<p>Ideal for the nature-loving traveler,&nbsp;<em>Amazing Australia&nbsp;</em>is a handy pocket guide to the most unusual and the most common birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, insects, plants, and trees of Australia. This focused guide features over a hundred of the bizarre and the beautiful, the curious and the downright strange.</p><p>Written with a traveler&rsquo;s eye for the wonderful weirdness the world can offer,&nbsp;<em>Amazing Australia&nbsp;</em>gets right to the heart of the natural miracles that define Australia&rsquo;s coasts and deserts. Discover the danger lurking in a lovely rainforest plant that can leave hikers with pain that last for eighteen months. Learn how to avoid the redback, a venomous spider that panicked an entire country.</p><p>The origins of evocative names like &ldquo;blood gum&rdquo; are explained. Information explains how echidnas and ants survive in such a harsh environment. Invasive species like the cane toad and the cane beetle are discussed. The uniqueness of the country&rsquo;s most beloved creatures like the kangaroo and the koala takes center stage in&nbsp;<em>Amazing Australia.</em></p><p>Packed with information that comes from being in the country for an extended time,&nbsp;<em>Amazing Australia&nbsp;</em>will entertain as well as inform. Details about how Aboriginal tribes used different plants, animals, and trees are included. Settler&rsquo;s histories are touched on for the most common species.</p><p>This compact introduction to Australia&rsquo;s astonishing animals and plants makes an excellent addition to the classroom for curricular units in social studies and biology.</p><p>Laine Cunningham, a&nbsp;three-time&nbsp;recipient of The Hackney Award, writes fiction that takes readers around the world. Her debut novel, <em>The Family Made of Dust, </em>is set in the Australian Outback, while <em>Reparation </em>is a novel of the American Great Plains. She is the editor of <em>Sunspot Literary Journal.</em></p>