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A new children’s book on albatrosses was launched yesterday at a function in Cape Town, South Africa.  “Allie makes a Difference”, written by Nikki James and illustrated by Richard Mackintosh, tells the story of Allie, a Wandering Albatross and his adventures in the Southern Ocean.  Interwoven into the story are important conservation messages: on fishery mortality, pollution and global warming, with the overall theme that every individual can make a difference.

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The author accompanied the annual relief voyage with the South African National Antarctic Programme to sub-Antarctic Marion Island in 2006 as a guest of the Department of Environmental Affairs & Tourism, where she got to see (and hold) Wandering Albatrosses when helping with conservation research on the species.  This experience has enabled her to write factual accounts of the various animals mentioned in the book and the threats they face as a companion text to Allie’s story.

The Albatross and Petrel Agreement gets a mention in the book’s Foreword, written by the ACAP Information Officer, who accompanied the author on a round-island hiking trip at Marion, staying each night in a different field hut and working with the albatrosses each day.

The book is the first in a new “Save the Planet” series, and has been endorsed by a number of South African governmental and NGO bodies.

Click here for a list of children’s books on albatrosses and petrels.

Citation:

 James, Nikki & Mackintosh, Richard 2009. Allie makes a Difference. Wynberg: Don Nelson Publishers. 104 pp. ISBN 978-1-86806-278-2.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, posted 13 February 2009, updated 17 February 2009