Shining Rivers ¦ Mouse in the Attic
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Cover Book
On our cover this issue we feature The Chicken Book by Garth Williams. (See feature on p. 21 for details). We are grateful to Patrick Hardy Books for help in using this picture.
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Two books from New Zealand which make pleasant reading for children of around nine.
Shining Rivers tells of a boy who arrives in New Zealand as an assisted immigrant. His father has died on the voyage and he and his mother must separate to find work. Desperate to save enough to buy land and carry out his father's intentions for the family he gives up a job as a baker's boy and goes to find his fortune on the goldfields. The earlier part of the story is surprisingly cosy, lacking the feel of pioneering spirit and struggle. This sense is captures to some extent on the goldfields and the reader experiences the greed, cruelty and ruthlessness of wealth-hungry men. But it is not as exciting as it might be and there is a certain 'and then ... and then ...' inevitability about the story that leaves the reader waiting for something to happen and never quite discovering what.
Mouse in the Attic is set in the New Zealand countryside of the 1920's. Mouse (Rachel) is the daughter of a country schoolteacher. Each chapter relates another adventure for this girl, reluctant to conform to the family expectations and consequently always in trouble. Read aloud in bits or as a whole. An enjoyable period piece with enough humour and excitement to keep a young reader going.