Reviews

Reviews by Stephanie Owen Reeder of The Little Eskimo by Davide Cali and The Curious Explorer’s Illustrated Guide to Exotic Animals A to Z by Marc Martin can  be found in the ‘Review’ section, along with previously featured reviews. Some of Stephanie’s recent picture book review articles can be accessed online, including:  http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/books/charm-and-chuckle-factor-20121116-29fdm.html, http://www.canberratimes.com.au/entertainment/imagine-that-20120824-24pkd.html and http://www.essentialkids.com.au/entertaining-kids/parenting-and-childrens-books/books-to-chase-kids-worries-away-20130211-2e7hg.html.

Competitions

Stephanie recently attended the launch of the University of Canberra’s Get Real Canberra 2013 picture book competition, where she  read her short story Max, The Parliamentary Cat (reproduced below) to a group of very attentive preschoolers and an appreciative adult audience. Information about the competition, which is being run to celebrate Canberra’s 100th birthday, can be found at  www.canberra.edu.au/get-real-canberra.

Readings

Stephanie is happy to announce that her picture book I’ve Got a Feeling! is included on the wonderful Read to My Child website, on which Jasmine Berry reads books for young children aged 0 to 5, including books by award-winning author Jackie French.  You can listen to Jasmine reading I’ve Got a Feeling! at www.readtomychild.com.au/stories-detail/ive-got-a-feeling.

MAX, THE PARLIAMENTARY CAT

by

Stephanie Owen Reeder

Max lived in a Big White House in Canberra. The House had many masters over the years, and all of them fed Max. ’Here, Kitty, have a kipper,’ said Prime Minister Menzies, who was built like a large Ming vase. He raised his caterpillar-like eyebrows as Max gobbled up the yummy fish and meowed for more. But Mr Menzies didn’t think Max looked very regal, and so he often passed him by.

‘Want a tasty morsel, Puss?’ asked the sporty Mr Holt, the next Master of the Big White House. ‘This prawn is fresh from the sea, I caught it myself!’ Max thought he would go all the way with Prime Minister Holt because he smelt so deliciously of fish! But one day Mr Holt went away to sea and never came back.

‘Would you like some sugar, Cat?’ asked Mr McEwen, who became Prime Minister when the sea took Mr Holt away. Mr McEwen looked down his nose at Max in a very imperious way. But Max was not afraid, for he would take any food, from anyone, anywhere. And, anyway, Black Jack McEwen wasn’t around for long.

‘Have an oyster, you gorgeous feline,’ crooned the elegant Mr Gorton, who soon replaced Black Jack as Master of the House. Max liked Mr Gorton’s cravat and his crooked smile – and he loved how he always did things in his very own way. But not everyone shared Max’s feelings, and so Mr Gorton soon moved on.

‘What was that? Did you say you were hungry? Oh dear, oh dear, what should we do?’ asked the next Prime Minister in his high, querulous voice. He listened hard to Max with both his ears. But even big ears and an attractive wife couldn’t save Mr McMahon, and one day he also was Master of the Big White House no more. And even Max knew it was time for a change.

‘Help yourself to whatever you want, Felinus Rex Australis,’ declared the divine Mr Whitlam from his very great height. Max feasted on pavlovas and lamingtons, pumpkin scones and vegemite sandwiches. Then he lay in the sun and purred. But one day Mr Whitlam found that being Prime Minister was a dog’s life, and he too was sent away.

Max missed Mr Whitlam mightily, especially when the next Prime Minister came along. ‘Get down in the kitchen where you belong, Cat! And make sure you catch a few mice and earn your keep. You know life wasn’t meant to be easy, even for Canberra fat cats like you,’ decreed Mr Fraser in his most masterful voice. And so Max worked hard and kept out of the way. But even Prime Minister Fraser had his day. And, when he went, Max didn’t shed a tear.

‘You’re certainly no drover’s dog,’ chortled the charismatic Mr Hawke, who was the next Master of the Big White House at the bottom of the Hill. Prime Minister Hawke tickled Max affectionately under the chin and handed him a fat piece of fish. Then he hurried off to attend yet another Australian sporting triumph.

In fact, everyone who visited the Big White House fed Max – even the very royal lady on the red carpet who wore funny hats and smelt of dog! And so, as the years went by, Max got bigger and bigger, and fatter and fatter. And soon he was the fattest cat in the whole of Canberra, the whole of Australia, the whole wide world – and probably the whole universe and beyond!

Then one day, without warning, all the people moved out of the Big White House by the Lake. Poor Max didn’t know where they had gone. He wandered through long empty corridors that smelt of wood-polish and dust. He meowed forlornly in vacant rooms and chased his own shadow. He meandered into echoing chambers full of the ghosts of parliaments past. But he couldn’t find anyone there.

Max even chased a mouse under the Speaker’s chair – which, like him, had been left behind. But an old fat cat is no challenge for a young skinny mouse, and so Max was often hungry. Occasionally, he ate the bogong moths that flew through the House on their way to the Snowy Mountains. But a diet of moths and beetles and air wasn’t enough. And so Max got thinner and thinner and thinner, till he was a mere shadow of his former self.

Finally, in desperation, Max left the safe and familiar rooms of the Big White House. As he huddled under a rose bush, a group of tourists ambled past. They were eating fish and chips, and so Max followed his nose.

Past the roses blooming in the sun. Through the car park. Across the road. Up the hill. Under the flagpoles, clinking and clattering and calling to the sky. Past the protesters camped upon the lawns. Across the ochre pebbles that poked into his paws. Around the water rippling in the sunlight. And past the steely-eyed policemen keeping guard.

When Max looked up, he saw a new Big White House, built in and under the hill. It had swards of grass tumbling over its roof, and a gigantic silver flagpole perched above it. Max followed the tourists inside. At first he thought he was lost in a eucalyptus forest.

But then Max heard a familiar sound, a dull rise and fall of voices. ‘Hubble, bubble!’ ‘Honourable members!’ ‘Order! Order!’ ‘Hear, hear!’ ‘Rubbish, rubbish!’ ‘Rhubarb, rhubarb!’

It was a familiar, comforting sound. And Max knew that he was home!

© Stephanie Owen Reeder 2013

This is an edited version of a short story called ‘The Parliamentary Cat’, which appeared in Houseatwork: Ordinary People in an Extraordinary Building, Parliamentary Education Office, Parliament House, Canberra, 2001: 144–148.

Much to my delight and astonishment, my book Amazing Grace: An Adventure at Sea (NLA Publishing, 2011) has won the Young People’s History Prize in the New South Wales Premier’s History Awards 2012. The awards were announced at a gala dinner in the Mitchell Reading Room at the NSW State Library on Friday, 30 November. Amazing Grace was shortlisted along with two outstanding Australian children’s books: Anh Doh’s The Little Refugee and Nadia Wheatley’s  Playground. Information on the awards is available at: http://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/about/awards/premiers_awards/2012_award_winners.html. Or listen to an interview on ABC Breakfast Radio in Perth at http://www.abc.net.au/perth/programs/720_perth_breakfast/.

On Thursday 18 October 2012, I was interviewed on Moyd and Lorretta’s  afternoon show on Radio 4BC in Brisbane about the remarkable true story behind Lost! A True Tale from the Bush. The interview covered the story of the three Duff children, the Aboriginal trackers who helped to find them, and the children’s amazing survival against the odds. The interview is available at www.4BC.com.au/aftarchiveseptoct2012, then scroll down to 1864’s Duff Children.

I am very honoured to have I’ve Got a Feeling! included on a booklist of twenty-five books deemed Deadly Books for Little Kids in the State Library of Western Australia’s Better Beginnings Literacy Program. It is an inspiring initiative.

I was delighted to discover recently that most of my children’s books have been included on the recommended reading lists for the Premiers’ and Chief Ministers’ Reading Challenges around Australia. As an avid reader myself, and a mother and grandmother who actively shares books with the children in my life, I cannot stress enough the delights and benefits of reading often and voraciously. All I can say is, go forth and read!

My books are on the following lists:

Amazing Grace – Queensland Premier’s Reading Challenge 2012

I’ve Got a Feeling! – ACT Chief Minister’s Reading Challenge 2012

Lost! A True Tale from the Bush – Queensland Premier’s Reading Challenge 2011; New South Wales Premier’s Reading Challenge 2012, 2013; South Australian Premier’s Reading Challenge 2012; Victorian Premier’s Reading Challenge 2012, 2013; ACT Chief Minister’s Reading Challenge 2012

Colour My World! – ACT Chief Minister’s Reading Challenge 2012

The Flaming Witch – ACT Chief Minister’s Reading Challenge 2011, 2012

Amazing Grace: An Adventure at Sea

Amazing Grace: An Adventure at Sea is an exciting retelling of the true story of teenager Grace Bussell, who helped to save the passengers and crew of the SS Georgette, which was wrecked off the Western Australian coast near Margaret River in 1876. Grace rode her horse into the surf and helped save nearly 50 many people from drowning. But she was not the only brave soul in this amazing tale of perseverance, selflessness and bravery. Amazing Grace is lavishly illustrated with paintings, drawings and photographs from the nineteenth century. It includes information sections at the end of each chapter which provide more information about shipwrecks, Grace and her family, as well as a glossary, a map and an epilogue.

National Library of Australia, 2011. $29.95. Age range: 6 to adult.

Winner, Young People’s History Prize, New South Wales Premier’s History Awards 2012

Reviews

This book is absolutely outstanding … The author is a master storyteller … I highly recommend Amazing Grace and it should find a place on all bookshelves. (Vicki Stanton, Buzz Words Books, http://buzzwordsmagazine.blogspot.com)

Like its predecessor [Lost!], there is an endearing quality to this book. Apart from the fascinating information the reader can glean from its pages, and the pleasure one gets in simply reading the well-told tale, it is a book that we can all treasure and add to our personal trove of special titles. Highly recommended. (Russ Merrin, Magpies)

Another sumptuous publication from NLA in Canberra … crafted into 100 glorious pages of Australian history by Dr Reeder … Imaginatively recreating history to bring it to a young readership in such an engaging fashion that adults will enjoy it thoroughly too. (Krista Bell, ABC Radio)

Richly illustrated, the study also includes breakout boxes that provide a range of contemporary contextual facts and perspectives that further support the narrative and add to the learning experience. Demonstrating a high level of research and scholarship, Stephanie Owen Reeder introduces young readers to basic precepts of historical scholarship …Amazing Grace … educates and entertains. (Judges, News South Wales Premier’s History Awards 2012)

The Vision Splendid

The National Library of Australia’s Pictures Collection contains a treasure trove of sketchbooks from the nineteenth century. They range from impressive leather-bound albums, with marbled endpapers and gold engraving, to battered pocket-sized sketchbooks. Each sketchbook tells the story of both its artist and the places and people they depicted. Opening these books is like taking a trip back in time, and seeing the Australian and New Zealand landscapes through the eyes of someone who has just stepped off the boat after a long and sometimes harrowing passage across the ocean to a new world.

Most of the images have been wonderfully preserved. The colours are still bright, often luminous, and the different artists’ interpretations of both built and natural landscapes provide engaging insights into the colonial world, where horses were the main mode of travel, homesteads were often nothing more than cottages or bark-slab huts, and farming was backbreaking physical work.

The Vision Splendid by Stephanie Owen Reeder showcases the sketchbooks of 22 artists who recorded their time in Australia and New Zealand in often breathtaking detail and with great enthusiasm. They range from well-known professional artists such as Eugene von Guerard and Albin Martens, to amateurs about whom very little is known, such as John Goldfinch and Edward Thomson. These engineers, military men, solicitors, public servants and pastoralists all delighted in recording what they saw, and then sharing it with family, friends and the wider public. The Vision Splendid presents both the artwork and the life stories of these sometimes remarkable, but often quite ordinary, people for an even wider audience to share.

National Library of Australia, 2011. $34.95.

Reviews

Stephanie Owen Reeder is a Canberra-based writer and illustrator who deserves credit for compiling the artwork and producing a text that will be inviting to the general reader. Courier Mail

A handsome coffee table book depicting 19th century Australia. North Shore Times

Both books are available through the National Library of Australia’s Online Bookshop at http://www.nla.gov.au.