No matter how hard the team of Bunnies trains they are no match for the other NRL teams with their fear-inspiring names such as the Panthers or Sharks or the fire-breathing Dragons. This ‘fluffel of bunnies’ is so afraid of the other teams they are beaten before they start.
Wise old Crow suggests a solution. They must let other animals play on their team. But the Bunnies are proud and feel that only bunnies should be on their team. But Crow wisely points out that they don’t all need to be Bunnies, that the team need not be all the same.
Crow persuades the Bunnies and he sets out to find some ‘super skilled creatures’.
His search is successful in recruiting the fast-running Alex the croc, Cody the goanna with his brilliant passing skills and the super tall and strong big red kangaroo Trell. Crow is correct that the new recruits are just what the team needs. They all work together with each player using their unique skills. The Bunnies beat every team. Thus, providing the lesson that when everyone, regardless of their colour or shape or size, works together in a positive manner, anything is possible.
First Nations artist Gregg Dreise illustrations, created with ‘pencil, pastels, acrylic paints, watercolours and fun’, are unique. The caricature-like contrast between the hapless Bunnies and other teams fits the story and its humourous tone perfectly. The colours are bright and use the patterning often used in First Nations art. The illustrations include references to author Alex Johnston’s First Nations ancestry, Saibai Island in Torres Strait and Sanduan Province in Papua New Guinea.
Alex Johnston plays professionally for the South Sydney Rabbitohs NRL team. He has played at an international level for both Australia and Papua New Guinea as well as for the Indigenous All Stars and the Prime Minister’s XIII. He is a strong believer in inclusiveness, teamwork and trying new ideas. Gregg Dreise is a Kamilaroi and Euahlayi man and has created a number of books celebrating First Nations culture in particular his series of picture books described as ‘morality tales inspired by wise sayings and the knowledge of Aboriginal Elders’. These titles include ‘Silly Birds’, ‘Kookoo Kookaburra’ and ‘Mad Magpie’.
Aboriginal and or Torres Strait Islander Resource
