About This Author

Request Author Booking

Sarah Pye
Grade 3- Year 7
Queensland

Dr Sarah Pye is an author, educator and puppeteer. She is passionate about using narratives, hands-on activities and discussion to connect all ages to the natural world and help them tell their own stories.

Sarah’s presentations and workshops for primary school revolve around her Wildlife Wong series for ages 8-12, which was shortlisted for an Australian Educational Publishing Award in 2022. Wildlife Wong and the Sun Bear was also an award-winning finalist in the Children’s Non-Fiction category of the 2021 International Book Awards.

Each book is divided into nonfiction adventure narratives, cool animal facts and amazing experiments which align with English, HASS and Science curriculums and offer endless touchpoints. Sometimes the real-life hero of Sarah’s stories, Dr Wong, answers questions all the way from Borneo via the big screen!

Sarah is also an inspirational keynote speaker for high school students launching into adulthood at graduation. Her life reads like an adventure novel: from a ‘boat schooled’ teen sailing the world, to restaurant manager in Hawaii, commercial boat captain in the Whitsundays and single mum on the Sunshine Coast. Sarah’s multimedia presentations explore resilience, tenacity and some of the most important environmental themes of our time.

Books by Sarah Pye

Wildlife Wong and the Sun Bear (Book 1)

Real-life adventure story, facts and experiments for children aged 8-12. When Wildlife Wong meets Damai (which sounds like dam eye), she is a tiny sun bear cub with an uncertain future. Her mother has been killed by poachers. She is scared and alone. Wildlife Wong becomes her new mum. He teaches her to climb trees and dig for food. Before long, she joins a gang of new sun bear friends at the Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre. Life is much better…but…Will Damai ever be a free sun bear again? After the story in first book of this acclaimed series, learn interesting facts about sun bears and their rainforest home, conduct experiments and become a scientist just like Wildlife Wong!

Wildlife Wong and the Orangutan (Book 2)

Real-life adventure story, facts and experiments for children aged 8-12. When Wildlife Wong is far away from home, in a country called Taiwan, he looks after a sad rescued orangutan called Polly. She has been stolen from her mother and kept as a pet. He vows to help save wildlife and, when he moves to Pollys true home of Borneo, he comes face-to-face with her wild relatives. Some are angry, some are naughty, and some are nice. What will Wong do when a playful orangutan locks him in his office? After the story in the second book in this acclaimed series, learn interesting facts about orangutans and their rainforest home, then see if you can build your very own orangutan nest!

Wildlife Wong and the Pygmy Elephant (Book 3)

Real-life adventure story, facts and experiments for children aged 8-12. Pygmy means small, but pygmy elephants are the largest mammals in Borneo, and they can be very dangerous. When Wildlife Wong is tracking bears in the rainforest, he tries his best to avoid them, but he isnt always successful. In this book, the third in this acclaimed series, curious elephants take their own photos with his camera traps, an angry male chase him down the road, and a family of elephants sit on his car in the middle of the night! So, what will Wong do when a lonely baby elephant walks across the road in front of him? After the story, learn cool facts about pygmy elephants and their rainforest home. Then see if you can build your own camera from a shoebox!

Wildlife Wong and the Bearded Pig (Book 4)

Real-life adventure story, facts and experiments for children aged 8-12. When Wildlife Wong was a boy, he had many unusual pets. Do you want to meet some of them? Wong dreamed of working with wildlife animals, and eventually his dream came true. In this, the forth book in this acclaimed series, Wildlife Wong spends three years living in the middle of the jungle trying to trap bearded pigs. Can you imagine that? Along the way, he meets some crazy characters like Michael, his mate Mary, and their three little piglets Pork, Chop and Bacon! What do you think he learns from them? After the story, learn cool facts about bearded pigs and their rainforest home. Then see if you can make a 3D map of Wong’s jungle!

Wildlife Wong and the Fig Wasp (Book 5)

Real-life adventure story, facts and experiments for children aged 8-12. In this, the fifth book in this acclaimed series, Wildlife Wong encounters weird and wonderful plants and creatures as he tries to track elusive sun bears in Borneo. Meet frogs that fly, flowers that stink, and ants that can carry their own weight. They are all amazing, but it is the relationship between the gigantic fig tree and the tiny fig wasp that surprises him the most. What do you think Wildlife Wong discovers? After the story, discover amazing facts about the tiny creatures in the rainforest and make your very own mini rainforest.

Wildlife Wong and the Sumatran Rhino (Book 6)

Real-life adventure story, facts and experiments for children aged 8-12. In the sixth book in this acclaimed series, our hero Wildlife Wong is on the frontline of a fight against extinction. One of the most ancient animals on earth is disappearing fast. Can the Sumatran Rhino be saved? Or will stuffed animals be the only way for children to see them in the future? After the story, learn more about these incredible creatures, then make your own Sumatran Rhino and rainforest model.

Saving Sun Bears: One man’s quest to save a species

In this inspirational story, Australian author Sarah Pye takes you on a journey through the extraordinary globe-trotting life of Malaysian ecologist Dr Wong Siew Te, or Papa Bear, as tries to save the forgotten bear from extinction and proves one person CAN make a difference

Our Partners