Review: Ella and the Call of the Wild by Cassy Polimeni

 Ella and the Call of the Wild is book 4 in a fun eco-series by Cassy Polimeni featuring eco-warrior, nine-year-old, Ella and her friends.

Book one: Ella and the Amazing Frog Orchestra, Ella moves to a new school and makes friends with Mai. She saves the neighbouring frogs from a building site and builds a frog pond in her yard.

Book two: Ella and the Sleepover Party, Ella's has a birthday sleepover at the Zoo. She needs to deal with friendship rivalry when her friend from her old school and Mai have a disagreement. All Ella wants to do is explore and learn about the animals.

Book three: Ella and the Mystery of the Missing Frogs, finds Ella having to solve the mystery of the disappearance of the frogs from her backyard pond and try to stop her little brother getting in the way.

In Ella and the Call of the Wild, Ella's class are given penpals; students at another school over a thousand miles miles away. Ella's class is learning about the rainforest and their penpals live in the rainforest region of Queensland.

Ella doesn't know what to write about. She thinks she doesn't do anything interesting. She soon finds a connection to her pen pal through their shared love of frogs and how they want to protect them.

After a ranger comes to the school and talks about protecting the rainforest and how frogs can end up far from home where the environment does not suit them, Ella hatches a plan to help save the travelling frogs and educate people about what to do if they find one.

Ella is surprised what a difference she can make when she finds her voice.

Ella and the Call of the Wild is such a fun story and a wonderful introduction to caring for the environment for young readers. Ella shows that one person, with the help from some friends, can make a difference.

Ella and the Call of the Wild is the perfect book for classroom discussion on the ecosystem and learning that reptiles need to live in their own environment to survive. This is a fun, informative and educational story for little eco-warriors, frog lovers and nature enthusiasts.

Ella and the Call of the Wild is an illustrated chapter book that will have young readers searching for more.

Charming black and white full and half page illustrations by Hykie Breeze give the reader time to pause and ponder, giving a visual connection between character and reader.

See the publishers website for teaching notes: https://uwap.uwa.edu.au/products/ella-and-the-call-of-the-wild?_pos=1&_sid=d5b00987e&_ss=r

My rating 5/ 5 🐸🐸🐸🐸🐸

Recommended age: 6 - 9 years

Publisher: UWA Publishing

Publication date: 1st August 2026

Genre: Junior Fiction

Pages: 108

RRP: AU$15.99 (paperback)

Source: Courtesy of the publisher via Kean & Creative

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