Bindi Wildlife Adventures: Trouble at the Zoo

Young wildlife conservationist and media darling Bindi Irwin, daughter of the late "Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin, is as exuberant on the pages of this peppy early reader as she is on-screen. This first book in a series from the Irwin family's Australia Zoo in Queensland is set at the zoo during Bindi's underwater-themed 11th-birthday celebration. Wearing a seahorse costume, Bindi "glow[s] with happiness" as she announces to the adoring crowd that proceeds from the event will "go towards preventing whaling in Antarctica." A second environmental angle surfaces when a disgruntled boy attempts to steal one of the zoo's eastern water dragons in a story line that brings a ripple of tension to an otherwise bubbly story. With the help of a green-winged macaw, Bindi foils the theft without embarrassing the culprit, urging him and the audience to understand "how important it is to respect these wonderful creatures and the habitats they live in." Though gushy, the slim novel is briskly paced and delivers its message with Bindi-worthy verve. Facts about water dragons and macaws are included. Ages 7–10. (Feb.)