year old who loves Australian animals About the Bush Fable Series Bush Fables are stories about real Australian animals in real places. Each book carries one lesson, a page of true facts, questions to talk about, activity sheets, and pictures to colour in. Every story names the animal's home and the people who have cared for that Country for thousands of years. Small and Certain is set on the Country of the Wiilman people of the Noongar nation. Book 1: The Slow Gardener , a Bush Fable from the Daintree, about a cassowary who plants a forest without meaning to. Book 2: Follow the Moon , a Bush Fable from Raine Island, about a turtle hatchling choosing between two lights. For teachers Small and Certain links to the Australian Curriculum (version 9) Science content descriptions AC9S1U01 (living things have external features and live in different places) and AC9S4U01 (life cycles and survival), and to the Sustainability cross-curriculum priority (Systems and Futures). The fact page, glossary, discussion questions and activity sheets make it a ready-made read-aloud. Square 8.5 x 8.5 inch paperback, 27 pages, full colour. The numbat is the animal emblem of Western Australia, and there are only a few thousand left in the wild.