KOALA PRIDE! Don't Call Me BEAR! by Aaron Blabey

G'Day, my name is WARREN,
and I've got something to share...

JUST BECAUSE I AM FURRY
DOESN'T MEAN I'M A BEAR.

Warren is having an identity crisis and is, tell the truth, a bit surly, and with good reason. His sign says it all:

NOT

A

BEAR

(Koala!)

Even the venerable Captain Cook was aware of koalas' proper place in the animal kingdom.

Bears are mammals and Koalas are marsupials! (Get it?)

Polar bears are seen in Canada, and the U.S. has grizzlies out the wazoo, but there are NO bears in Australia (except in a zoo).

I'm sorry if I shout!
I'm not a bear!
I'm really NOT.
And you need to
SORT IT OUT!

A persistent misnomer has Warren the Koala on a rant, in Aussie author Aaren Blabey's little lesson on marsupial nomenclature, Don't Call Me Bear! (Scholastic Press, 2019 [Am. Ed.]). Blabey's best-selling Pig the Pug stories have made his jolly rhyming tales and googly-eyed rival pets Pig the pugnacious pug and Trevor the timid dachshund America's favorite pet pair (read reviews here), and preschool/primary readers will find this story of Australia's cutest marsupial full of Blabey's hilarious illustrations and quirky quatrains. As Kirkus jokes, "Modestly informational and totally fun."