Curious Creatures, Wild Minds at Taronga Zoo
Leave the ordinary behind and become Curious and Wild this Spring! When our Curious Creatives visit Taronga Zoo Sydney, thanks to a grant gratefully received from Copyright Agency’s Cultural Fund.
Kids Book of the Year Event
@ Taronga Zoo
This event offers an unique opportunity for students and adults to celebrate the annual CBCA Book of the Year Awards online here with our Will Kostakis, Emily Rodda and our Curious Creatives!
CBCA Curious Creatures, Wild Minds Book Week Specials
Curious Creatures, Wild Minds CBCA Book Week special. Sami Bayly chats with Lance the Aldabra Giant Tortoise.
Curious Creatures, Wild Minds CBCA Book Week special. Learn all about scats with Abbie Mitchell.
Curious Creatures, Wild Minds CBCA Book Week special. Lesley Gibbes searches for cicadas at Taronga Zoo.
Curious Creatures, Wild Minds CBCA Book Week special. Tune in with Charmaine Ledden-Lewis.
Curious Creatures, Wild Minds CBCA Book Week special. Tune in with Liz Anelli as she chats with the Taronga Zoo'z very own Hayley Smithers-Kirk talking about storytelling and behaviour change.
Curious Creatures, Wild Minds CBCA Book Week special. Tune in with Sue Whiting as she meets Monotreme's with Keeper Rob and Annie the Platypus.
Curious Creatures, Wild Minds @ Taronga Zoo
Sami Bayly
Do you ever spot an unusual animal and wonder why it has the strange features that it does? Meet Sami Bayly, author and illustrator of The Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Ugly Animals, as she explores the Zoo and meets some unusual creatures along the way.
Student task thanks to Taronga Education: Create your own mini encyclopaedia of the Curious Creatures like Sami with our student resource.
Abbie Mitchell
Do you ever wonder what stories an old tree holds? Join us for the second episode of Curious Creatures, Wild Minds at Taronga Zoo, to celebrate CBCA Book Week 2020! Meet Abbie Mitchell, a passionate environmental educator and author of A Hollow is a Home, shortlisted for CBCA Book of the Year, Eve Pownall Award.
Student task thanks to Taronga Education: download and complete the student resources - information report and story of a tree.
Lesley Gibbes
Join Lesley Gibbes, author of Searching for Cicadas, shortlisted for the Eve Pownall Prize in the 2020 CBCA Book of the Year Awards, as she explores some overlooked ecosystem superheroes at the Zoo, INVERTEBRATES!
Already enthralled by the iconic call of Cicadas, the Taronga team introduced Lesley to a host of other invertebrates that all play key roles in the environment and are truly fascinating creatures.
Do you want to see cockroaches a little differently, or come face to face with one of the largest spider species in Australia?
Then watch on, and remember to stay tuned during CBCA Book Week for a special feature with Lesley and Keeper Andrew, as she meets one of the most impressive insects of all, a Goliath Stick Insect, and lets her curious mind run wild! Student task thanks to Taronga Education: get exploring outdoors with our student resource.
Charmaine Ledden-Lewis
Join Charmaine Ledden-Lewis at the zoo as part of our Curious Creatures, Wild Minds program. Charmaine won the 2019 Kestin Indigenous Illustrator Award and has illustrated Bruce Pascoe’s first picture book ‘Found’, published by Magabala.
Charmaine was really keen to meet the giraffes, Jimiyu the 14 year-old male who she drew for us, and the female Kiti and her calf Ebo who reminded her of the strong connection between mother and child she depicted in ‘Found’. She had a great day meeting Touché the Eastern long-neck turtle, and the lively, cheeky Pygmy Marmoset, Lucia. Student task thanks to Taronga Education: download and complete the student resource.
Liz Anelli
It was inspiring to watch Liz Anelli at Taronga Zoo as part of our Curious Creatures, Wild Minds program. Liz is an accomplished and curious illustrator, having carried out extensive research for both her new book ‘Dry to Dry the seasons of Kakadu’ and ‘On Desert Lake’.
She was sketching all day taking full advantage of being so close to the zoo’s beloved creatures. Her mission was particularly focussed on the Koala, and she met Thunder! A rather boisterous male Koala. She wanted to really capture his fluffy ears, his scent gland, the way he moved so she could authentically describe all this with words and pictures in a book she is currently developing.
Student resource thanks to Taronga Education: download and complete the learning resource
Sue Whiting
Author Sue Whiting, one of the creatives at the zoo for our ‘Curious Creatures, Wild Minds at Taronga Zoo program, visited some of the zoo’s most treasured monotremes—Annie the 24 year-old platypus, and Pitpa, their 32 year-old echidna. Sue was thrilled to see Annie asleep in her cosy burrow before she plunged into the stream for her breakfast, and was so excited to pat Pitpa! Sue’s narrative non-fiction book ‘Platypus’, was a 2016 CBCA Book of the Year Notable book, and is currently working on a book about echidnas—so she was able to check her curious facts with the zoo keeper while watching Pitpa devour her meal from a special maze-like plate that encourages her creative thinking!
