Shane is
bored. I'm sure if we all live to 100 we might also get a bit fed up with the
day-to-day mundane. So, this bird decides to take matters into his own wings -
and beak, so to speak.
Away he
flies all over town and country to find new sounds, new experiences and new
things to shred - like houses or crops or really anything to get his beak on.
Of course, along the way there are times he picks up the rest of his mob
because you know, sometimes being part of a gang-gang is more fun.
Maree Coote has crafted a really lively and fun rhyming text, accompanied by utterly fabulous illos which completely capture the essence of these often naughty birds as they blithely swoop around the country leaving trails of destruction behind them. It will be a truly hilarious read-aloud for your Smalls and I would certainly encourage some 'play along' with them mimicking the various sounds. It will be a cacophonous classroom for sure! You will have the perfect ready-made lesson in onomatopoeia.
Along with
the humour, author Maree has provided a page of cockatoo facts in the
backmatter and once you put all your cockatoo books together, you could get a
lot of mileage out of these related titles.
I relished this one as much a cocky enjoys a good chomp out of a new piece of decking or your home-grown corn crop. I give it a raucously squawking 5 ***** rating for readers from around 3 years upwards.
Title: What’s Next Shane?
Author/Illustrator: Maree Coote
Publisher: Walker Books Australia/Melbourne Style Books, AU$29.99/NZ$34.99
Date of Publication: November 2025
ISBN: 9780645910605
Format: Hardcover
Ages: 3+
Type: Picture Book