Child Author Bindi Irwin Visits Tamura Elementary

Child author Bindi Irwin was greeted by excited students campuswide at Tamura Elementary School on Friday morning as she prepared to share with them her passion for wildlife, reading and everything in between. 

“I’ve always loved to read,” said 12-year-old Bindi. “It takes me to a whole new world. And it’s also the next best thing since sliced bread.”

Bindi co-authored “Wildlife Adventures,” a series of fictional books based on her personal wild encounters with nature. She began her career as an author after years of collecting stacks of drawings, pictures, and writing she had saved to document her adventures. 

The daughter of the late “Crocodile Hunter” Steve Irwin, Bindi’s wildlife journey began at the age of 2. After the passing of her father in 2006, she continued his legacy alongside mother, Terri, and brother by traveling around the globe as a wildlife warrior.

At a young age, Bindi picked up her first set of books from her grandmother's house, the “Dick and Jane” series that her mother used as a young girl. And since then, she has been unable to separate herself from reading.

Books are the gateways to a thriving imagination, Bindi said. Not only does reading help exercise the mind, it also naturally expands knowledge. “It’s great when you accidentally learn something while you are reading,” she said.

Reading is an activity that Bindi and her family shares and values. “It’s always one of my favorite parts of the day, when my mother reads to me and my little brother, Robert,” she said, encouraging parents in the audience to turn off the television for a few hours and read with their children.

To give students a taste of Bindi’s life, Terri read a chapter from the second book in her collection, Rescue!.  And to conclude the assembly, students got the chance to get up close and personal with the young author in a Q&A session, where students learned her favorite animal and what a typical school day is like for an eighth-grader living in the Australia Outback. 

Bindi is currently working on the 17th and 18th books in the series. A book is expected to be released each month, she said. 

In addition to writing,  Bindi is working to prevent the Steve Irwin Wildlife Reserve from being destroyed by mining. She has gathered more than 330,000 supporters so far and uses her efforts as an example to prove that anybody can make a difference.

Bindi concluded her week-long book tour in United States at Tamura. She reminded students that their voices count and encouraged them to make a difference by staying active.

“As the next generation, we have the power to make the decisions,” she said.