Allen & Unwin Zoe's Rescue Zoo: The Cuddly Koala book English Paperback 128 pages

A purr-fect series for 5-7 year olds, about a girl called Zoe who works at a rescue zoo. Not only does she have a wonderful talent for this, she also has a fantastic secret - she can actually talk to the animals!

When Great-Uncle Horace brings back lost and homeless animals from his travels around the globe, it falls to Zoe and her mum, the zoo vet, to settle them into their new home. Zoe's good at this, because she can understand what they say and talk to them, too. But that's a secret. A new baby koala has arrived at the zoo, and he's very clumsy. Zoe is a bit worried he's going to hurt himself. So she comes up with a very cuddly way to keep him safe - a koala sling!

Amelia Cobb is sadly not a real person, although there is a real author behind the Zoe's Rescue Zoo stories. If Amelia did exist, we like to think that she'd live by the sea with her two goldfish, Flip and Flop, and write her stories at a small desk by the window, listening to the radio and wearing a brightly coloured scarf at all times.Sophy Williams is an award-winning illustrator with twenty-five years experience illustrating children's books. While still studying, she twice won prizes in the Readers Digest Young Illustrator's competition and was runner up for the Mother Goose Award for her first picture book.She lives by the Kennet and Avon canal in Bradford on Avon with her husband, author/illustrator MP Robertson, their two lanky teenage sons and a mischievous grey cat called Hamish.