Laura Marsh - National Geographic Readers: Koalas

Children are naturally curious about the world around them, and
curiosity is a powerful motivation for reading. Studies show that
informational reading is critical to success in school. National
Geographic Readers allow you to feed your childrens interests
and create readers who not only can read, but also want to read!

To sustain childrens excitement about reading, we have created
a new program called NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SUPER READERS.
As kids read each National Geographic Reader, they cross off its
picture on a free National Geographic Super Readers poster that
parents can download from kids.nationalgeographic.com/superreader.

After reading four books, kids and parents go to the website and
download specially designated prizes that reward their effort. Kids
can have even more reading fun online, with lively book-related
quizzes and games, fascinating excerpts, and sneak previews of
upcoming books.

The National Geographic Super Readers program appeals to kids
love of accomplishment while providing them with incentives to
keep reading. When the reading experience is fun, children learn
more and achieve more. What could be better than that?

Sincerely,

Mariam Jean Dreher
Professor of Reading Education
University of Maryland, College Park

For Elizabeth, Madison, and Kaitlin L.F.M.

Special thanks to: Deborah Tabart, OAM, CEO of the Australian Koala Foundation;
Susan Kelly, Director, Global Briefing (www.koalahospital.com); and the Koala Hospital in
Port Macquarie, NSW, Australia (http://www.koalahospital.org.au).

Copyright 2014 National Geographic Society
Published by the National Geographic Society, Washington, D.C. 20036. All rights reserved.
Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission of the publisher is
prohibited.

Book design by YAY! Design

eBook ISBN: 978-1-4263-1589-3
Paperback ISBN: 978-1-4263-1466-7
Reinforced library binding ISBN: 978-1-4263-1467-4

Cover, AP Images; 1, Kitch Bain/Shutterstock; 2, Gerry Pearce/Alamy; 45, Image100/Jupiter Images/Corbis; 6, Anne Keiser/
National Geographic Creative; 8, Pete Oxford/Minden Pictures/Corbis; 9, Yva Momatiuk & John Eastcott/Minden Pictures; 10, Theo
Allofs/Minden Pictures; 11, Eric Issele/Shutterstock; 12, Clearviewimages RM/Alamy; 13, Esther Beaton/Taxi/Getty Images; 1415,
Daniel J Cox/Oxford Scientific RM/Getty Images; 16, Robert Harding World Imagery/Getty Images; 17, surabhi25/Shutterstock; 18
(UPLE), manwithacamera.com.au/Alamy; 18 (UPRT), LianeM/Shutterstock; 18 (LO), Flickr RF/Getty Images; 1819 (background),
Africa Studio/Shutterstock; 19 (UP), L. Clarke/Corbis; 19 (CTR), Kitch Bain/Shutterstock; 19 (LO), TK; 20 (LE), D. Parer & E. Parer-Cook/
Minden Pictures; 20 (RT), Diana Taliun/Shutterstock; 21, Bruce Lichtenberger/Peter Arnold/Getty Images; 22, Flickr RF/Getty
Images; 23, shane partridge/Alamy; 2425, Neil Ennis/Flickr RF/Getty Images; 26, Susan Kelly/Global Breifing/www.koalahospital
.com/www.koalahospital.org.au; 2627 (background), Shutterstock; 27 (UP), Joel Sartore/National Geographic Creative; 27 (CTR),
Susan Kelly/Global Breifing/www.koalahospital.com/www.koalahospital.org.au; 27 (LO), Joel Sartore/National Geographic
Creative; 28, Ocean/Corbis; 29, Thiess/Hardman Communications; 30 (LE), Bruce Lichtenberger/Peter Arnold/Getty Images; 30
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AFP/Getty Images; 31 (LORT), roundstripe/Shutterstock; 32 (UPLE), Gerry Ellis/Digital Vision; 32 (UPRT), tratong/Shutterstock; 32
(LOLE), K.A.Willis/Shutterstock; 32 (LORT), Markus Gann/Shutterstock; header banner, Shutterstock; Tree Talk koala, Shutterstock

I live in the
trees, eating
green leaves.

I have a black
nose and long
claws on my toes.

My big ears are
furry. And Im
not in a hurry.

Who am I?
A koala!

Koalas live in a country called
Australia (aw- STRALE- YUH).
They live in forests and wooded
areas. They live in the mountains
and on the coast.

Why did the koala
sit on the clock?

Because it wanted
to be on time.

Koalas look a little like teddy bears.
But they are not bears at all.

Koalas are mammals called
marsupials (mar- SOOP- ee- uhls).
They carry their babies in pouches.
Kangaroos and wombats are
marsupials, too.

baby in pouch

wombat

Tree Talk

MAMMAL: An
animal that feeds
its babies milk. It
has a backbone and
is warm- blooded.

MARSUPIAL: A
mammal that
carries its babies in
a pouch

kangaroos

A koalas body is perfect
for living in trees.

Its body
curls up to
fit between
branches.

Fur on its bottom
is extra thick.
It is a built- in
seat cushion!

Long
arms
wrap
around
trees.

Strong legs help
a koala climb up
and down trees.

Paws have pads
that keep a koala
from slipping.

Long claws dig
into tree trunks
and branches.

Front paws have two
thumbs and three
fingers. These help
grab branches.