Author: Mem Fox
Illustrator: Pamela Lofts
Publisher: Voyager Books
Audience: Ages 6 -11
Summary: Koala Lou is a story about a little girl’s discovery that she cannot earn her mother’s love and that there is no need—she already has it and always will.
Literary Elements at work: Koala Lou is Mem Fox’s realistic-fictional account of a little girl’s fear that she has lost her mother’s love and must find a way to earn it back. Pamela Lofts’ illustrations further the realistic-fictional aspect of this story through her accurate and vibrant renditions of the Australian-bush life. Ms. Lofts’ also adds to the warm feel of Fox’s story with her lively use of color and whimsical details. The story is narrated from the child’s point-of-view, making it especially poignant. The author uses time as a means to develop the theme of love—all encompassing love, love lost (imagined), love sought, love found (though it was always there). Koala Lou is the first born Koala to her family and her mother has plenty of time to evidence her love for her daughter by frequently saying, “Koala Lou, I DO love you!” Mem Fox uses this saying, “Koala Lou, I DO love you!” as a repeated pattern, making this tale a wonderful bedtime ritual to begin with small children. Over time, more and more Koalas are born into Koala Lou’s family and the little girl finds her mother has less and less time to say, “Koala Lou, I DO love you!” The koala mother’s waning time drives Koala Lou to embark on an endeavor to earn her mother’s time and attention back, in hopes that her mother will once again say the words Koala Lou longs to hear, “Koala Lou, I DO love you!” Koala Lou spends time planning and training to win a tree-climbing race. The story reaches its climax when Koala Lou’s neighbor climbs the tree faster, in record-breaking time. The loss sends Koala Lou discouragingly sauntering home to find her mother waiting to say, “Koala Lou, I DO love you! I always have, and I always will!”
Scripture: While I do not have a selected biblical text for this story, I do think it fits nicely with the first few questions from A Child’s First Catechism, particularly the last answer: Grace—God’s free gift of love that I do not deserve and cannot earn.
Question: Who are you?
Answer: I am a child of God.
Question: What does it mean to be a child of God?
Answer: That I belong to God, who loves me.
Question: What makes you a child of God?
Answer: Grace—God’s free gift of love that I do not deserve and cannot earn.
Theology: God loves us, always has, always will. In Jesus Christ God has freed us once and for all from worrying, fretting, fearing, distressing, tormenting, and wondering whether or not we are loved so that we may be free to love God and neighbor. There is no need to plan and scheme ways to secure God’s love for us. God loves us, always has, always will. Resting securely in the love of God, we are free to love God and neighbor.
Faith Talk Questions:
Read the story aloud. Go back to the beginning of the book; begin slowly turning the pages, asking your child(ren) to tell you what happened in the story.
- When does Koala Lou’s mother love her? Can a mother love more than one child? How?
- Can a mother love a child who runs slowly? Gets angry? Spills milk? Makes bad grades? Makes messes? Forgets to walk the dog? Can’t swim? How?
- Do you love your mother all the time? Can a child love a mother who burns the toast? Picks her up late from school? Forgets to buy cereal? Gets angry? Gets sick? How?
- Who loves you? Who do you love? The Bible tells us that God loves us. Do you think God loves us when we are angry? Sad? Sick? Injured?
- Do you think God loves piano players? Poets? Painters? Teachers? Children? Do you think God loves us when we hit people? Kick people? Forget to clean our room?
- Have you ever loved someone but did not like what they said or did?
Review prepared by Erin Lee, MACE, Entering Cohort Fall 2007
Koala Lou by Storypath is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.