ie They are  NOT coming from overseas !!

I  Did    Nothing

The Extinction of the Gastric Brooding Frog

- by Gary Crew -

Illustrated by Mark Wilson

ISBN-10: 0734405073

ISBN-13: 9780734405074 

Publisher: Lothian Children's Books/Hachette, Sydney, NSW, Australia

Published: 2004

Binding: HARDcover  34 pages  

Condition: UNread & displayed condition! HERE in MELBOURNE! A retired library display cabinet copy as illustrated!

Edition:  FIRST EDITION: 1st printing 2004

TIGHT,  SCARCE   HARDCOVER  ~  IN  MELBOURNE  ... 

WHY do ebayers buy from US?

Because you KNOW what you're getting. My close up photos are of the actual item!!

Remains UNread - as it was the display copy from the locked corridor display cabinet. It is Tight -  neat, some library markings on endpapers only - no other marks within. Appears as in my photos - this is the exact copy!!  A nicely preserved copy - superb!

Minimal discernible shelf wear to the laminated boards - they had been protected, the interior is tight and spotlessly clean on all 34 reading pages. THIS copy is the FIRST EDITION: Only printing from 2004 - the UK publishing by Lothian Books, London. The illustrations by Mark Wilson.

Incredibly SCARCE title - this is an  UNread copy!!

In original HARDcover binding, in publisher's glossy laminated boards pictorial covers which are in excellent condition.

(Stored with 2019!)

Measures approx.  9  x 8  inches or 24 x 26cm.

SYNOPSIS ....

With the death of the last Gastric Brooding Frog, Zeek decides he has to do something about preserving Earth's endangered species....

This unique frog carried fertilised eggs in its stomach and gave birth through its mouth. It could shut down its gastric juices to turn its stomach into a womb, and the possibilities and the possibilities for applying this process to ulcers, even cancer were being studied when the frog was last seen in 1981. Ages 8-12

"That's a female," I said. "It's got babies in its mouth. You oughta let it go." But he didn't. He kept his boot on it and then pulled out his pen knife . . .

Young Zeek, assistant to the museum's curator of amphibians, learns of the fate of what might have been the last Gastric-Brooding Frog, a unique Australian animal which scientists were keen to learn more from. Horrified as he is by the frog's death, Zeek is not about to give up. He is just one of many young scientists who has decided that he can do something about preserving Earth's endangered environmental heritage.

The unique gastric-brooding frog, Rheobatrachus silas, carried fertilised eggs in its stomach and gave birth through its mouth. It could shut down its acidic gastric juices to turn its stomach into a womb, and the possibilities for applying this process to curing human stomach ulcers, and maybe even cancer, were being studied. But the frog was only discovered in 1972 and last seen in 1981 - it was known to science for only nine years.

About the Author

Dr Gary Crew, author of novels, short stories and picture books for older children and young adults, began his writing career in 1985, when he was a high school teacher. His books are challenging and intriguing, often based on non-fiction. As well as writing fiction, Gary is a Associate Professor in Creative Writing, Children's and Adult Literature, at the University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland and editor of the After Dark series. 

He lives with his wife Christine on several acres in the cool, high mountains of the Sunshine Coast Hinterland in Queensland, Australia in a house called 'Green Mansions' which is shaded by over 200 Australian rainforest palms he has cultivated. He enjoys gardening, reading, and playing with his dogs Ferris, Beulah, and Miss Wendy. In his spare time he has created an Australian Rainforest Garden around his home, filled with Australian palms. Gary loves to visit antique shops looking for curios and beautiful objects.

Gary Crew has been awarded the Children’s Book Council of Australia Book of the Year four times: twice for Book of the Year for Young Adult Older Readers (Strange Objects in 1991 and Angel’s Gate in 1993) and twice for Picture Book of the Year with First Light in 1993 (illustrated by Peter Gouldthorpe) and The Watertower (illustrated by Steven Woolman) in 1994. Gary’s illustrated book, Memorial (with Shaun Tan) was awarded the Children’s Book Council of Australia Honour Book in 2000 and short listed for the Queensland Premier’s Awards. He has also won the Wilderness Society Award, the Whitley Award and the Aurealis Award for Speculative Fiction.

In the USA he has been twice short listed for the Mystery Writers of America Edgar Allan Poe Mystery Fiction Award for Youth and the Hungry Minds Review American Children’s Book of distinction. In Europe he has twice been and twice the prestigious White Raven Award for his illustrated books. Among his many Australian awards is the Ned Kelly Prize for Crime Fiction, the New South Wales Premier’s Award and the Victorian Premier’s Award. He has been short listed for both the Queensland Premier’s and the Western Australian Premier’s awards for Fiction.

About the Illustrator

Melbourne artist Mark Wilson has illustrated a number of educational and trade children’s books, including the picture book Penguin Shore by Tim O’Brien. His previous Lothian Books are: Valley of Bones, also with Gary Crew, and The Giant Spiders, The Wombat King and The Lie in the After Dark Series. 

Mark lives in Frankston, Victoria. 

Very  Informative read!

Reviews

WONDERFUL AUTHOR   ….. Gary Crew writes beautiful and moving books about the extinction of some wondrous species. Here he documents the final days of the Paradise Parrot in Queensland in the 1920s through the eyes of a young boy living on a sheep property, where one of the last remaining pairs are found.

Incredible book!   ...  This compelling story is told by Rosie, who saw the last Thylacine following its capture and after it had been put in the Hobart Zoo. 

Gary Crew tells the story in a comprehensible way so that the reader can easily understand what lead to the extinction of this animal. By allowing us to see the reactions and behaviour of a child who saw the last living thylacine, the reader can understand how we can all be responsible for preventing the extinction of a species. The message of responsibility and doing something are carried in a subtle manner by the text. 

I Saw Nothingis beautifully designed, and Mark Wilson’s illustrations provide a good deal to the meaning of the text and interpretation of the story. 

This picture book can be appreciated by very young students as well as those at secondary levels, as like Gary Crew’s other picture books, it contains much food for thought whilst being an interesting story in its own right. 

The first book in the Extinct Series, I Saw Nothing: The Extinction of the Thylacine introduces a wonderful sense of intrigue and dilemma that the upcoming I Said Nothing: The Extinction of the Paradise Parrot and I Did Nothing: The Extinction of the Gastric Brooding Frog will explore with classic Crew style and authenticity.