Fiction (8-12)

Sample Dasyure, the tiger cat, was a handsome youngster: brown body and tail spotted over in white, he lived quietly with his mother and sister in a secluded hollow log. This is the story of the young tiger cat’s coming-of-age: of his first groping steps towards manhood after his mother’s death, and how he learned to fend for himself in an unkind, uncaring world. Like many human beings, Dasyure was a shy fellow. In his habits he resembled a burglar, coming out to work only when night closed over the bush. However, unlike the burglar, he was both brave and bold; would take on a creature whom he had no chance of beating, so pugnacious was his nature. In the story, Dasyure is both hero and villain, but as the author says: “You must have a kindly feeling towards him as a fellow-Australian. Tiger Cats, Native Cats and the rest of the Dasyuridae family do a great deal of useful work in keeping down vermin, from mice to rabbits. “And, like every good Australian, Dasyure is entitled to a “fair go”–as is every one of the very wonderful and useful native animals in this great land of ours.”

Sample For the first time ever the stories of ‘Badge’ Lorenny and his adventures in the Tasmanian bush are collected in a single volume. Tiger in the Bush– winner of the Australian Children’s Book of the Year! For eleven-year-old Badge the world is bounded by the high ridges that enclose his valley home, deep in the heart of Tasmania. He delights in the wild life that surround him, and cares little for the world Outside. But one day visitors arrive from Outside–Russ, a splendid cousin from America, and his friend Dr Heftman, who have come to study the local natural history: and they bring a new interest into Badge’s life. He had once been shown one of the country’s rarest animals, the nearly extinct Tasmanian tiger, coming to a pool to drink: and he had promised never to reveal its whereabouts. But, carried away by admiration of his cousin he tells the secret: and then faces a terrible dilemma, for now Russ will want to carry the rare animal away from the free life of the wilds into captivity. Against a wonderfully vivid portrayal of the Tasmanian bush, Nan Chauncy has set a compelling story, peopled with vigorously drawn characters and deeply expressive of her own great love for wild animals and life in the open air. Devils’ Hill- Badge is delighted when an epidemic of whooping cough prevents his having to start his much dreaded first term at school–away from the life he knows and loves in his Tasmanian valley home. When it is arranged that his cousin Sam shall come and stay with him he looks forward with joy to having a friend at last. But Sam does not take easily to the rough and simple life that Badge and his family lead; his visit seems likely to be a bitter disappointment and failure. Then an exciting discovery is made. Tracks are found of a heifer that had wandered away and been lost in the wilds some time ago, and they all set off on her trail: Dad and Liddle-ma, Sam and his two sisters, and of course, Badge. It is a thrilling expedition, leading them deep into the wilds of unexplored mountains; and in the course of it, Sam learns to pull his weight and to share in the joys of life in the open. When the prospect of school looms again, Badge can face it happily, for his friend will be with him.