Taronga Presents by
Kristin Darell, ill. Laura Wood
Published by Penguin Random House Australia
Kristin Darell is a treasure in the Australian children’s literature space. As well as being a relatively new author of two series: Taronga Presents (for readers aged 7 and up) and Football Fever, she is the Program Manager for the Australian Children’s Laureate Foundation (ACLF) – the organisation that appoints and supports the Australian Children’s Laureate, has been on the CBCA NSW Northern Sydney Region committee for over a decade, and supports children’s books and their creators in other ways as well. Read on …
Thank you for speaking to ‘Joy in Books’ at PaperbarkWords, Kristin.
Guest Author Post about the Taronga Presents series and more by Kristin Darell
I’ve been thinking a great deal lately about two key experiences: my Grade Ten work experience at a university vet farm in Camden and a radio piece I did on Chimpanzee conservation work at Taronga for my journalism course graduation. Both occurred a long time ago, but throughout the journey of writing my new Taronga presents series for Penguin Kids Australia, I found myself delving into those memories anew.
While my publisher Belinda Conners asked me to write this series as part of an extensive book partnership with Taronga, how the stories took shape was entirely up to me. I decided those two key memories were a good place to start.
My time at the vet farm gave me the feeling I wanted my readers to experience – the thrill of finding myself doing a real job caring for animals and with access normal people would never get. Fast forward to my radio program. I put that together at a time when the concept of a Zoo was a little frowned on, and when animal conservation work wasn’t well known or understood. Decades later, we know a lot more, but arguably, raising awareness about this work is more important than ever.
Enter Sophia and Ollie – my main characters and two children with a passion for animals, conservation and a dream to work at the Zoo fuelled by parents who work there and have made caring for animals and habitats their life.
All four Taronga presents books – Poo at the Zoo, Party Animals, Baby Boom and Night Owls – may be fiction, but they are packed with facts that in many cases, seem wilder than anything I could have made up. Did you know poo is the key indicator of Koala health? Or that a macropod (such as a Wallaby) can pause a pregnancy? Or that a leech has thirty-two brains? The list of facts I compiled was overwhelming at times – and my hardest decisions were what to leave out. But my intrepid main characters were busy kids – and on their own journeys of friendship, exploration and growth. While giving Sophia and Ollie space to evolve as characters – I also loved giving my readers a glimpse of as many interesting and fun facts as I could through their eyes.
But it was these facts, the part of the stories I was most excited about, that also presented the biggest challenges. Despite being works of fiction, I had to ensure everything in the stories was 100% right. That included where the children went inside Taronga Zoo in Sydney and at Western Plains, how the Keepers cared for the animals, the conservation work, and of course, all the information about the animals themselves. With the help of my incredible editor, Michelle Madden, all the manuscripts were checked and re-checked by Zoo staff. It means that readers (and this author) can be confident that as they enjoy Sophia and Ollie’s wild ride, what they’re learning along the way is real. And in my opinion, books that blend fact and fiction to spark curious questions from kids are some of the best books of all.
It’s not the first time I’ve had the opportunity and privilege to combine my passion for fact and fiction for kids. My debut series Football Fever did so as well. Through a partnership with Football Australia, I was allowed to include Australian players alongside my fictional team of six girls and six boys who play in an U11s team at their local club. Drawing on my years as a news and sports journalist, I researched players in the Socceroos and Matildas. I didn’t want to include big names who didn’t have a story that connected with the child characters – who are the true stars of the four books. I need not have worried. The Australian players had so many incredible stories – I was spoiled for choice. There were stories of overcoming adversity, dedication to a goal, the importance of family, resilience, and passion – and I felt honoured to weave these through the Football Fever books.
It’s a passion for sharing stories that drives me and guides my work across the Australian Children’s literature space. Even before I was published, I had committed myself to this industry. I was the editor of Women’s Ink! – the Magazine of the NSW Society of Women Writers for three years, I have been part of the CBCA NSW Northern Sydney Region committee for a decade and President for three years, I’m a member of all key literary organisations in Australia, and five years ago, I took on the role of Program Manager for the Australian Children’s Laureate Foundation (ACLF). I also spend as many days and hours as I can in schools and libraries and at Festivals, sharing my love of creativity with kids, and the belief that all children should have access to books and stories in whatever form works best for them.
My commitment has exponentially increased with every year I have spent with the ACLF and as I witness the impact of this work. I have the honour of helping strategically plan and implement events around the focus areas each Laureate chooses, while keeping in mind the ACLF’s overarching mission of empowering the lives of young people through the power of story. Each Laureate I have worked directly with – Ursula Dubosarsky, Gabrielle Wang and Sally Rippin – have brought new energy to my role and inspired me to do more and work harder for the ACLF and as an author myself.
Sometimes I want to pinch myself to prove that this is indeed the space I have found myself. Our industry has many challenges – from finding solutions to low literacy levels, ensuring all children have access to books and stories, early identification of children with different needs, ensuring all schools have stocked libraries and Librarians, battling the emerging challenges of AI, ensuring creators are protected and compensated for their work . . . and the list goes on. But I know without a doubt that this industry is full of passionate and dedicated people who will keep working and stepping forward with ideas and solutions so that generation after generation will benefit from and enjoy the stories of our time and our world.
As for me – I’m deep in new stories and a new series, coming in 2026. Watch this space!
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