KOALA LOU by Mem Fox ~ Culture 1

KOALA LOU

Author: Mem Fox

Title: Koala Lou

Illustrator: Pamela Lofts

Publisher: Gulliver Books Harcourt Brace & Company

Publication Date: 1988

ISBN: 0-15-200502-1

Plot Summary

Lou is, as the title states, a koala who lives in Australia and longs to hear her mother speak lovingly to her just as she did before Lou’s siblings were born. To achieve this, Lou enters a sporting event in the Bush Olympics.

Critical Analysis

When you have lots of siblings, sometimes you feel like you must act out to get some attention. In the story Koala Lou, Lou decides the best way to get her mother’s attention is to win the gum tree climbing event in the Bush Olympics. Lou doesn’t finish in first place, but she does learn that her mother loves her no matter what. Through this story, children are reminded that no matter how busy parents can get, they still love you. Hopefully, when parents read the story, they are reminded to say “I love you” to their children more often!

Koala Lou has many visual and written clues that the book is set in Australia, even though the text does not specifically say the story takes place in Australia. There are several animals depicted that are native to Australia (platypuses, koalas, wombats, and kookaburras) and references to gum trees and the bush. Thanks to the popularity of koalas (with some help from the late Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin), children should know that the book is set in Australia.

The late illustrator Pamela Lofts also was from Australia; Alice Springs to be exact. Surely her surroundings gave her inspiration for her colorful sketched drawings of Koala Lou. Her illustrations are very life-like, even when the critters are wearing party hats! The picture of the emu makes you feel like the bird is just on the other side of a zoo fence staring at you.

This story was read a lot during the 2000 Summer Olympic Games which were held in Sydney, Australia. However, readers might be interested to learn that this book was published well before 2000, in 1988!

Reviews

• Children’s Literature (1989): “The koala heroine enters the Bush Olympics and hopes to win the gum tree-climbing event so that her mother--overwhelmed by the birth of many, many koala babes--will tell her eldest daughter "Koala Lou, I DO love you." Even though Lou loses the event, she gains what she most wants: the knowledge that her mother loves her--and always will.”

Awards

• Named to Children’s Catalog in 2006 and 2001.

Connections

• Read as part of an “Animals of Australia” storytime theme. Suggested titles include Joey (ISBN 9780440847038) or Joey Runs Away (ISBN 9780440845232) by Jack Kent, Wombat Stew by Marcia K. Vaughan (and illustrated by Koala Lou illustrator Pamela Lofts!) (ISBN 9781743621820), and Over in Australia: Amazing Animals Down Under (ISBN 9781584691358).
• Share a globe or map with listeners before you read and locate Australia. Locate where you are at on the map and calculate the distance between your location and Australia.
• School librarians can collaborate with the PE teacher for a physical fitness unit. After reading Koala Lou in the school library, the students can go to the school gym and hold a Bush Olympics with jogging, weight lifting and pushups.
• Learn more about author Mem Fox at her website: http://memfox.com/

Bibliography

Cover, Mount Juliet, Tennessee. Personal photograph by Amy Wilson. September 9, 2017.

Fox, Mem. Koala Lou. New York: Gulliver Books Harcourt Brace & Company, 1988. ISBN 0152005021

Loftis, Pamela. 1988. Koala Lou by Mem Fox. New York: Gulliver Books Harcourt Brace & Company. ISBN 0152005021