Reviewed by Wendy Lipke
Queensland author, Tina Strachan, has spent twenty years working and studying wildlife conservation and has now written a set of three children’s books set in a location called Wilder Zoo. Her unique experiences provide authenticity for her stories for middle – grade readers. Her debut book is called Neeka and the Missing Key and was published in February 2025. A second book is to be published in July with a further one in this series later in the year.
The key characters are three primary school children. Neeka has the main focus as she lives at the zoo where her mother is the head vet. Neeka spends her free time helping the zoo workers both before and after school. She has been documenting life in the zoo and her videos have been posted by the marketing specialist. The zoo had previously received an award, but Neeka feels that this year they face another highly polished contender. Neeka would dearly like the video equipment which comes with the award this year, so does not give up.
However, in her effort to achieve her goal her personal zoo keys go missing. If this became widely known she would be banned from helping in the zoo for a period of time, so would not be able to participate in the life at the zoo and in the competition as she would like. The story which unfolds describes the actions of Neeka and her friends as they search for the missing keys.
Through this process life in zoos is highlighted and the strong bond which zoo workers have for the animals in their care. Neeka’s interaction with the rascally red panda, Rebel, occupies a large part of this story. The book contains several pages of notes Neeka writes as she tries to train Rebel to perform particular behaviours. These provide much humour.
This is the first book in the Wilder Zoo series which is illustrated by the incredibly talented CBCA and Whitley award-winning illustrator Max Hamilton who has worked as a graphic designer and illustrator for over two decades.
As well as being an interesting, informative read this story also shows how young people are learning to take on responsibilities and work their way through problems as they arise. I quite enjoyed this story and am sure young people will too.
Neeka and the Missing Key
(2025)
by Tina Strachan
Illustrated by Max Hamilton
Harper Collins
ISBN: 978-1-4607-6455-8
$12.99; 272pp