Ill. by Mitch Vane. Little lunch series. Black Dog Books,
2016. ISBN 9781925381276
(Age: 7+) Highly recommended. Humour. Schools. Three stories are
combined in one volume in this offering from Katz, the stories of
the fifteen interval in the school's morning session making
wonderful reading for the newly independent reader. His stories are
always recognisable, they concern things that all kids can relate
to, their backgrounds and the interplay between students are something most
readers will have experienced. The familiarity of the tree in the
school yard evoking different responses from several groups of kids
is given full reign in the first story 'The old climbing tree', where
some children love the old tree, talking of things they have done
with it over the years, while one student in particular wants it
knocked down because it forms a hazard. How will the two opposing
points of view be resolved?
The second is just as engrossing as the twins leave school without
anyone knowing why. The corridor outside class 6E becomes a whodunit
as the kids try to work out what has happened to their friends,
using the flimsiest of details to form the most exciting of stories,
revealing how gossip begins.
And the third, 'The relationship', will intrigue and surprise
the readers as the group so well known now from the television
series is in turmoil as a grade six girl asks Rory out.
The stories are short and with funny illustrations, larger print and
some words emphasised with a different font, all adding to an easy
to read snack pack of tales to absorb.
Fran Knight
The pied piper, adapted and illustrated by Ayesha L Rubio
Five Mile Press, 2016. ISBN 9781760400477
(Age: 4+) Fairy tale. Pied Piper. Responsibility. Rats.
Reconciliation. Cautionary Tale. A quite different telling of the
story of the Pied Piper is told with stunning watercolour
illustrations. Rats have taken over the town of Hamelin and the
Piper, hearing of their plight, offers to help. The Mayor is so
enthralled that he offers him three sacks of gold. The Piper plays
his pipe and the rats follow him out of the city, but when the Piper
returns to take his reward, the Mayor refuses him. He discusses the
problem with the rats, who are by now his new friends, and they
return to the town and let the children know of the Mayor's
duplicity. The children decide to leave the town and not return
until the debt is paid. The parents finding their children's beds
empty, demand the Mayor leave, and go to the vaults to find the
money to pay the piper. Another twist to the usual story adds a
level of reconciliation to the already loved cautionary tale of
paying your debts. I love the humorous impressions of the town and
the rats, and the Mayor looks so oily!
Fran Knight
Clever Trevor's stupendous inventions by Andrew Weldon
Puffin, 2016. ISBN 9780143309154
Clever Trevor's name is not really Trevor. It's Stuart. But nothing
rhymes with 'Stuart' and because he is so clever - he invented and
built the Rabbit Brain Booster out of his dad's old computer and a
car battery - his friends have renamed him Trevor. But for all his
cleverness Trevor was still failing at school, especially this year
with Mr Schmedric. Nothing Trevor submitted for his assignments met
Mr Schmedric's expectations - but then Mr Schmedric was one of those
teachers who thought there was only one way to do anything. He won't
accept Trevor's inventions as acceptable solutions for assignments
and bullies him mercilessly. He is the epitome of a nightmare
teacher - and thankfully one that no student will ever meet.
So you can imagine Trevor's shock when he discovers that Mr
Schmedric is not only confiscating his projects but he was selling
them... and making a lot of money, which he makes sure Trevor
knows about. So Trevor and his friends hatch a plot to get their own
back, but Mr Schmedric is smarter than they give him credit for.
When he threatens to make Stuart repeat his class next year, they
have to come up with a new plan...
This is another very funny book-length cartoon from the talented
Andrew Weldon. We first met Clever Trevor as a friend of Steven, in
The Kid with the amazing head, and now he comes into his own.
It is an engaging tale which brings up all sorts of issues about the
ethical use of information and ideas as well as the concept of
power. Can authority be misused? Is it possible for the underdog to
win? Can brains overcome brawn?
Younger readers, particularly the boys and those who are reluctant
readers, will enjoy this story in its very accessible format and
will be eagerly awaiting a new adventure from this talented creator.
And in the meantime they can use the makerspace to create their own
great invention!
Barbara Braxton
Malkin Moonlight by Emma Cox
Bloomsbury, 2016. ISBN 9781408870846
(Age: 9+) Highly recommended. I actually finished reading this a
couple of weeks ago and the writing of this review has taken so long
because this is so different and so charming I have found it
difficult to find the right words. I could just say it's an animal
adventure story but it is so much more than that. It really puts me
in mind of such titles as Watership Down or even Mrs
Frisby and the rats of NIMH. Rarely does one read an animal
story which truly projects the protagonists as completely sentient
thinking creatures.
A small kitten loses one of his nine lives when he narrowly escapes
drowning along with the rest of his litter. Little does he know but
he is destined to become a hero. The Moon recognises this and
blesses him with her naming of him 'Malkin Moonlight'. This small
feline with a huge and magnificent tail has an acute sense for the
distress of those in need and quickly loses another life in the
first of many rescues.
On his third life, he is rescued in turn by a Domestic named Roux.
Together these two form an unbreakable bond and fall in love. Roux
chooses to abandon the comforts of domestic living and runs away
with Malkin. As they search for a new home they come across a
recycling centre populated by cats who are divided into two warring
camps: those on the 'good' side of the centre where they have
accommodated themselves comfortably and are cared for by the
workers; and those who lurk on the toxic dump site over 'the wall'.
Only Malkin can unite these two factions and create a peace that
will last forever. The adventures and dramas along the way are
gripping and tense but the love, respect and true compassion of this
singular cat and his friends are a remarkable lesson for all
readers.
This first novel is destined to become a modern classic in my
opinion.
Highly recommended for readers from around 9 years up.
Sue Warren
Fright Club by Ethan Long
Bloomsbury, 2016. ISBN 9781681190433
This is one of the cutest board books I've seen for ages. Forget
about sweet and pretty - this one is just in time for Halloween and
a fun story for little people.
The local Fright Club led by Vladimir the vampire is busily
practising their 'ghoulish faces, scary moves, chilling sounds' in
their clubhouse when there comes a knock at the door. A sweet fluffy
bunny asks if she can join the club and is promptly rejected. The
monsters continue with their very amateurish spookiness and there is
another knock at the door. This time the cute bunny is accompanied
by her foxy lawyer citing discrimination about being excluded and
pretty soon all the woodland creatures are picketing the Fright
Club. Of course eventually the monsters have to give in and let them
all join - and who knew? Those little animals can be quite scary
when they want to be!
This is just great fun with a load of good devices to talk about if
you did want to share it with older ones; speech bubbles,
onomatopoeia etc but basically it is a just a hoot for Halloween.
Check out the trailer
online.
Sue Warren
The double cross and other skills I learned as a SUPERSPY by Jackson Pearce
Bloomsbury, 2016. ISBN 9781619634145
(Age: 8-12) Recommended. Smart, intelligent twelve-year-old Hale
Jordan lives with his secret agent parents and younger sister
Kennedy at the SRS Sub Rosa Society, an underground academy for
superspies. Hale struggles to pass the physical test to become a
junior agent, unfortunately his classmates call him Hale the Whale.
When his parents disappear during Operation Groundcover and the
leaders at SRS are unwilling to save them an unlikely hero emerges.
Hale uses all the spy techniques he has learnt to break into the
offices of the League, their rival agency.
Of course, the daring deeds of a young agent like Hale take him into
dangerous situations that require skill and ingenuity. There are
spies and double agents, counterplots and risky missions. When he
secretly opens the SRS files, he discovers that his parents have been
listed as eliminated on sight. The young agent befriends Ben, an
inventor, and his sister Beatrix, a computer whiz from the League
and they work together to foil the SRS plot to kidnap talented kids
and turn them into secret agents.
Pearce's protagonist Hale rises above the bullying from his
classmates and he uses his knowledge and abilities to overcome
difficult situations. The supporting characters are likeable as
well, there's Ben's with his timely and clever inventions, Kennedy's
cheerleading team help with a risky escape and Beatrix's valuable
computer skills. Jackson Pearce's The double cross is an
appealing novel, a funny, action-packed novel that is suitable for
confident readers who enjoy spy stories.
Rhyllis Bignell
Two troll tales from Norway retold by Margrete Lamond
Ill. by Ingrid Kallick. Christmas Press, 2016. ISBN 9780994234056
(Age: 6+) Norway. Myths and legends. Cautionary tales. Trolls. Two
troll stories from Norway are retold in this offering from Christmas
Press. Trolls are mischievous beings, not to be trusted and cause a
great deal of harm, so people must be on their guard, especially if
they can see them.
The first story, 'The little old lady from around the bend',
offers us a cautionary tale. The old woman in her youth promises to
help a frog should he need it, but he turns out to be a troll and
she is asked to come to his house to help his wife in labour. He
promises riches but she is not allowed to use it, or talk about it.
When the troll baby is born she is told to put salve on its eyes
which she does, applying some to one of her eyes as well. This
allows her to see the troll steal from the village shop and once the
troll realises this, the woman is struck blind in that eye and her
riches disappear. Never trust a troll.
The second story, 'The golden ball of yarn', has a similar
thread of trust and deception. A woodfeller retrieves a ball of
yarn which has rolled near his feet. Despite thinking the girl may
be a troll, a huldra, he gives it to her. She leads him into a
golden place but when he wakes his friends tell him he has not moved
all night. When his wife brings his lunch in the meadows, he is
suspicious knowing that sometimes a huldra replaces a wife, luring
men away. He notices she has a tail and chops it off, so sending her
away. He and his wife then take a ship to somewhere the huldra
cannot find them.
Both stories offer an alternative myth to those usually read in
class. They tell of a different culture and certainly an unusual set
of nasty beings. These could be compared with other cautionary tales
in other cultures.
As these are stories about trolls, I was surprised that the
decorative cover of this handsomely designed book did not reflect
something more of the creatures inside.
That aside it will find a place in a library which offers myths and
legends as a study.
Fran Knight
The hero maker: A biography of Paul Brickhill by Stephen Dando-Collins
Penguin Random House, 2016. ISBN 9780857988126
(Age: Secondary) Subtitled: 'the Australian behind the legendary
stories The dam busters, The great escape and Reach
for the sky'. As the daughter of a Lancaster wireless
operator/air gunner growing up in the Sydney suburbs one of my
favourite spots in our house was in front of our fireplace which had
built-in bookshelves on either side. My father was a voracious
reader and Paul Brickhill's books were among his favourites. I had
also consumed them all by the time I was 12 and returned to them
many times over the years. Now those same copies reside on my own
bookshelf.
Having been raised on such a steady diet of Brickhill and knowing
that my father had (at some stage) been acquainted with him (who
knows where?), it would be reasonable to expect that I might have
had some knowledge of the man's life. The only thing I've ever known
was that he was a journalist.
Thanks to this wonderful biography, which I have also devoured as
greedily as I did the man's books, I now have a much greater
awareness of this hugely successful writer and his often troubled
life.
Because I urge you to read this for yourself (I could almost
impatiently stamp my foot and say 'you must'!) there is no need for
much detail regarding the content. Dando-Collins takes us on the
full journey of Brickhill's life including some background history
regarding his family's involvement with newspapers. He describes the
young Paul's childhood on the North Shore of Sydney and his meeting
with a solitary unkempt boy of similar age named Peter Finch who
became a lifelong friend. An uninspired school experience led to
some unfulfilling jobs until Brickhill gained a foothold in the
newspaper business which was his heritage, rising quickly through
the ranks from copyboy to journalist. Despite enjoying some
accolades for his work Paul felt in need of a new challenge and
adventure and decided to realise his childhood dream of flying by
joining the RAAF (despite initial disdain of enlisting). Before too
long he was a fully-fledged Spitfire pilot and on combat missions
but was shot down near Tunis narrowly escaping death as he abandoned
his 'kite' and was captured by Italians who of course promptly
handed him over to the Germans. There followed a long stint in
Stalag 3 which Paul was later to make famous - or infamous - as the
setting for The great escape (RIP The Fifty). Although an integral
member of the X Organisation Brickhill was not among the escapees
and at the close of war was force marched across Germany with other
POWs along with retreating German troops and refugees. Returning to
civilian life after the trauma and privations of POW existence was
not easy for many survivors, Paul among them, but his determination
to tell the story of the great escape and honour his comrades drove
him to complete his first 'escape' book. Almost ten years later,
with other escape books, The dam busters and (what I still regard
as) his 'tour de force' Reach for the sky, the biography of Douglas
Bader, Brickhill was celebrated around the world for both books and
screen adaptations as well as journalistic pieces.
The rigours of the war were not the stuff of easy and calm futures
and Paul's tempestuous and tumultuous marriage to young model Margot
eventually collapsed into catastrophe. This is a no kid gloves account
of Brickhill's personal life. His unpredictable moods and tempers
(including striking his wife on a number of occasions), the
depression, mental illness, heavy drinking and reclusiveness are all
revealed. When his marriage finally faltered it seemed that so did
Paul's creativity and though he 'worked' on several projects over
the next two decades, he more or less lived rather like a hermit in
his small top floor unit in Balmoral, Sydney, without ever
publishing again.
Some critics have dismissed Brickhill's work as being too
'journalistic' but I will say I have never enjoyed reading
newspapers and the like, but I love reading Brickhill. If their
comments refer to the fact that he employs his skills of
journalistic details and observation, yes he does. But he also has a
deft touch for laconic humour and the ability to weave facts into a
cracking yarn. For me the absolute joy of this book was that
Dando-Collin's literary style appears to echo the very essence of
the subject's own work and at times I could 'hear' Brickhill's voice
telling his own story in his own words.
I am so grateful to Random House Australia for allowing me the
privilege of reading and reviewing this volume. I am also grateful
to Stephen Dando-Collins who has breathed life again into one of the
integral storytellers in my life. How fitting in 2016, the 100th
anniversary of his birth and 25th anniversary of his death that Paul
Brickhill's skill and story can be brought to a new generation of
readers and this tribute which is a testament to his global acclaim
is both perfect and poignant.
If you have secondary students who are keen on biographies I suggest
this would be a valuable addition to your collection but above all,
as an Australian reader, I highly recommend it to you to celebrate
the life of one of our most widely recognised writers.
Sue Warren
Tell the truth, shame the devil by Melina Marchetta
Viking, 2016. ISBN 9780670079100
(Age: 15+) Highly recommended. Mystery. Marchetta's outstanding
ability as an author stands out in this engrossing and at times,
heart wrenching story. Chief Inspector Bish Ortley has been
suspended from the London Met, and still grieving from the death of
his son and the divorce from his wife. Drinking heavily hasn't
helped, and then he finds out that his daughter on a student trip to
France has been on a bus that was bombed. Desperate to find out what
has happened, Bish races across the Channel and although his
daughter Bee is safe, it turns out that Violette LeBrac, the
granddaughter of a man who bombed a London supermarket, was on
board. Bish had been involved in the arrest of her mother, Noor
LeBrac. As he begins to investigate the bombing, Violette and
another boy, Eddie disappear, and Bish begins to uncover the truth
about what had happened in the past.
Bish is a compelling character who immediately gains the sympathy of
the reader as he tries to cope with his ex-wife's pregnancy and new
husband and a cantankerous teenage daughter while traumatised by his
son's drowning. He has the knack of being able to get people to
confide in him and gradually as he talks to the teens from the bus
and their parents, a picture of what has happened begins to emerge.
His investigative skills are put to the test as he navigates through
a foreign language (French) and the social media that the students
on the bus have used to communicate what has happened. The teens'
different characters come alive on the page, with all the angst,
that comes with coping with hormones and difficult family
backgrounds. Violette is particularly compelling as she confronts
what has happened in the past and Bee's efforts to come to grips
with her brother's death and parents' divorce provide a deeper
background to the reader coming to understand Bish.
The multicultural nature of Europe provides the setting for the
novel. The racism that faces anyone who has a Middle Eastern
background and the treatment that the LeBrac family has been given
is an integral part of the story and is so realistic as to what is
happening in our modern society. Marchetta's writing makes the
reader ponder what tolerance and justice, right and wrong, is all
about as Bish follows the trail of Violetta and Eddie, while
overturning what had been considered the truth in the past.
An outstanding crime novel, Tell the truth, shame the devil
will appeal to adults, but is sure to resonate with older teens as
well.
Pat Pledger
Born to sing by Sally Morgan
Ill. by Craig Smith. Omnibus (Scholastic) 21015. ISBN 9781742991511
(Age: 5+) Highly recommended. Aboriginal themes. Family. Music.
Whales. Maddie loves to sing. She makes up her own songs and sings
everywhere. One of her songs is about the whales that swim near the
coast north of Perth. One day her family announces that the boys and
Dad will go to Tasmania, while Maddie, her mum and Gran will go
north to see the whales. They are to take the caravan that mum
bought at a garage sale, and Maddie is a little dismayed that it may
not survive its ten hour journey. They pack the car and the van and
set off driving the first five hours easily and stopping overnight
at a caravan park. The next day it is not the van that breaks down,
but the car, and they wait along the side of the road for someone to
stop and help them. The older man who stops and cleans their spark
plugs gives them his son's business card. He takes tourists out to
see the whales but warns the women that the boats this year are
mainly booked. Mum is distraught, she feels she has let Maddie down,
but when they get to Denham, Maddie makes friends with a girl
swimming with her, and when they come out of the water, they find
that her grandfather is the man who stopped on the road. All ends
happily when he takes them on their own trip out to see the whales.
A gentle story about families and their holiday, Morgan also
includes conservation themes, along with a reminder that we all need
to support one another.
Fran Knight
Pattan's pumpkin: an Indian flood story by Chitra Soundar
Ill. by Frane Lessac. Otter-Barry Books (Little Orchard) 2016. ISBN
9781910959442
(Age: 5+) Recommended. Flood stories. Myths and legends. India. Many
cultures have a myth about a great flood destroying part of their
world, and this Indian story will be a wonderful addition to a
library's store of myths and legends, begging to be read and
compared with other stories in other cultures.
Pattan an Indian farmer tends his crops in his valley with his wife,
Kannie and their children. He finds a small plant with large yellow
flowers and takes it home. Here it grows one enormous pumpkin, so
large that it overshadows everything in the vicinity. One day it
begins to rain and does not stop. As the water rises, Pattan and
Kanni fill sacks with grain and rice to be taken to higher ground,
and he dives into the enormous pumpkin and scoops out the flesh. The
animals follow him into the pumpkin and when the pumpkin is cut from
the stalk, it rolls down into the river, with everyone safe inside.
Kanni sings to keep them calm, and when they find the pumpkin has
stopped, they look out to find they are in a lovely valley and the
rain has stopped. They then build their houses and plant their crops
and their families have been there ever since.
This makes a wonderful story of surviving the rain, of keeping your
family together, or thanking your forebears for what they achieved,
all startlingly illustrated by Frane Lessac. Readers will not be
able to take their eyes off her vibrant drawings reflecting the
Indian background and the plants and animals of that region.
Fran Knight
Sydney: word by word by Sonny and Biddy
Little Hare, 2016. ISBN 9781760125523
(Age: All) Recommended. Cities. Sydney. Lifestyle. Sonny Day and
Biddy Maroney work in Sydney and have created an almost wordless
picture book which celebrates the sounds, tastes and look of their
capital city for readers of all ages. Many well known iconic
structures are illustrated interspersed with some less familiar, but
all sparkling with vibrancy in this view of Sydney filled with
people involved in a variety of things. We see people at work and at
breakfast, commuting to work, surfing, playing the guitar, running,
drinking coffee, cycling and at the beach. There is a busker, a gay
pride flag, a Chinese festival, the Zoo, the Bridge and the Opera
House, and a queue.
Each page has just one word and the illustration will evoke many
more from the reader.
In the centre of the book, for example, is a page called Alley, and
the illustrations shows an alley with many cats lurking, looking out
at the reader or just scurrying away, partly hidden by an array of
pot plants.
I love the illustrations which are reminiscent of 1930's film and
travel posters with their Art Deco screen printed look, bold blocks
of colour, white borders and understated and restricted colour
range. This book will encourage discussions about what a city has to
offer, and why cities are built. But more than that readers of all
ages will be delighted with a view of Sydney that is sparkling and
effervescent, all encompassing and enlightening, encouraging them to
open their eyes to what is around them.
Fran Knight
Blue the builder's dog by Jen Storer
Ill. by Andrew Joyner. Penguin, 2016. ISBN 9780670077809
Blue is a builder's dog - an ordinary builder's dog that can be
found on almost any building site in this country. He rides in the
ute to work, guards the tools, greets the subbies and signs the
concrete slabs. (Oops!) He samples sausage rolls at smoko, cleans up
the lunchtime pies and pasties and does all the things a builder's
dog is supposed to do. He is mates with the whole team.
But Blue does not have a hard hat, he is not allowed up high (even
though he liked to go there) and the Big Boss does not take his
advice. He is also not allowed to sleep in the house with the
builder. He is consigned to the shed - which is NO place for a
Working Dog of his stature and importance - and this makes him cranky.
All he wants is his own kennel - not even a flash one, just one
with a hidey-hole for old bones, a swinging door with his name and
maybe a periscope. So he decides to build his own and quits the
building team. Instead of going to work, he stays home to build his
own kennel. The result is not quite like the plan he had in his head
and probably wouldn't meet the Big Boss's standards, but
nevertheless it is a grand home worthy of a Working Dog. That night
he snuggles in happily content and unconcerned that the builder has
gone out. Until a huge storm comes...
Jen Storer and Andrew Joyner have created a funny but touching story
that will appeal to readers of all ages. Everyone will recognise
Blue (some may even know him) and empathise with his need to have a
place of his own. They will laugh at his building skills but be sad
as he huddles on the doormat in the rain waiting for the builder to
come home. And they will delight in the ending which so clearly
demonstrates how important it is to be part of a team. They might
even like to try their hand at designing the perfect kennel for Blue
and maybe even build it if you have a makerspace.
It is an uplifting story that needs to be read just for the fun of
it with the perfect pictures emphasizing the quality of the text.
Andrew Joyner has drawn the iconic Blue and captured the
personalities and conditions on the building site with great detail
and humour so well while Jen Storer has taken a situation that is
played out across Australia everywhere every day and turned it into
an engaging tale that is just delightful. One of those true picture
books where the marriage between text and illustration is so
synergistic that it touches something within and becomes a
read-it-again-and-again favourite.
Barbara Braxton
A child of books by Oliver Jeffers
Ill. by Sam Winston. Walker Books, 2016. ISBN 9781406358315
(Age: All) Highly recommended. Books. Classic stories. Every few
years a book comes along which extols the virtues of books and
reading, told in a way which initiates discussion and sharing,
illustrated so beautifully that everyone reading it will look at
the drawings more closely, stopping on each page to breathe in the
images presented. Children and adults alike will read and discuss
this book, taking time to share their reminiscences of books read
long ago or just yesterday, sharing their ideas on what makes a
classic, importuning others to read books they have read and
enjoyed.
Each page has text from a recognised classic story: Alice in
Wonderland, Treasure Island, The secret garden,
Gulliver's travels, Swiss family Robinson, Snow
White and Blood Red, Kidnapped are amongst the forty
or so mentioned. Each endpaper lists all these books, and will make
a wonderful list to begin thinking about what you would add, or discussing
with others what they might have put on the endpaper, or with a
class, brainstorming the sorts of books they would like to see
there. It is all down to personal experience with books, and many
will add a whole range of others they see as classics, and what
discussions will be had as a result!
The girl asks the boy to join her as she sails on a sea of words and
books, taking him on her voyage of the imagination, climbing
mountains, finding treasure in a cave, losing themselves in a
forest, escaping monsters, flying to the stars. All it takes is
imagination, and books hold the key offering this experience to all.
The stunning illustrations parallel the stories reflected by the
text, with mountains or seas of words holding the pair as they have
their adventure. Or the cave is made from a rockfall of words while
the forest overleaf is full of what seem like trees but are really
old fashioned books standing erect. The way Winston has used words
to illustrate the text will have readers turning the book every
which way to discover which book's lines have been used to create
the image. Even the houses on the last four pages turn into a shelf
of books. Just wonderful. This will be a treat for anyone who reads
it, the text and illustrations are beacons, leading to hours of
contemplation and discussion.
Fran Knight
Eleanor, Elizabeth by Libby Gleeson
Ill. by Beattie Alvarez. Second Look, 2016. ISBN 9780994234070.
(Age: 11+) Highly recommended.
This is a new edition of the novel published in 1984, Libby
Gleeson's first novel and Highly Commended in the 1985 Children's
Book Council of Australia awards. Her 2016 introduction explains
that it drew on her experience as a 10 year old moving to a new town
and having to come to terms with a new school, new friends, and a
new culture.
Eleanor is not happy when her family moves from the cool Tablelands
to the hot dry country plains, leaving behind close friends, and
starting a new school with a teacher that likes to crack the ruler
and Danny the bully out to get her in the schoolyard. So it is a relief to
escape into the derelict old family schoolhouse on their property
and then even more interesting when she discovers her grandmother’s
diary hidden in a tea chest. What she reads there leads her to
explore further the unknown areas up the creek and across the
fields. But exploring with her brothers and their friend leads them
all into great danger.
Gleeson's writing weaves together the different worlds of country
life, the children's games and conversations, Eleanor's private
thoughts and fears, and the diary entries of the nineteenth century.
Readers will readily identify with Eleanor's loneliness, her
curiosity and her sense of adventure, and follow along with her as
dramatic circumstances force her to assume a role of great bravery
and courage. The story still holds strong today and this new edition
with line drawing illustrations by Beattie Alvarez should be a
popular read in any school library.
Helen Eddy
