Racing Puffing Billy

Racing Puffing Billy by Corinne Fenton & Mark Wilson (Windy Hollow Books) PB RRP $27.99 ISBN 9781922998279

Reviewed by Karen Hendriks

Racing Puffing Billy is based upon the true story of a faithful dog named Jerry and his best friend Lionel, a driver on the famous Puffing Billy steam train. Jerry was rescued as a cold and hungry pup by Lionel and his wife Bea. He became famous on Puffing Billy for racing the train back to the station. The moment he heard the blast from Puffing Billy’s whistle, Jerry came running.

Corrine Fenton is an award-winning author known for writing beautiful picture-book histories of animals whose lives have become legendary. Her award-winning books include Lionel and Me, My Friend Tertius, Bob the Railway Dog, The Dog on the Tuckerbox and Queenie: One Elephant’s Story.

Mark Wilson is a multiple award-winning author/illustrator with 39 books in print worldwide in nine languages. Mark has a passion for Australian history and the environment. In 2011 he received the Dromkeen Medal for Services to Children’s Literature.

Corrine Fenton has written a story with heart and much love for Jerry. Her heartwarming style pairs facts with word choices and sentence construction that deeply connect the reader to Jerry, the train and the setting. She characterises animal friendship and showcases Jerry’s dog personality and his impact on those around him to great effect. The flawless opening sentence captures the reader's attention. One windswept night, a sick and scruffy pup, owned by no one, limped up the path of a house in Upper Ferntree Gully in the Dandenong Ranges. The text is timeless; it captures Australian history and spirit beautifully, letting the reader time-travel and marvel. After his run, Jerry often clambered into a fire bucket to cool off.  The reader experiences the Puffing Billy through Jerry's eyes. Fenton shows emotion, history and setting rather than telling. Passengers leaned from the train windows or sat on the carriage sills, legs dangling, watching him race, and children would yell, ‘Go Jerry,’ which always encouraged him to run faster. This playful, rhythmic read tugs at the heartstrings.

Mark Wilson’s signature illustration style shines as he beautifully captures the historical vintage Puffing Billy steam train and the old stations. He is the perfect illustrator choice for this text. His attention to detail captures not only the engineering of the Puffing Billy steam train but also human and dog emotions and the beauty of the Dandenong Ranges. He emphasises the deep emotional bond between the driver, Lionel, and Jerry, and, through detailed facial expressions, pulls readers into their friendship and shared love of the Puffing Billy steam train. The colour palette is realistic and perfectly suited to the era. The endpapers feature the Puffing Billy steam train sweeping around a bend, with passengers sitting on windowsills or waving, showing the magic of the ride as the train steams through the lush green ranges. I think what I like best is how beautifully it captures the absolute joy of Jerry racing the train.

Racing Puffing Billy is written for children 3 years and older. With its nostalgic theme and its focus on a unique friendship, it’s sure to be loved by parents, teachers and librarians. It’s also a wonderful book for train enthusiasts. This book brilliantly shares the themes of friendship, loyalty and history.

Subbie and His Mate

Subbie and His Mate by Corinne Fenton, illustrated by Mark Wilson (Ford Street Publishing) PB RRP $16.95 ISBN: 9781925804980

Reviewed by Dannielle Viera 

Subzero was a famous Australian racehorse – but few people know the joy he brought folks after his retirement. A man named Graham Salisbury purchased Subzero, and the affable horse became a favourite among the students at the Apprentice Jockey Program. Children were drawn to Subzero’s gentleness, so Graham took him to visit schools; later, the duo cheered up sick and lonely people in hospitals and aged-care homes. Graham and Subzero were best mates for twenty-six years.

Corinne Fenton’s narrative non-fiction picture book gallops through Subzero’s remarkable life, focusing not on the horse’s fame and fortune but on his ability to connect with and comfort the humans around him. Kids aged seven and older will adore Subzero’s cheeky side and discover the uplifting nature of unadulterated kindness.

Mark Wilson has illustrated Subzero’s story using a wide variety of media, from coloured pencils and watercolours to oil pastels and acrylic paints. This ensures that each spread explodes with visual excitement and energy, as well as a unique dynamism that reflects the racing gait of the thoroughbred.

 

Subbie and His Mate celebrates the bond that can form between humans and animals when love and trust lead the way. Children will cherish the friendship between Subzero and Graham, and no doubt wish they had a neighing mate of their own.

My Friend Tertius

My Friend Tertius written by Corinne Fenton and illustrated by Owen Swan (Allen and Unwin)  HB RRP $24.99  ISBN 9781760113827

Reviewed by Daniela Andrews

It is Hong Kong, 1941, and Arthur and Tertius are best friends. Arthur spends his days decoding Japanese air force signals for British intelligence. Tertius spends his days springing about the office furniture like the ‘inquisitive trapeze artist’ that he is. Tertius is a gibbon.

When Arthur is ordered to leave Hong Kong, he can’t bear to leave Tertius behind. He sneaks him onto the ship to Singapore, where they ‘live the high life’ … until the Japanese fighter planes arrive. Arthur is ordered to evacuate immediately. He takes Tertius with him, barely making it onto the last ship out. His journey eventually leads him to Australia. He successfully smuggles Tertius into the country, until a police officer discovers him in their Melbourne hotel room. Tertius’ illegal status means his life is in question, but he is sent to the Melbourne Zoo after Arthur begs for an alternative fate. Before long, Arthur is summoned to London. He leaves, heartbroken, but comes back to visit Tertius in 1947 after the war is over. The story ends on a tender note, with Tertius not only remembering Arthur but also wrapping ‘his arms about [him] as if he’d never let go’.

This is a heartwarming, true story, told by award-winning writer, Corinne Fenton, and superbly illustrated by Owen Swan. Though Fenton acknowledges the wartime setting, she states that ‘it’s not a war story’ but ‘a love story between a man and his beloved pet’. The story is told from the first-person perspective of Arthur, and is quite informative. Younger readers might find the war themes quite confronting, with vivid language describing the bombings and their associated terror. (‘There were bombs whistling, exploding, shattering, but worst of all was the screaming. Tertius trembled in my arms.’) The suggested age group for this picture book, therefore, is 5–8 years.

Swan’s pencilled sketches appear in a soft, vintage palette throughout. He varies and limits the colours on each page to great effect, with frightening war scenes often depicted in only two or three tones. The washed-out appearance of the pictures perfectly complements the historical setting.

This talented duo have beautifully told Arthur Cooper’s story of companionship, loyalty, and the importance of holding on to love during times of war.

Bob the Railway Dog

Bob the Railway Dog by Corinne Fenton, illustrated by Andrew McLean (black dog books)

HC RRP $24.95

ISBN 9781922179890

Reviewed by Anastasia Gonis

We are taken back in time and history as soon as the book is opened; to South Australia, 1884 in fact. With lyrical prose that shines and illuminates Corinne Fenton’s love of social history, we view the real life story of Bob from his arrival at Carrieton Station. He is among a collection of homeless dogs from Adelaide destined as rabbit hunters in outback South Australia. Will Ferry, a guard, sees the pup and ‘something tumbled in the man’s heart.’ He names him Bob.

But Bob is a restless spirit, a lover of trains, and a traveller. He becomes known from Oodnadatta to Kalangadoo. Housed and fed by drivers and guards, even in the porter’s room at wherever station he stops, Bob is welcomed by everyone.

It’s a magnificent adventure undertaken by Bob the Railway Dog who rides trains, and follows train tracks. His travels allow him to experience many historical events during his lifetime. And he always returns to visit his friend and saviour, Will Ferry.

This story is about Bob, but also is an historical portrayal of the birth and expansion of the railway in outback Australia. The outstanding illustrations by Andrew McLean of Bob and the railway’s history are created with watercolour and charcoal and black coloured pencil. This stunning book is suitable for the 5 -105 age group. It comes highly recommended.

Hey Baby!

Hey Baby! by Corinne Fenton (black dog books)
PB RRP $16.95
ISBN 9781922179180
Reviewed by Anastasia Gonis

Hey Baby! celebrates the uniqueness of every living being with the focus on babies -animal and human.  Using photographed images and beginning from the cover depicting a racoon and her baby, every picture is a testimony to the singularity of new life and its precious worth.

The impressive images include a baby duck standing upright in her shell with the head and legs sticking out; the profoundly gentle and moving image of a baby gorilla lying on its mother’s back with its eyes closed in utter peace and contentment, and the delightful picture of a baby seal. There are twenty-eight pictures in all, not including the ones on the covers.

Coloured text in large font accents the important words such as ‘unique’ and ‘precious’, and the facial and body features that mothers delight in and gush about. This is a book children and adults will love and take pleasure in sharing. It will be reopened time and time again.

Chasing Shadows

Chasing Shadows by Corinne Fenton, illustrated by Hannah Sommerville (Ford Street Publishing)

HB RRP $26.95 (ISBN 9781925000153)

PB RRP $16.95 (ISBN 9781925000146)

Reviewed by Francine Sculli

Chasing Shadows is a number of things – soft, beautiful, touching, silent, open, heart wrenching and honest. It’s a picture book worthy of discussion and multiple reads, to truly soak up the meaning, purpose and unspoken pull of its pages.

It’s not a tale easily told, the story of a young girl who could be anyone’s daughter, suffering with a depression so heavy in its weight that all she can see is shadows. It’s a topic often left untouched, too painful or misunderstood to truly  confront. But this book speaks it, almost without saying a word. With her beautiful nuance language, Corinne Fenton weaves more in the silence and the contrast.

The young girl’s father buys her a puppy. Like any parent, he wants to see his child happy again, not lost in the shadows. The puppy is jubilant, playful, frolicking and looking for attention. The young girl gives none, preferring the shadows to the love of a puppy.

As the poetic contrasts move the reader from page to page, as we watch the dog leaping across the pages, we see the girl retreat at first, then watch from a distance and finally we see her slowly start to move out of the shadows, slowly reaching out to both her father and the puppy.

Hannah Sommerville’s illustrations cement the soft complexities of this picture book. Her whimsical and expressive illustrations create as much poetry as Fenton’s words, and her choice of colour palettes are telling and indicative or what is left unspoken. She plays on the shadows so beautifully that the reader cannot be anything but engulfed.

Chasing Shadows is perfect for older picture book readers, but also perfect as an education tool for teachers, librarians, parents and psychologists. The story is so wonderfully told, so soft and delicate in its handling of this complex theme, that it could be an excellent vehicle for important discussions – not just about depression, but emotions and being able to open up to our loved ones. On a simpler side, this could also be a story about the love shared between animals and humans. However you choose to read it, it will be a beautiful journey.  

Queenie: One Elephant’s Story

Queenie: One Elephant's Story by Corinne Fenton, illustrated by Peter Gouldthorpe (black dog books)

PB RRP $17.95

ISBN – 978-1-742032-15-3

Reviewed by Emma Cameron

Excellent storytelling and beautiful variety in illustrations pull readers inside this historic tale. Without over dramatising elements of animal cruelty surrounding our past ignorance and disrespect for animal rights, Queenie’s story tells how an Indian elephant was hunted down, taken from her home and family, and shipped to Australia so she could be ridden for tuppence at Melbourne zoo. People came from miles around to enjoy the riding experience.

Gouldthorpe’s thin line drawings of dark ink on creamy-yellowed pages, with central parts in colour, either in circles or rectangles with rounded corners, pull the reader’s eyes right into the action. The scenes reflect Queenie’s character, as well as Australia and its people in the early part of last century. When Queenie crushed her keeper to death, believed to have been an accident, thousands wrote asking that she not be put down. Due to the war and a shortage of fodder, she was destroyed on 3 July 1945.

The acknowledgements at the book’s end are testament to the vigorous research needed to build the story. It is what brings truth and life together to show how a wild animal can become tamed by humans and how the results, despite our wish to treat the animal well, are not always to the creature’s benefit. While Queenie was treated fondly by her keeper Wilfred Lawson and many visitors, some people teased and taunted her. In great spirit, she would tease back by squirting a trunk full of dirty water at them.

First published in 2006 it is not surprising to see this CBCA Honour Book rereleased. It is delightfully Australian and while Queenie’s life ends tragically, the book honours her memory. It ends with a poignant request to readers who visit Melbourne Zoo today, where they can see the Trail of Elephants along which the zoo elephants are now able to roam and swim more freely; ‘Close your eyes and you will feel Queenie’s spirit with them – playing in hideaway places, just as she did all those years ago in India.’