The icon of the devastating fires of the “Black Summer” of 2019-20 in Australia has been the koala, but almost 1 billion creatures died in the many blazes, including hundreds of thousands of birds such as the kookaburra.

This book, The Pinnalong Pantherella, is a short adventure starring, Bluey, Shirley and The Digger, a family of kookaburras from the Murrumbidgee who find themselves facing a different sort of terror – one they’ve never seen before. It’s black with eyes like fire and it’s killing everything that moves, from Ted Clancy’s sheep to their own Kookaburra chicks. 

Humorous, entertaining and informative, The Pinnalong Pantherella is a story for children that adults want to read. It is dedicated to all the animals who perished in those fires, but especially the kookaburras. And all royalties – 100% – from sales of the book will go to Australian wildlife rescue organisations, such as the Australian Wildfire Fund.