AustLit

Abstract: Baby bear is curious, he goes where Mama said, 'Don't!' He finds himself adrift in a BIG, BIG ocean! Will Mama find him before his piece of pack ice melts?

This picture book about polar bears introduces children to the idea of protecting our environment, animal habitats, melting of the pack ice and global warming. Themes include - risk taking, keeping safe, obeying rules, becoming lost, being found, environmental protection, animal habitats, melting of the ice packs, global warming.

Abstract: Jet the corroboree frog is happily taking care of the tadpole ponds when the water starts to dry up and his family's eggs are threatened. He goes to visit Grandmother Frog to find out why and she tells him all about the summers that are getting hotter every year and the careless humans who are leaving their rubbish around. When a boy and his father arrive to go fishing in the nearby river, Jet seizes the opportunity to show them how humans are threatening the very existence of his species.

There is a mention of global warming and climate change in the narrative, and in the paratextual information.

Teacher's notes discussing the corroboree frog and climate change are available on the Magabala Books website.

Abstract: This book is based on findings from the PhD research conducted by Mariana Fuentes on the impacts of climate change on the northern Great Barrier Reef green sea turtle population. The main character of the book, "Myrtle", is based on a real turtle that was satellite-tagged in 2008 at Mer Island, Torres Strait.

This book is dedicated to the children of the Torres Strait islands with the hope that they learn about the effects of climate change on sea turtles and find a way to make a difference. It is freely available online here.

Abstract: 'I am the small green pea, you are the tender pod, hold me.' Words sing over the pictures in this evocative story: a beautiful lullaby about what we can be for each other. A mother and baby, a boy and a dog run for their lives. A little boat carries them across the sea. A polar bear, too, has come adrift. When will they find land? Where will they find friends? Who will welcome them in? Pea Pod Lullaby is an inspiring and timely story of courage, endurance, and hope... for a world in which we can reach out and embrace one another.

There are many aspects to this picture book, but the central theme is that we are all part of the world. The illustrations implicitly explore global warming and its affect on polar bears, suggesting that they are part of our world, our responsibility. 

Abstract: Teaote and the Wall is a book about hope, determination and the people that need a global solution. Our future leaders are your children. This book is all about spreading awareness of the of Kiribati without using big words like climate change or environmental awareness.

Unlike twenty years ago, walls now surround all ocean-facing houses in Kiribati, in hope they stop the water flooding into their homes. However, the ocean inundates the land ferociously, attacking the walls repeatedly. With climate change still being debated around the world and many major countries not committing to significant changes in their global emissions, Marita feels the need to share the stories of Kiribati in hopes it can strengthen the country's voice. Time is of the essence for Kiribati and the future leaders of the world need to know about Kiribati.

See the website www.thelittleislandthatcould.com for more information.

Abstract: This brief story explains climate change, suggesting it is a plot by marine animals who are telepathically controlling humans.

It is a humourous story aimed at adults.

Abstract: The ice is disappearing. The polar bears are being relocated. For a little bear cub, separated from his mother, this is very frightening. How can he find her? Then he hears the familiar chug of Konrad’s fishing boat. Can Konrad help him? Will he find Mama? When weather and its effect on environment cause change, the impact can be far reaching. The story of a polar bear cub and his family subtly demonstrates this for children from 5 to 8 years.

Abstract: With her home under threat from a warming ocean, Zobi, a brave rhizobia bacterium, teams up with a family of slow but steady Zoox (zooxanthellae). The coral becomes gravely ill and bacteria around them begin to starve. Can Zobi and the Zoox work together to save the day? This book is about a symbiotic relationship. It tells the story of the microscopic friends living in a tiny coral polyp.

This picture book is the second in the Small Friends series. It is the result of a collaboration between artists and ecologists, and is very scientifically informed, complete with glossary and species information. It delves deep into symbiosis, coral bleaching and the effects of global warming on even the tiniest of creatures.

Abstract: A superstorm destroys Rosella Ava Bird's flower garden. All the bees are disappearing. A giant sinkhole cracks open beneath Rosie's school bus, and mysterious voices rise up from the depths. A giant tornado blasts the house of Frank, Rosie's sinister next-door neighbour, threatening Rosie's family. And Rosie's sister, Raven, has gone missing. Should Rosie lead a mission into Bug World to rescue Raven? Or stay home and save her family?

Abstract: Chicken Licken tries to warn the other farm animals and Farmer King about the rising sea levels results from global warming and carbon pollution. The farm animals collectively work towards growing their own vegetables and living more sustainably to reduce their carbon footprint.

Abstract: While bushwalking in New Zealand, Mount Ruapehu, a volcano lets off some steam. In the country of the tuatara, it gets Robert thinking, how and why did the dinosaurs die out? He gets a chance to find out as he is transported back to the Late Cretaceous, where climate change is taking its toll on the remaining dinosaurs.

Abstract: While anticipating a new Ice Age due to human neglect of the planet, global warming and a comet, two children stumble upon the solution to rectify the problem.

When the children tell their parents they have the answer to stop the Ice Age, they do not believe them.

Abstract: Bindi, Robert and their Wildlife Warrior pals have been invited to speak at a climate change conference in icy Finland. All the kids are super excited! But when their host, a professor, mysteriously disappears, Bindi and Robert realise they have two missions. One, find the professor, and two: make the world leaders aware of how important acting on climate change is to the next generation!

Abstract: A retelling of the Cinderella story, about an eco-conscious prince and his Cinderella. Both prince and princess are conscious of their carbon footprints and climate change, and proactively garden and use recycled good to reduce their carbon footprint.

Abstract: Tiger the Cat, Wanda the Blue Tongue, Number 12 the racing camel and Syd the dizzy crow team up with Prince, Eudora and Tark, extraterrestrials in disguise, and other species – as well as President Obama and Madonna to head off the confrontation over the skies of New York City (the Big Apple).

On their way to New York, they sign up other species to Project Earth-mend like polar bears, timber wolves, beavers, bats, and even the national emblem of the USA, the Bald Eagle.

Before the battle, the Team makes their case at United Nations for unity among all living beings, but will it be too late to defend the planet? Will we pay the ultimate price for ignoring Climate Change?

See earlier books in the series: The Greenhouse Effect (#1), Global Cooling (#2) and Tiger Tames the Min Min (#3).

Abstract: Talking about the weather used to be small talk, now it's the hottest topic on Earth.

We can't survive without Earth's atmosphere, yet most of the time we ignore it. We treat our atmosphere as a rubbish dump for our greenhouses gas emissions. Slowly but surely, what we are doing is changing Earth's climate.

Atmospheric cuts through the many voices raised around climate change to tell the story of our atmosphere, what is putting our climate at risk and what we can do about it. This could be the most important book of your life.

Teacher's notes are available here.

Abstract: Heat. Drought. Dust storms. More people missing every day. The city turning into a ghost town. These are not the only dangers for George and his little brother, Beeper. There's also Emily, a girl who moves like a shadow, slides through locked doors, and seems determined to push two stranded boys ever closer to disaster.

A key theme of The Big Dry is the lack of food security resulting from climate change, as well as isolation and loneliness. Teacher's notes are available here.

Abstract: I want to go back to the days when life made sense. The days before our parents became strange; before the warming ate away at all the living things in the world; before The Committee and their Blacktroopers. Before the Wall. Lily is a prisoner in her own home. Forced to stay inside by The Committee and guarded by their increasingly distant parents, Lily and her brother Daniel are beginning to ask why. Then, when Daniel disappears just before his seventeenth birthday, Lily knows she is next. She has to escape. But who else is out there? And can anyone survive days like this?

The setting of this book is based on a dystopian world where oil depletion and global warming have led to catastrophe. Read the author's blog post on the background and inspiration for this work, it details her specific interests in climate change.

Abstract: A ground-breaking intercontinental collection of speculative stories, in both prose and graphic novel form, with contributors from India and Australia including Margo Lanagan, Mandy Ord, Kate Constable and others of similar calibre. "A collection of sci-fi and fantasy writing, including six graphic stories, showcasing some of the most exciting writers and artists from Australia and India."

This work describes itself as a speculative feminist collection of stories. The teaching notes propose it is a useful novel for discussions about ecofeminism. There are several dystopian graphic texts and short stories contained within that are set in the future, post-climate change disaster. See in particular: Little Red Suit, Arctic Light, Cooking Time, and Cast Out.   

Teacher's notes are available here.

Abstract: The far distant future beyond 2150, beyond the climate apocalypse, beyond dystopian aftershock, in a decayed world stagnating from boredom and corruption, far out beyond civilisation the Crop Masters work incessantly to maintain food supplies.

Abstract: Five hundred years into the future, the world is a different place. The Melt has sunk most of the coastal cities and Newperth is divided into the haves, the “Centrals”; the have-nots, the “Bankers”; and the fringe dwellers, the “Ferals”. Rosie Black is a Banker. When Rosie finds an unusual box, she has no idea of the grave consequences of her discovery. A mysterious organisation wants it – and they’ll kill to get it. Forced to rely on two strangers, Rosie is on the run. But who can she trust? Pip, the too attractive Feral, or the secretive man he calls boss? From Earth to Mars, Rosie must learn the secrets of the box. Before it’s too late.

Genesis is set in the future has global warming has dramatically changed the Earth. There are two other novels in the Rosie Black Chronicles.

Abstract: In a future world of extreme climate change, Perth, Western Australia's capital city, has been abandoned. Most people were evacuated to the East by the late '30s and organised infrastructure and services have gone.

A few thousand obstinate and independent souls cling to the city and to the southern towns. Living mostly by night to endure the fierce temperatures, they are creating a new culture in defiance of official expectations. A teenage girl stolen from her family as a child; a troupe of street actors who affect their new culture with memories of the old; a boy born into the wrong body; and a teacher who is pushed into the role of guide tell the story of The Nightside.

Abstract: A strange rock in the forest. A mysterious crystal. A full moon. An ancient secret. How do you find your way home when you've never left? Twins Jack and Kaya live in a small seaside town in Australia. When they see a dazzling white light shining from a giant rock in the woods near their home, it takes them on an adventure to a place both familiar and yet like nowhere they know. But where exactly are they? And can they find their way back in time? The Stone Gate is an exciting fantasy adventure story that also brings climate change vividly to life for young adult readers.

The author describes The Stone Gate as "imaginative interpretation based firmly on mainstream climate science. It explores what warming might mean, in one small Australian town, as well as exploring an alternative vision of our future, in an exciting story that will capture readers’ imaginations." (The author's website)

Abstract: When the Cloud Hit the Kellys depicts a dystopian world where Peace Kelly leaves her city to search for Seb/Star in the Surrounds. Through the counternarrative, Peace begins to interact with people outside of the dystopian society, which changes the way she understands the dominant language and assists in her development of a postnatural subjectivity.

This text explores the effects of human induced climate change on the environment in a fictional world. It is a dystopian novel, and also explores posthumanism.

Abstract: Too Hot To Handle is a political cabaret about climate change for 8-12 year olds using humour to diffuse fear and music to inspire the next generation to make a difference.

Abstract: The Reckoning destroyed civilisation and humanity has had to rise from the ashes. But there are now people with abilities - Flyers, Firestarters, Rumblers - and society is scared of them. The government calls them Illegals. Ashala Wolf protects a group of Illegals. They hide together in the Firstwood and she'll do anything to keep them safe. When Ashala is captured, she realises she has been betrayed by someone she trusted. Now she only has herself. But when Neville starts digging in her memories for information, she doubts she can protect her people forever...will the Tribe survive the interrogation of Ashala Wolf?

This narrative is set 300 years in the future after humans have polluted and exploited the planet to complete destruction.

Abstract: Saria is the last of her kind, the final child to be born in the Darklands, a quarantined expanse of outback desert, contaminated generations earlier by the remote and mysterious Nightpeople. Spirited away at her birth before the Nightpeople could remove her from the genetic pool, Saria, now in her early teens, is called before the Council of Dreamers to be used as a bargaining chip. There she discovers the truth about her own past and that of her people.

Nightpeople is book one of the Darklands Trilogy, set 1000 years in the future after humans have severely polluted the earth. It is a post-ecological disaster, dystopian fantasy novel set in the Australian desert.

Abstract: Elspeth is one of a new breed born into a world recovering from widespread destruction. The ruling council will tolerate no opposition. Elspeth must hide her telepathic powers in order to survive. In the mountain orphanage of Obernewtyn, Elspeth meets others with similar powers and together they confront the evil hidden there.

This work is set in a post-apocalyptic, post-nuclear world, with strong themes around environmental destruction.

Abstract: This novel is set in an apocalyptic world many years into the future of Australia. Young Nat journeys along the vast reaches of the Darling River to search for his uncle, and is plunged into a grim and frightening world.

"Set in a time which has experienced the full onslaught of the ‘Greenhouse effect’ on ecology, and in a specific location in Australia, the narrative trajectory follows a path from a dystopian state towards a horizon of hope that leaves open for both protagonist and readers the possibility of a transformed existence." (Bradford, Mallan & Stephens, 2008)

Abstract: Baby Ora is the only person to survive Quickwater Lake. Now at fifteen, she may hold the key to healing old wounds and restoring life to the drought-ridden land.

Shaedow Master loosely reflects Australian history and is based in a dystopian world where conflict has caused ecological catastrophe, including drought and destruction of trees. Bradford et al describe Shaedow Master as "arguably the first novel for YA readers to achieve a highlight successful combination of ecological and postcolonial perspectives, strives to decentre the human actant through a unique transformation of the maturation narrative (2011, p.100)."

Abstract: Everything changes for Fin one morning when he wakes and finds snow everywhere. Left to look after his younger brother Max, Fin must find a way to survive in this original post apocalyptic novel set in changing rural and urban landscapes. Characterised by rising tension, vivid world building and fluid language, this stunning novel engages the reader right from its gripping sequence. The gradual disappearance of Fin’s known world is realistic and very moving.

Abstract: A bleak but compelling look at the future beyond the nuclear holocaust. Ben comes upon Taronga Zoo, which seems unaffected by the general chaos. But is it?

Abstract: Sam and Tara. Best friends in a future when artificial intelligence organises our lives, and micropets are the latest craze. Best friends when rationing means cold showers and no internet. Best friends when genetic matching makes asking a girl on a date a minefield of epic proportions. But will they still be best friends in a future when plague wipes out most of humanity? Or a future when the Inquisitor asks Sam to choose one betrayal over another?

First line: The drought in the outback

Themes: loss, despair, drought

Abstract: An Australian Christmas is threatened when drought takes hold. Jane has only one wish – for rain. Will her wish come true?

Abstract: Explores the cycle of drought, rain and renewal, and reveals the variety of techniques Australian bush creatures use to stay alive.

Abstract: Inspired by the Queensland floods, Flood is a moving and sensitive story of a natural disaster as seen through the honest eyes of a cattle dog that has been separated from his family. The floodwater mercilessly rips through the towns, and finally recedes, leaving a devastating widespread path of destruction. But from the ruins, courage and kindness emerge. A tiny tugboat heroically guides a wayward boardwalk out to sea; rescuers pluck friends and strangers from the dangerous waters; communities gather, providing aid, shelter, comfort and – above all – hope.

Abstract: A powerful and moving story about one boy caught up in the Japanese earthquake and tsunami of 2011.

'When the tsunami strikes the Japanese seaside town of Omori-wan, the effects are utterly devastating. Three years later, much of what happened on that day is still a mystery. As Hotaka sets about convincing local performers to appear at the town's upcoming Memorial Concert, he finds himself increasingly haunted by memories of best friend, Takeshi, who perished without trace in the tsunami. Then his friend Sakura becomes involved in an anti-seawall movement, and all too quickly the protest gets serious. As the town and its people struggle to rebuild their lives, can Hotaka piece together what happened that day - and let go of the past?

This book touches on the impact on the environment due to a tsunami in Japan, and also the proceeding nuclear disaster fallout; it is also about man-made structures, for better or worse, aimed at protecting people from the sea. This book is part of the Natural Disaster Zones series about children living in contemporary natural disaster zones. More books in this series are forthcoming, including a novel 'Lyla' about the 2011 Christchurch, New Zealand, earthquake.

Abstract: Shaozhen has no intention of staying in his remote Henan village and becoming another poor farmer: he’ll finish school, and then, hopefully, work in a factory in one of the major cities, just like his father. But when Shaozhen returns home for the summer holidays, imagining days filled with nothing but playing basketball with his friends, he’s in for a shock. The worst drought in over sixty years threatens the crops that the entire village relies on for income. As the water situation becomes dire, Shaozhen realises he must come up with a plan. But will it be enough to save his family and friends and secure the future of his village?

Set in China, this book is about the impact of drought of a family and their rural village. There are strong themes such as water conservation, drought, sustainability and global warming. See other books from the series Through My Eyes, Natural Disaster Zones.

Abstract: Rick is coming to visit again. But will he recognise the farm? Will he have as much fun as last time? Same friend. Same farm. Totally different landscape.

Freya Blackwood's illustrations in Two Summers show the shocking difference in the health of a farm over a year due to drought. One summer the land is fresh and green, full of life and flowing rivers. Next summer, animals are dying of thirst and starvation, there is no water in dam, and the land is dusty and brown.

Abstract: As ever growing numbers of animals visit a watering hole, introducing the numbers from one to ten, the water dwindles...

Theme: drought