The beautiful Australian parrots live together in the gum trees, together with a very cocky young cockatoo.
The cockatoo loves to play tricks and one night devises a cunning plan to wake the other birds. He shrieks out, pretending he’s in trouble: “I’m trapped in the jaws of a big hairy dingo!”
Of course, the other birds come to his rescue, but they’re shocked to find they’ve been tricked and let Cocky know how angry they are.
The next night, Cocky tries the same trick… and it works once again! The birds quickly come flying to help him and again tell him off for his devious antics.
On the third night, Cocky is preparing to play the same joke when along comes a real, scary, hairy dingo. Trapped by the big creature’s paw and watching its sharp teeth looming ever closer, Cocky calls out to the other birds. This time, they don’t believe him and Cocky must find his own way out of trouble.
A modernised, Australian version of The Boy Who Cried Wolf, this is a story that kids will adore.
Morrison’s fun, fast-paced rhymes of adventure and trickery are married perfectly with McKenzie’s cheeky, entertaining illustrations. Together they have created a flock of birds each with their own personality, including a cockatoo with such an evil, conniving look in his eye that you’ll be dying to know what he has planned.
I just love this new take on a well-known classic.
Title: The Cocky Who Cried Dingo
Author: Yvonne Morrison
Illustrator: Heath McKenzie
Publisher: Little Hare, $24.95 RRP
Publication Date: September 2010
Format: Hard cover
ISBN: 9781921541421
For ages: Pre-school
Type: Picture book
