Fans of Disney's The Rescuers, the crocodile hunter, and Zoobooks (the magazine for kids) will eat up this inventive and educational middle grade adventure story. Set in Australia's Murray Darling Basin; Melody Finch follows a young girl who has just been magically transformed into a Diamond Firetail Finch. A drought is slowly crippling the rivers and the surrounding ecosystem that all the animals, birds and insects rely on. Melody finally begins to realize just how important the rains are to the wildlife and she begins to appreciate all the nature around her no that she has a bird's eye view of what is actually going on. Storms finally come bringing blessed rain; but Melody must fly from Charleville to the Coorong to tell her grandmother not to sell the Isabella, a boat that's been in the family for generations. With the drought crippling the tourism economy her Nana Bell needs to make ends meet - but if the rains reach her in time she won't have to. The journey to Coorang will take Melody days to complete but now that she's made new friends the time seems to "fly" by. A wonderful way to introduce children to Australian wildlife; at the conclusion of the novel there is even a little encyclopedia outlining all the animals, birds, and insects that Melody encountered on her journey. Fun, fanciful, and wholesome - a well written adventure story that kids will eat up.
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