Kid

Kid by Peter Carnavas (University of Queensland Press) HB RRP $22.99 ISBN: 9780702269257

Reviewed by Kellie Nissen

‘Bravest goat in the world.’

Every kid needs a mantra. Something to say out loud several times a day. Something to strive towards. And something to believe.

‘Kid’ is a kid – of the baby goat kind. And like many human ‘kids’, Kid is determined, unstoppable, a little literal and sometimes in need of a hug.

Life on the farm is calm and happy. Kid has friends who care for him – Audrey the hen, Harriet the pig – but he misses his parents who left the farm in pursuit of a fox and never returned. Every night, Audrey tells Kid stories of his parents’ bravery and how they found happiness in ‘the wild ’, but after time, Kid starts to wonder why they never returned.

Kid wants to be brave, just like his parents, so every day he practises what goats do best – jumping, climbing and butting.

Eventually, with some encouragement from Cow and Bird, who live at the far end of the farm, just before the wild, Kid decides he’s going to leave and find his family. His friends warn him that, because of Ma the Maremma’s strict adherence to ‘Farm Law’, he’ll never be able to return, but the pull of family overrides everything.

There are many questions to be answered. How will a tiny kid survive out in the wild? Are Kid’s parents even there? Why are Audrey and Harriet so determined to accompany him? And who is that big, dark beast that seems to be following him?

While Kid is a goat, and while all the other characters – Audrey, Harriet, Ma, Cow, Bird and so on – are also animals, they are so human-like in their qualities that it is easy to draw comparison with the people you know and love (and are maybe slightly apprehensive of) in your life. For me, Audrey was the teaching colleague who took me under her wing when I was new to the game; it was her voice I heard as I read.

Peter Carnavas’ beautiful words, his ability to develop relatable, lovable characters and to simultaneously create a quiet but tension-filled plot really shine in Kid. This is a story that is going to become a firm ‘read-it-again’ classic.

The perfect book for independent readers, Kid would also be a delight to read as a bedtime serial or class novel. (Teachers – there are teaching notes on the UQP website.)

With its gentle narrative, pops of dry humour and characters you want to cheer along, readers aged 5 to 8 – along with their parents and teachers – are going to fall in love with Kid.