The platypus used to play in the bush, chasing bugs and butterflies, nipping the emus' long, skinny legs, and running up and down the tails of the kangaroos. One day, the little platypus sees a yellow duck playing at a billabong and instantly longs to be a duck with yellow feathers, paddling around in circles on the water. Told in the style of a creation story, this enchanting tale explains how the little platypus, with the help of a fire spirit, became the curious creature that is found diving, swimming, and floating in the billabongs and rivers of the bush. The duck-billed, web-footed, paddle-tailed platypus didn't always look so peculiar.

Previous ed.: 2005.