Katherine Rundell's "The Golden Mole" teachers' review

Brief description and distinctive features

Distinctive features of The Golden Mole

• An introduction that captures the reader’s attention with striking examples of the wonder around us in our animal species
• A superb, illustrated bestiary by Talya Baldwin of some of the world's most extraordinary, endangered animals in tones of black, white, grey and gold
• Short, engaging chapters (never more than eight pages long) take the reader on a globe -spanning tour of pangolins, wombats, lemurs, seahorses and eighteen other endangered creatures 
• The Human is the last creature in the book and Rundell explains in this section that the book is a sort of ‘wooing’, an asking for readers’ attention, their wonder and their ‘iron-willing’ so that more can be saved
• Each chapter contains immaculate, erudite prose, dispersed with academic rigour, humour, wit, joy and sadness 
• A striking and thought-provoking conclusion with the retelling of the story of the Sibylline books
• An Author’s Note that reveals the donation half of the royalties from the book to charities working to push back at climate change and environmental destruction on both land and sea
• A Further Reading section provides students with additional texts to explore the animals of their choice from the twenty-two listed in the book
• The beauty of the hardback edition makes it a book to truly treasure and while the paperback version is fine for the classroom have a copy of the hardback in the room.

Ways to use The Golden Mole in the classroom

In class reading and group discussion

The pangolin was the animal that captured my heart with its antiquity, timidity and vulnerability. Teachers could read the introduction aloud and then declare their favourites and explain their choices as a model for the class. Then get the students flipping through the book and making decisions on which chapter they will read first. Allow several in-class reading periods. Then, place students in groups to discuss the different species that had the most appeal for them and get them to articulate the reasons why they choose that species. Each group reports back to the class on their discussions.

Writing a blurb

A blurb is a short description of a book or film written usually by the people who have produced it for promotional purposes such as making people want to buy it or see it. It is usually between 100-200 words.

• Tips for writing your own blurb
• Establish who your audience is – your classmates or another class, your teacher, the wider school community
• First impressions matter so write a compelling opening line, ‘a hook’ to get the reader’s attention
• Reflect the tone of the book in your blurb
• Ask a question or suggest a mystery or intriguing aspect to the book
• Mention the main idea and themes of the book

Read the blurb for The Golden Mole below and rate it out of 10. Then write your own.

The world is more astonishing, more miraculous and more wonderful than our wildest imaginings. In this passionately persuasive and sharply funny book, Katherine Rundell tells us how and why.

A lavishly illustrated collection of the lives of some of the Earth’s most astounding animals, The Golden Mole is a chance to be awestruck and lovestruck – to reckon with the beauty of the world, its fragility, and its strangeness.

A swift flies two million kilometres in its lifetime. That’s far enough to get to the moon and back twice over – and then once more to the moon. A pangolin keeps its tongue furled in a pouch by its hip, a Greenland shark can live five hundred years, a wombat once inspired a love poem.

Task: Advocate for your animal in letter or speech

Form pairs based on the species you would like to be the subject of a persuasive letter to your local community or city paper or a speech to the class. You are advocating for action to preserve and protect an endangered species. Consider Katherine Rundell’s prose as a model for your own writing. When researching your species look for powerful images and evidence to support your case. If you select a speech, support it with a PowerPoint presentation with suitable images and evidence to back up your argument. In writing your letter or your speech use language which captures your passion and concern for the species or animal just as Katherine Rundell does. Tim Winton does this too in his powerful plea to protect Ningaloo. The power of the language can then become a critical element in the persuasion.

Relevant details in relation to the new NSW English 7-10 syllabus

Text requirements: The Golden Mole is an illustrated work of non-fiction (extended prose) and a quality multimodal text from around the world.
Explore our Year 9 texts and study guides and Year 7 texts and study guides for more Stage 4 and 5 reading material.

Concepts could include Argument and authority • Style

Relevant NSW English 7-10 Syllabus content

Stage 5 content listed below; please note the text could be studied in Stages 4 and 6 as well.

Understanding and responding to texts B | EN5-URB-01

Argument and authority

• Evaluate how effective arguments are constructed through combinations of specific language forms, features and structures, and apply an understanding of this in own texts
• Analyse how subjectivity and objectivity are constructed in texts to form arguments, and how these can represent particular perspectives
• Analyse how an engaging personal voice in texts can represent a perspective or argument and communicate a sense of authority, and experiment with these ideas in own texts
• Research, select and sequence appropriate evidence from texts and reliable sources to construct cohesive and authoritative arguments
• Evaluate how the authority of a text is continually negotiated and reassessed by readers
• Appreciate how authority over meaning in texts, such as multimodal and interactive texts, can be distributed, and is a negotiation between acts of authorship, publication and interpretation

Style

• Analyse how the distinctive aesthetic qualities and stylistic features of a text can shape and be shaped by its purpose, and experiment with this in own texts
• Evaluate how particular styles in text can be privileged according to context
• Examine the way an author’s distinct personal style shapes meaning in their work
• Appreciate how the style of a text can represent larger ideas of literary movements and genres

Expressing ideas and composing texts A | EN5-ECA-01

Writing

• Select and adapt appropriate codes, conventions and structures to shape meaning when composing written texts that are analytical, informative, persuasive, discursive and/or imaginative
• Develop a personal and informed voice that generates ideas and positions an audience through selection of appropriate word-level language and text-level features
• Experiment with language to create tone, atmosphere and mood
• Use rhetorical language strategically and subtly to shape complex ideas and convince others of a point of view, as appropriate to audience and purpose
• Use tense accurately and purposefully
• Apply narrative voice to depict complex ideas and enhance engagement
• Create engaging and authentic temporal and spatial settings for a range of purposes and audiences

Speaking

For students who are d/Deaf or hard of hearing, this will be through signing and/or speaking. For students who use other forms of communication to supplement speech, content should be taught through speaking (and listening) experiences, where appropriate, in combination with the student's preferred communication form.

• Select effective rhetorical strategies to position an audience and evoke an emotional response
• Communicate complex information, ideas and viewpoints using purposeful verbal and/or nonverbal language, including gestures, to emphasise key points, enhance engagement and clarify meaning
• Craft a range of spoken, signed or communicated texts that convey complex ideas for specific audiences
• Deliver spoken, signed or communicated texts with engaging use of intonation, emphasis, volume, pace and timing
• Participate in and lead a range of informal discussions about texts and ideas, including analytical, speculative and exploratory talk, to consolidate personal understanding and generate new ideas
• Signal the development of ideas through language, structure and presentational features

(English K-10 Syllabus 2022 © NSW Education Standards Authority for and on behalf of the Crown in right of the State of New South Wales, 2023)

Connecting texts