Planet for Life

Action for a Sustainable World

Written by Abbie Mitchell

180 pages | 250 x 240 mm Hardback | November 2024 | ISBN: 978-0-6458789-0-5 | Publisher: Jane Goodall Institute Australia | Colour illustrations, Colour photographs

Billions of interactions between animals, plants, ocean, earth and sky keep our planet ticking ever. Ecosystems offer habitats that sustain life. Without nature, humans would not exist. Humans are facing the biggest challenge in our history. Biodiversity loss and global warming are changing the way the planet functions. Humans have caused this. However, humans can also correct this. We know how. Every single one of us can make a difference every single day. Choice by choice. Action by action. We can create a sustainable world. You and me. To look after our future, we need to look after nature. We need to understand it. We need to nurture it. We need to respect it. We need to prioritise it. Not sure where to start? Find out how in the pages of this book.

Free access to the eBook can be seen below or a hard copy can be purchased from the Jane Goodall Institute Australia. Free lesson plans are also available. Click on the link below to investigate further. Note this link will take you to the Jane Goodall Institute Australia website.

A Hollow is Home

Written by Abbie Mitchell, illustrated by Astred Hicks

104 pages | 250 x 215 mm Paperback | October 2019 ISBN: 9781486308057 Publisher: CSIRO Publishing Colour illustrations, Colour photographs

Shortlisted for two awards:

Children’s Book Council Awards 2020

Wilderness Society Environment Award for Children’s Literature 2020

Do you know what a tree hollow is? To you and me, a tree hollow is just a hole, cavity or tunnel in a tree or branch. But to an animal, that hollow may be a bedroom, hiding place, nursery or shelter. It is the ultimate tree house! Come and take a peek inside the amazing world of tree hollows and discover more than 340 species of incredible Australian animals that call hollows home. With colour photos of glorious gliders, darting dunnarts, minute microbats and many more, this book is full of fun facts about animals that use tree hollows as places for resting, nesting or hiding. Find out how hollows are created, why they are threatened and meet scientists who spend their time hollow-hunting. There are also plenty of tips on how you can spot hollows yourself, help to protect the environment and encourage habitat for hollow-dependent animals.

Free lesson plans are also available. Click on the Learn More button to buy a copy or investigate further. A preview is also available below.

Coming in 2025!

The Super Pollinators (working title)

Fuzzy, feathered and scaly pollination power

By Abbie Mitchell

104 pages | 250 x 215 mm Paperback | 2025 | ISBN: TBC | Publisher: CSIRO Publishing | Colour illustrations, Colour photographs

This book is about animals. Furry, shiny, scaley, feathered; tiny and large; flying, gliding, crawling, and swimming; buzzing, scrambling, and whooshing; foraging by night or energetic by day. Many have similarities, but overall these animals could not be more different. Apart from one thing: their quest for the same food source – pollen and nectar. For in the act of eating – slurping and picking, collecting, and ingesting – these animals are pollinators.

Scientists estimate that there are about 350 000 different types of flowering plants in the world! About 90% of all plants need animal pollinators in order to reproduce. That means plants need to have tricks or lures to attract a pollinator. But it works both ways. The pollinators also have to have their own amazing adaptations in order to be worthy of the pollinator name.

In this book we will explore pollinators from around the globe. We will investigate their remarkable behaviour. We will find out why pollen and nectar are such an important food source. We will marvel at the incredible relationships between animals and plants. We will discover how they rely on each other for survival. Prepare yourself as we meet a surprising array of animals of all shapes and sizes and the plants that need these super pollinators.

Living Landscapes

Volume 1

A Journey Through Australia’s Rich and Diverse Indigenous Cultures

Edited by Jennifer Cunningham and Abbie Mitchell

180 pages | 250 x 240 mm Hardback | 2021 | ISBN: 978-1-908787-40-8 | Publisher: Jane Goodall Institute Australia | Colour illustrations, Colour photographs

“Nothing about us, or for us, without us”.

This book is a compilation of knowledge and perspectives freely contributed by the First Nation organisations you will meet in its pages, and it belongs to these groups. Through these valuable contributions, readers can learn from primary sources of information; from the knowledge holders themselves. The Jane Goodall Institute Australia and Petaurus Education Group have striven to ensure full, prior and informed consent in the inclusion of all text and images you can see in this book. We are guided by the Our Knowledge, Our Way guidelines*. In the spirit of Dr Jane Goodall’s work, our requests for contributions started with stories about conservation and the interconnectedness of all beings. This resulting first volume will take you on a journey towards understanding some of the work First Nations are doing to Care for Country, and why they are doing it.

Living Landscapes

Volume 2

A Journey Through Australia’s Rich and Diverse Indigenous Cultures

Edited by Jennifer Cunningham and Abbie Mitchell

180 pages | 250 x 240 mm Hardback | 2021 | ISBN: 978-1-908787-44-6 | Publisher: Jane Goodall Institute Australia | Colour illustrations, Colour photographs

Due to the resounding success and interest in Living Landscapes Volume 1, JGIA teamed with 8 more First Nation groups to deliver a second edition of this beautiful book. This book illustrates and celebrates Australia’s vibrant cultural diversity as we visit islands of the Torres Strait to the sea cliffs of the Great Australian Bight.

Through the insight and perspectives contributed by the First Nation groups introduced in these pages, readers can learn from the knowledge-holders themselves. This book seeks to entice you to discover more, learn more, and experience the lifelong journey of understanding culture.Connecting with fellow humans and sharing wisdom, as we find a path forward as custodians of this world, has never been more important.