“For if we can save one small island, perhaps we can save them all.”
Beautiful illustrations abound in One Small Island, a book about the history of Macquarie Island. They’re complemented by photographs, maps and diagrams.
Unfortunately I found the text a little bland, which is a shame, because history wrapped up with an environmental message doesn’t have to be mundane. Perhaps Lester could have used some rhyming couplets and onomatopoeia to good effect!
This is perfectly passable non-fiction for 8+ readers. It’s worthy of the nomination for the Eve Pownell Award for Information Books. The illustrations in particular, make this book. However to convince this google generation to use books as a source of information, we will all have to rethink the format and recapture their interest in a way this book hasn’t quite succeeded in doing.
Macquarie Island lies in the Southern Ocean, between Antarctica and New Zealand. A speck of green in the vast, windswept sea, it is a haven for many creatures that live above and below the waves.
In One Small Island, Alison Lester and Coral Tulloch bring us the story of this remote and precious World Heritage Site. Together they explore the island’s unique geological beginnings, discovery and degradation at the hands of humans, and the battle to restore it today.
This beautifully presented book leaves us with an important question: can Macquarie Island and places like it be saved?
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