Darling Saves a Koala by Matt Henderson and Jenny Wren
Darling Saves a Koala Bear is the first publication from Mabel’s Enterprise. This is an organisation that aims to make the world a better place. Mabel’s Enterprise believes in equal opportunities for all children, irrespective of their background, and hopes to address social inequality.
According to Mabel’s Enterprise, “All children are born with talents. For vulnerable children, these talents may never be found. We help to find and nurture these talents.” 100% of Mabel’s Enterprise’s profits are used to fund extra-curricular activities for schools located in communities with high levels of child poverty.
Mabel’s Enterprise recently launched The Tingalings™, a new picture book and clothing range for three to six-year-olds, with mobile games, toys and events also planned. I received a gift of the first story in the series, Darling Saves a Koala Bear, in exchange for an honest review.
This is a bright, colourful and cheerful book, produced to a high standard, with gorgeous illustrations. The endpapers are beautiful and decorated in stars. The Tingalings are incredibly cute and the koala bear of the story is even more adorable.
The Tingalings are "furry and kind" aliens from Jupiter. They don’t have genders where they come from and, “Everyone is equal and bonded by love. Love of their planet and planets above.” The Tingalings have travelled to Earth to help us with our climate and environmental problems. During a trip to the beach, they notice a forest fire and use their super-powers to extinguish the flames and rescue the wildlife.
Darling Saves a Koala Bear is a simple rhyming story that encourages children to take an interest in climate change. It empowers young people and demonstrates the positive impact that their own actions, however small, can have on the world.
As well has having a strong environmental message, Darling Saves a Koala Bear is printed in the UK using recycled and carbon-balanced paper. I love Jenny Wren’s illustrations. The characters are full of life and personality. The images have a charming, retro quality and all the children in the book are of different ethnicities.
Darling Saves a Koala Bear includes two pages of facts about forests and a further spread about koala bears at the back of the book, making it educational as well as entertaining.
This is bite-sized information that will appeal to young children without overwhelming them and even I learned a lot!
To purchase Darling Saves a Koala Bear and/or other Tingalings merchandise, go to tingalings.co.uk. If you would like to support Mabel’s Enterprise, you can find more information on their website, mabelsenterprise.com.
