Just in time for Book Week (22-27 August 2021), Gumtree launched a free digital book with children’s entertainer Jimmy Rees, best known for playing the role of Jimmy Giggle in Giggle and Hoot. The online children’s book, Ollie and the Spectral Spectacles, follows the adventures of the young amateur inventor Ollie whose magical spectacles help him to see the value in the items we throw away or leave to gather dust in the garage.
Planet Ark provided the foreword for the book as part of our partnership with Gumtree, which aims to help Australians reduce waste and embrace the benefits of trading in the circular economy. As part of National Recycling Week's Schools Recycle Right Challenge (4 October – 12 November), a curriculum-aligned lesson plan for Years 5 and 6 has been created to support the book and further develop children’s understanding of keeping products and materials in use.
Gumtree developed the book based on its own research which revealed nine in 10 Australian parents rate learning about financial literacy as or more important than maths, yet 86 per cent cite barriers to educating them on it. The research also discovered nine in 10 parents acknowledge they could be doing more to teach their children about living sustainably, yet one in five don’t know how.
Jimmy Rees worked with Gumtree to develop the children's digital book, Ollie and the Spectral Spectacles
The research hit home for father of three Jimmy Rees.
“As a parent, I believe passing on a solid understanding of the value of money and ways to save the planet is one of my greatest responsibilities. This is why I am so passionate about this book and its message. It was a lot of fun working with Gumtree to give parents like myself a tool to make a complex, yet important topic fun, relatable and simple for kids to understand. Knowledge is the foundation for setting the next generation up for success,” said Mr Rees.
Watch Jimmy Rees' online reading
Popular children’s entertainer Jimmy Rees has performed an online reading of the book. Learn more about Jimmy's reading and download the book for free here.