Zoo Album by Richard Morecroft & Alison Mackay, illustrated by Karen Lloyd-Diviny
Book Launch at Taronga Park Zoo, Sydney
Friday 24th October 2003
Publisher: ABC
Books
Binding: Hardback, pp 50 plus endpapers
ISBN: 0-7333-0600-4
It was a great thrill to attend this book launch — I was on the editorial staff at ABC Children's Books when Zoo Album was first contracted — so it's been a long time coming!
Zoo Album features the stories of ten animals held in zoos around Australia — Taronga Zoo in Sydney, the Western Plains Zoo in Dubbo in Western NSW and Melbourne Zoo. It's incredibly informative — I now know far more about the mating habits of the echidna than I ever expect to need to know! — and also actively promotes the roles zoos play in animal conservation.
Zoo Album was written by Richard Morecroft and his partner Alison Mackay — Richard was newsreader on ABC TV for about 20 years — sometimes with the fruit bat Archie that he raised tucked inside his shirt! — and it was wonderful to hear his gorgeous voice boom out again at the launch. The evening news bulletin isn't the same without him! This is the third children's book Alison and Richard have written together. Karen Lloyd-Diviny's illustrations are impressive in their detail and precision.
The book was given an enthusiastic launch by author Bradley Taylor Grieve, who is himself highly active in zoo conservation. Equally enthusiastic were the marmosets that leapt about in the tree tops behind the various speakers at the launch — sadly, they don't make an appearance in the photos below!
You can see sample pages from Zoo Album:
ABOVE LEFT: Beautiful Taronga Park Zoo, venue for the Zoo Album launch
ABOVE: Alison Mackay and Richard Morecroft
LEFT: Karen Lloyd-Diviny, Alison MAckay and Richard Morecroft
