1. Animals
2. Art motifs
3. Art techniques
4. Cooperation
5. Courage
6. Crocodiles
7. Endpapers
8. Friendship
9. Helpfulness
10. Home
11. Perseverance
12. Rain and rainfall
13. Respect
14. Water

Helen Milroy has predominantly written for prereaders. ‘Mysterious Mole & Old Croc’ is one of six in her series ‘Tales from the Bush Mob.’ These longer books are aimed at lower and middle primary readers accustomed to chapter books. The series emphasises the respect for First Nations culture and Country, as well as the importance of courage, perseverance, and wisdom to bind communities together.

An introductory double page features multiple animal characters appearing throughout the book with a challenge to the reader to find these characters throughout the story.

The five chapters in this story feature a deep friendship that includes empathy and problem-solving. These chapter headings reflect the story’s progression: Mysterious Mole, Old Croc, Down Came the Rain, A Cunning Plan and Platypus to the Rescue. Our two main characters, Mole and Croc, each have an unfortunate characteristic that makes their life difficult. Mole, for example, is allergic to dust which makes it difficult to capture dusty insects for dinner. Old Croc enjoys a quiet home by the billabong, but a drought brings multiple animals looking for water thus disturbing the croc’s peaceful existence. Then the story takes a twist! ‘Down came the rain’ resulting in an unlikely rescue of Molly Mole (who couldn’t swim) by the crocodile. They become friends.

Together they plan to build Old Croc a billabong all for himself. Everything is going well until platypus is intrigued by Old Croc gathering reeds. Finally Old Croc has created his very own waterhole, and Molly Mole enjoys a riding around sitting on Old Croc’s head. But all the other animals noticed the billabong was shrinking. Old Croc and Mole apologise for taking the water for themselves. Now how to solve the problem! Clever platypus helps Old Croc and Molly Mole create a new pipeline, so the water flows back to the billabong. There everyone enjoys the billabong together again. Meanwhile the remaining little waterhole proves popular with very young animals because it is shallow and always warm. To conclude this happy story, Old Croc now has a cave, lit by glow worms and Molly Mole joins old Croc, her dust allergy now cleared by the steam coming off the water.

The epilogue provides a summary of lessons learned by all of the animals. These include not judging others and ignoring rumours, and, most importantly, animals should help each other. The endpapers feature a birds-eye view of where each animal in the bush mob lives. ‘Mysterious Mole & Old Croc’ is the sixth title in the Tales from the Bush Mob series. The series emphasises the value of respect for First Nations culture and country, as well as the importance of courage, perseverance, and wisdom to bind communities together.

Helen Milroy is a descendant of the Palyku people of the Pilbara region of Western Australia. She is a Professor at the University of Western Australia and child and adolescent psychiatrist.

Series title: Tales from the Bush Mob series

1. ReadPlus 4 Oct 2024 review by Kathryn Bilby of ‘Mysterious Mole & Old Croc’ https://www.readplus.com.au/reviews/mysterious-mole-and-old-croc
2. GLAM Adelaide 10 Dec 2024 review by Sue Mauger of ‘Mysterious Mole & Old Croc’ https://glamadelaide.com.au/book-review-mysterious-mole-and-old-croc-by-helen-milroy/
3. Reading Time 23 Nov 2024 review by Bronwyn Joseph of ‘Mysterious Mole & Old Croc’ https://readingtime.com.au/mysterious-mole-old-croc-tales-from-the-bush-mob/
4. Australian Geographic August 2014 ‘The mysterious marsupial mole’ by John Pickrell https://www.australiangeographic.com.au/topics/wildlife/2014/08/the-mysterious-marsupial-mole/
5. Wikipedia ‘Helen Milroy’ entry includes a biographical profile and an overview of her works and awards https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helen_Milroy
6. The University of Western Australia 22 Nov 2021. ‘Kids need nature, urges prize-winning children’s book author.’ The author discusses the importance of interacting with the natural world. https://www.uwa.edu.au/news/article/2021/november/kids-need-nature-urges-prize-winning-childrens-book-author