AILSA Wild, who grew up in the Bega Valley, has been working with the art-science collective Scale Free Network to publish its second children’s book.
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Zobi and the Zoox is an illustrated science-adventure story starring microscopic friends living in a tiny coral polyp.
Renowned science communicator David Suzuki loves the project and wrote this endorsement for the back cover:
"I read the first book, The Squid the Vibrio and the Moon to my four-year-old grandson and he was absolutely riveted. As soon as I finished, he demanded that I read it again. He was swept up by the story, the incredible characters in it and wonders of the relationships that have evolved. I look forward to the series to come."
When their home is under threat, Zobi (a brave Rhizobia bacterium) teams up with a family of slow but steady Zoox (zooxanthellae).
The ocean gets too hot, the coral is gravely ill and the other bacteria go crazy, so Zobi and the Zoox have to work together to try and save the day.
“The whole story is biologically and chemically correct…except for the bits where the bacteria talk and laugh,” Ms Wild said.
“It’s been amazing and hilarious for me - who didn’t do science past year 10 at Bega High - to work with this team of microbiologists and coral specialists in a really intense way.
“I reckon Mr Grasby would have been proud of me.
“We did so many drafts to make sure it was accurate, while at the same time I was trying to create a compelling adventure story for children.”
Scale Free Network is offering pre-sales of the book, which will help cover print costs and ensure the book can be released by Christmas.
Once the team meets its budget for printing, it then hopes to make an audiobook and an e-book – which will be available for free to everyone who pre-purchases print copies this month.
Zobi and the Zoox is the second science-adventure story in the Small Friends book series.
Initiated and published by art-science collective Scale Free Network, the series aims to create beautiful stories about some of the many intimate symbiotic relationships between the very small (microorganisms) and larger forms of life found throughout nature.
Zobi and the Zoox is now available for pre-purchase at www.pozible.com/project/187995.
The first audiobook, The Squid the Vibrio and the Moon is available to download for free by clicking here.
