Tag: mark wilson

Birrung the Secret Friend by Jackie French

Sydney Cove, December 1789

I waited in the line outside the storehouse. Only two convicts were before me – big fellows with tattoos on their arms and dirty bare feet – waiting for their rations too. My tummy was so empty it couldn’t even gurgle.

There was cheese in that storehouse.

I wanted that cheese so bad I could already feel the maggots wriggling against my tongue. Ma used to say that maggots meant food was going bad, but when your tummy is empty, maggots are just extra food. I’d been eating maggots with my cheese for the two years we’d been here in New South Wales, and hadn’t even got a tummy ache. Not from the maggots anyways, Hunger ached worse than bad food.

Sydney Cove, December 1789

I waited in the line outside the storehouse. Only two convicts were before me – big fellows with tattoos on their arms and dirty bare feet – waiting for their rations too. My tummy was so empty it couldn’t even gurgle.

There was cheese in that storehouse.

I wanted that cheese so bad I could already feel the maggots wriggling against my tongue. Ma used to say that maggots meant food was going bad, but when your tummy is empty, maggots are just extra food. I’d been eating maggots with my cheese for the two years we’d been here in New South Wales, and hadn’t even got a tummy ache. Not from the maggots anyways, Hunger ached worse than bad food.

Barney is a young boy eking out an existence in the first days of Sydney’s settlement. His mother is dead and he’s caring for a girl he found in the days after his mother’s death. Sydney is a tough place and he’s constantly on his guard. Which is why, when he meets Birrung, Richard Johnson and his family, he is slow to trust. But gradually he settles into his new life, working hard and trying to decipher the mysteries around Birrung’s presence in the family. Mark Wilson’s fine drawings at the head of each chapter help to showcase aspects of the fledgling colony. Birrung the Secret Friend is the first in a new series from Jackie French.

Truth, it is said, is stranger than fiction and it’s difficult to look back at the early days of white settlement in Australia and understand some of the peculiarities and beliefs. Told from the perspective of a young illiterate boy, Birrung the Secret Friend shows that education doesn’t guarantee any common sense. French’s Sydney is a tough place, full of thieves and those who cling to the ways of England. But for those who embrace the opportunities offered in Australia, who are prepared to work hard, there is much to be gained. Birrung the Secret Friend also paints a picture of relationships between settlers and ‘Indians’ (as Barney calls them). There is a sadness for what could have been a very different relationship between the two populations, and a theory for why this couldn’t be. A very readable story of childhood friendships in a long-ago Sydney. Recommended for mid-primary readers.

 

Birrung the Secret Friend, Jackie French Angus & Robertson 2015 ISBN: 9780732299439

review by Claire Saxby, Children’s author and bookseller

www.clairesaxby.com

A Day to Remember, by Jackie French, illustrated by Mark WIlson

From that first Anzac Day to commemorations in the years that followed, and through to the ceremonies of today, and even beyond, this book traces the growth of the Anzac legend and the development of the day

Each year on 25 April, the nation stops to remember.
This is the history of that day.

On April 25 1915 8000 Australian and New Zealand soldiers waded ashore on a Turkish beach, beginning a campaign which was ultimately unsuccessful in terms of the war, but which began a legend which has united Australians for almost 100 years. From that first Anzac Day to commemorations in the years that followed, and through to the ceremonies of today, and even beyond, this book traces the growth of the Anzac legend and the development of the day which now serves to remember not just the men who fought at Gallipoli, but all the men and women who have served the country in war, and all who have been affected by war.

French handles the topic with a mix of straight fact, useful reminders about the importance of the day and raising of issues along the way. Because the book spans almost 100 years of history, it touches on many issues, including the contribution of Aboriginal soldiers, Vietnam War protests, conscription, and more. Some of these are issues which young readers may be unfamiliar, which offers opportunity both for education and for discussion.

Illustrations, by Mark Wilson, use a variety of techniques, including pencil, ink and acrylic on canvas and on paper, and using in places images of historical documents, to reflect the varying time periods. Wilson includes scenes of war and battle, as well as of civilian faces and places, to give a broad image of Australia’s varied engagement in war. In doing so he gives an honest insight into a wide spectrum of issues and considerations, again giving food for thought and discussion.

This is a useful teaching tool, but also deserves a place in home libraries, helping children to understand the significance of Anzac Day.

A Day to Remember

A Day to Remember, by Jac kie French, illustrated by Mark Wilson
Angus & Robertson, 2012

ISBN 9780732293604&

This book is available in good bookstores or online from Fishpond. Buying through this link supports Aussiereviews.

The Castaways of the Charles Eaton, by Gary Crew & Mark Wilson

When the ship Isabella sails from Sydney in June 1836, its orders are to search for survivors of the Charles Eaton, a ship which had been missing for two years.

What the crew of the Isabella found was disarming. On Murray Island, known to be inhabited by head hunters, they find just two survivors – a toddler and a young cabin boy – living with the natives. They also find seventeen skulls – the remains of the other victims of the wreck of the Charles Eaton. The islanders have slain these seventeen, but spared the boys because they were believed to be the ghosts of long-lost children now returned to them.

The story of the rescue of the two white boys and subsequent events is told by the fifteen year old clerk of the Isabella, whose job it is to try to keep the two survivors calm and happy on their trip back to Sydney. This chocie of narrator adds depth to the book, with the clerk’s insights and asides proving very telling.

Based on a factual story, author Gary Crew and illustrator Mark wilson weave a story of intrigue.

The Castaways of the Charles Eaton, by Gary Crew and Mark Eaton
Lothian, 2002

I Saw Nothing, by Gary Crew & Mark Wilson

Rosie lives in 1930s Tasmania, with her father, a timber cutter, and family. Although they are in wild country, Rosie and her family are happy and safe.

One day, though, a fur trapper who Rosie fear- Elias Churchill – comes to the camp, looking for her father. When her father returns, he takes Rosie with him to see Churchill at the railway station. There, while her father is off talking to the trapper, Rosie sees what Chrichill is up to. In a train carriage she sees a thylacine, caged and ready to be sent to Hobart Zoo. Churchill has trapped it and sold it. Rosie is saddened to see the wild animal, hurt and scared.

Several years later, Rosie goes to see the thylacine in the Hobart Zoo. She learns that it is possibly the last thylacine alive. When it dies, she wonders if she could have done something to save it, and perhaps the whole species, by helping it when it was trapped and frightened in the train.

I Saw Nothing is a story which educates rather than uplifts. With an important message about conservation, and protection of endangered species, its use of a child character makes it accessible to younger readers.

The illustrations of Mark Wilson, contrasting the rich and peaceful greens of the bush with the dank colours of disaster and images of the thylacine, are an integral part of the message.

This is an outstanding book, perfect for primary classrooms and for home collections.

I Saw Nothing: The Extinction of the Thylacine, by Gary Crew & Mark Wilson
Lothian, 2003