Well, it has been another adventurous week in the 2019 Reading Challenge, continuing with January's theme of Geography and Travel. This week we have a lovely picture book involving a canoe trip in Victoria, a rough-and-tumble autobiography covering "safaris" through the heart of Australia and a family trek in the footsteps of Burke and Wills.
Ruth Marsh read Rivertime by Trace Bella.
My eight-year-old and I enjoyed this book as we travelled the road to Darwin this week. We especially enjoyed the wonderfully detailed pencil drawings of the Glenelg river and it’s amazing native Australian wildlife.
This graphic novel is a winner of several book prizes, including the Readings Children’s Book Prize, the Wilderness Society’s Environment Award, and shortlisted in the CBCA Awards, NSW Premier’s Literary Awards and Speech Pathology Australia Awards.
It is aimed at older children and is a story about a boy, Clancy, who goes on a river journey by canoe with his Uncle along the Glenelg river in Victoria. Clancy slowly learns the slow pace of river life (and how to get out of the river using the jetty).
This story acknowledges that parts of the Glenelg River are known as Bochara and are shared by the Gunditjmara and Boandik peoples. The local Aboriginal tribes are woven seamlessly into the story as Clancy and Uncle Egg meet, camp with and learn from the Aboriginal people.
The story is also a journey of discovery. Clancy discovers a world of nature, self reliance and new knowledge as he gives up his toys, television and city life.
I recommend this book for both adults and children alike.
Australian Author, fiction book, Author I have never read before, C820.94 BAL(T)
Ruth Marsh read Rivertime by Trace Bella.
This graphic novel is a winner of several book prizes, including the Readings Children’s Book Prize, the Wilderness Society’s Environment Award, and shortlisted in the CBCA Awards, NSW Premier’s Literary Awards and Speech Pathology Australia Awards.
It is aimed at older children and is a story about a boy, Clancy, who goes on a river journey by canoe with his Uncle along the Glenelg river in Victoria. Clancy slowly learns the slow pace of river life (and how to get out of the river using the jetty).
This story acknowledges that parts of the Glenelg River are known as Bochara and are shared by the Gunditjmara and Boandik peoples. The local Aboriginal tribes are woven seamlessly into the story as Clancy and Uncle Egg meet, camp with and learn from the Aboriginal people.
The story is also a journey of discovery. Clancy discovers a world of nature, self reliance and new knowledge as he gives up his toys, television and city life.
I recommend this book for both adults and children alike.
Australian Author, fiction book, Author I have never read before, C820.94 BAL(T)
Samantha Baxter read Crocodile safari man: My Tasmanian Childhood in the Great Depression & 50 Years of Desert Safaris to the Gulf
of Carpentaria 1949-1999 by Keith Adams.
I chose this book from the Reading Challenge display in the
Eddie Koiki Mabo Library. I have always been a fan of the wild nature of Northern
Australia.
This book opens with a bit of personal history of the
author Keith Adams, who grew up in Depression era Tasmania. It crosses time and
place to close at the new millennium.
I was expecting a book that detailed the Safari itself,
however this is more an explanation on how his ‘home-movie’ Northern Safari,
screened successfully around Australia and the world. The Safari itself took place in 1955 in a modified Buick,
and reminds me of stories my Dad and Grandad used to tell about fishing,
camping and hunting in North Queensland and the NT. It is certainly an
adventurous tale.
Keith doesn’t shy away from his not always above board
behaviour, and honestly tells that he was probably a bit cruel to some of the
animals he encountered. But he also advocates for the protection of the animals
he himself hunted and the areas he explored, he has respect for the environment
and the people, while also exploiting them somewhat.
However by all accounts his film and this book, brought a
new view of Northern Australia to many.
Definitely worth a read for anyone interested in Australian
history and the wilds of Northern Australia.
Australian author, non-fiction, author you haven't read before, 919.4 ADA
Margaret Morris read Following Burke and Wills across Australia : A touring guide by Dave Phoenix.
Retracing the route of the Victorian Exploring Expedition in Australia in the 1860s, Dave Phoenix walked the entire route in 2008. The original trip was organised by the Royal Society of Victoria who wanted to contribute to the advance of geographical knowledge. Almost 150 years after Burke left Melbourne, James Cook University PhD student Dave Phoenix went to Victoria to retrace Burke's expedition by foot, with his wife Annie and their two dogs, Nala and Cooper tagging along.
The author gives detailed advice on routes, roads, monuments, and markers across the entire Australian outback. He points out specific places on the route where travellers can stand in the same spot where the explorers stood to draw and describe the landscape. Now you can follow them too. What a great idea for outback travel whilst connecting with history at the same time.
At each stage of this great transcontinental journey, Phoenix describes the original expedition's activities and challenges. There are excerpts from the explorers' journals and descriptions of the territory in mid-19th century. There are colour photos and historical illustrations, including many from the journals of original explorers, plus maps throughout. From Melbourne to Karumba, this epic journey is the stuff that legends are made from.
Even if you want to follow only part of the track, this is the book for you!
Australian author, Travel, non-fiction, 919.4 PHO
Margaret Morris read Following Burke and Wills across Australia : A touring guide by Dave Phoenix.
The author gives detailed advice on routes, roads, monuments, and markers across the entire Australian outback. He points out specific places on the route where travellers can stand in the same spot where the explorers stood to draw and describe the landscape. Now you can follow them too. What a great idea for outback travel whilst connecting with history at the same time.
At each stage of this great transcontinental journey, Phoenix describes the original expedition's activities and challenges. There are excerpts from the explorers' journals and descriptions of the territory in mid-19th century. There are colour photos and historical illustrations, including many from the journals of original explorers, plus maps throughout. From Melbourne to Karumba, this epic journey is the stuff that legends are made from.
Even if you want to follow only part of the track, this is the book for you!
Australian author, Travel, non-fiction, 919.4 PHO
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