The content description links on this page have been updated in line with Version 9.0 of the Australian Curriculum. Use this guide to compare codes across versions.
Author: Philip Bunting
Publisher: Scholastic
Synopsis: ‘Once there was a quokka. Quokka was very cute. But Quokka did not like being cute. Not one bit … This is the romping, stomping, chomping tale of one stubbornly adorable marsupial. But beneath its many costumes, Not Cute is a simple story about self-acceptance, listening to others, and not succumbing to your own delusions. It’s also a little bit about not being a #@*%.’ (Sourced from the author’s website.)
Themes: Self-acceptance, consequence, Australian animals
Year levels: Australian Curriculum: English, Years 3 and 4; Arts (Visual Arts and Drama), Years 3 and 4
Why use this book? The text provides a delightful read aloud experience with engaging dialogue and repetition that younger readers will enjoy. As a teaching text it allows you to explore aspects of dialogue and language and visual features with older students.
Focus passages: Orientation and complication pages 2 and 3, use of modal verbs pages 2–15, visual language elements pages 2–31, dialogue and quotation marks pages 12–31.
Unit writer: Amanda Worlley