Koala hugging a wooden post with eucalyptus leaves beside a sign labeled Eucalyptus.

Koala Holding a Eucalyptus Branch by the Sign

A wide-eyed koala clings to a wood-grain post, holding leafy eucalyptus stems beneath a labeled garden sign.

🎨 How to color it

Color the koala soft ash gray with a charcoal nose, the wooden posts honey brown, and the eucalyptus leaves in dusty sage and blue-green. Use sharp colored pencils for the leaf veins, wood grain, and tiny flower buds, then fill the koala’s larger fur areas with gentle circular strokes. Try making the “EUCALYPTUS” sign a pale cream so the letters stand out like a handmade label in the branches.

The story behind this coloring page

Willa’s Handmade Leaf Sign — Under the quiet shade cloth of the sanctuary path, Willa pressed both paws around a smooth strip of bark. Read the full story →

Under the quiet shade cloth of the sanctuary path, Willa pressed both paws around a smooth strip of bark. She wanted to make a label for the young eucalyptus before the noon visitors came shuffling by in their soft shoes. The grown koalas had neat signs with straight letters. Willa had a wobbly charcoal stick, two sticky paws, and a heart thumping like rain on leaves.

She climbed down from her safe fork to find sap for glue. The path smelled of damp wood and crushed eucalyptus. Near the fence, a satin bowerbird hopped out, carrying a blue feather brighter than sky. “That bark is plain,” he said gently. “Plain things can still point the way,” Willa whispered, though her cheeks felt hot. The bird traded one curl of sap for a tiny feather stroke, and Willa paid by sharing her fattest leaf.

Back at the post, she rubbed, pressed, and scratched until the letters stood strong enough to read. Her paws ached. Her fur held flecks of charcoal. But when the first child sounded out “Eucalyptus,” Willa hugged the post and smiled. Next time you spot the sign above her head, see if you can find the proud, wobbly work of two sticky paws.