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 woodland- A page of true numbat facts, with a simple "How are they doing?" chart showing their conservation status in Australia and worldwide- The real story behind the tale: how fox control brought the numbats back, and why Dryandra became a national park in 2022- Three questions to talk about together, including "Is there something you do that helps someone you never see?"- Four words to learn: marsupial, termite, hollow, pardalote- Four full-page woodland scenes to colour in- Three activity sheets: a maze (Home before dark), a page of four word puzzles, and a draw-and-write page- One thing every family can do to help numbats A good fit for - Bedtime reading, and classroom read-alouds from Foundation to Year 4- Any child who is the smallest, the youngest or the quietest in the room- Families who like nature books, endangered animals and true stories- A gift for a 4, 5, 6, 7 or 8 year old who loves Australian animals About the Bush Fable Series >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 >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.