The White Mouse – The Story of Nancy Wake

The White Mouse – The Story of Nancy Wake by Peter Gouldthorpe (Omnibus Books)

HB RRP $26.99

ISBN 978-1-74299-091-0

Reviewed by Jenny Heslop

Nancy Wake was a brave, resourceful and heroic woman. An Australian journalist, she played a large part in the French Resistance during World War II. Dubbed The White Mouse by the Gestapo, she played a large part in freeing imprisoned Allies and helped many of them, along with Jewish refugees, escape over the Pyrenees to freedom with little thought for her own safety. Even after she escaped Paris, she joined the secret Special Operations Executive in England, training with them until she was ready to parachute back into France to continue her work with the resistance.

This is not a picture book for younger readers, but is an enjoyable and accessible way for middle grade and lower high school aged children to learn about history and the resistance fighters in the war. Having the Australian connections makes it even more relevant for Australian students and the study of Australian women in World War II, which is part of the new history curriculum.

The appealing layout of the book includes a map, images of the war – some in colour and some as sepia postcards – and text, printed on yellowing notepaper - it looks as if it has been torn from a journalist’s notepad.

Sticking to facts, this story is full of fast paced action - parachuting behind enemy lines, blowing up bridges and smuggling refugees across borders.

Nancy Wake was a true heroine, becoming the most decorated Australian woman of World War II and this is a fabulous and engaging book about her exploits.

Lyrebird! A True Story

Lyrebird! A True Story by Jackie Kerin, illustrated by Peter Gouldthorpe (Museum Victoria)
PB RRP $16.95
ISBN 9781921833045
Reviewed by Vicki Stanton

I immediately fell in love with this book. Set in the insanely picturesque Dandenong Ranges outside of Melbourne in the 1930s, Lyrebird! is based on the true story of James, a 'Miracle of the Dandenongs', and Edith, a flower grower.

The tall lush rainforest of this beautiful part of the world is home to many birds: robins, bell miners, magpies, wattlebirds and hundreds more. As Edith 'whistled, weeded and dug' her flowerbeds, the birds, some friendly, some shy, accompany her. One day, one of the shiest birds of all, a lyrebird, appears. Edith does not expect to see him again but he returns over seasons and years as a young bird and then as a father with a family. Over this time, the two develop an enduring relationship.

Snippets of notes, sketches and songs lets us in on their special friendship in a time before development had impinged on the flora and fauna of the Dandenongs. However, change was coming. Word spread of James' visits to Edith. The president of the Royal Zoological Society of Victoria, Mr Ambrose Pratt, asks to visit and is overawed by James' imitations of birds, and then a rock crusher and car horns.

Award-winning illustrator Peter Gouldthorpe fills out the story with colour and heart which brilliantly depict the Dandenongs and the era. I particularly love the opening double page spread with Edith working in her flower garden and the view across the valley.

The author's note at the end of the book reveals aspects of her research and you can check out more about the process at the Museum Victoria blog. There are brief biographies of Edith, Mr Pratt and James himself, as well as colour illustrations of a variety of birds found in Edith's garden.

Conservation and the environment are hot topics at the moment. Above all, though, Lyrebird! demonstrates the connection between people and the natural world. I highly recommend this book for any home or school library. It would also make the perfect international gift.

Hist!

Walker Classics: Hist! by C. J. Dennis, illustrated by Peter Gouldthorpe (Walker Books)
PB RRP $16.95
ISBN 9781921977749
Reviewed by Anastasia Gonis

Another generation of readers is being given the opportunity to embrace and enjoy poems from their parents’ and grandparents’ childhood. These immortal works are represented through the outstanding Walker Classics series of reissued books.

 Hist! was featured in my Victorian Readers Fourth Book when I was at school. Imagine my delight when I saw this wonderful production of that marvellous poem that we recited in front of the class more than half a century ago.

The outstanding linocuts were created by Gouldthorpe in 1991. The dark coloured pictures are positioned in jagged frames with borders of black images against a deep blue background.

The expressions on the children’s faces are priceless as their imagination runs wild at every sound they hear while crossing the Possum Park on a moonless night. It’s a daring adventure they’ve undertaken by torch light.

‘The clouds are low and gloomy. 

Oh! It’s just begun to mist! We haven’t any overcoats

And – Hist!

The first sound is the mopoke in the tree, then a pair of possums, a cat, and a frog behind a rock. But while they are scared witless, they think, ‘isn’t it a lark just to roam so far from home…’

The light from their house beckons as they exit the park. So does the supper on the table. So they run toward safety, knowing they’ve braved their fears. As they shout for joy at reaching home again, they are confronted by the stern faces of their parents waiting in silent reprimand. Even without the text, the poem’s story could be translated perfectly through the superb illustrations.

This reissue is a priceless present from the past to a new generation of young readers.

No Return: Captain Scott's Race to the Pole

No Return: Captain Scott's Race to the Pole by Peter Gouldthorpe (Lothian/Hachette)
PB RRP $17.99
ISBN 9780734412799
Reviewed by Hilary Smillie

No Return first emerged as a hard back picture book in 2011. Now Lothian have published it as a paperback, however there is no separate map which accompanied the hard back version. My review of the original publication was posted on Buzz Words Books on 15th November 2011.

Tasmanian-located Peter Gouldthorpe is a CBCA award winning author/illustrator and his talented artwork is showcased in this recounting of the race to the South Pole by Robert Falcon Scott.

Lieutenant Scott heads The National Antarctic Expedition in 1901, sailing from London in the Discovery. He hopes to fulfil his dream of being first to reach the South Pole. A secondary purpose is to gain scientific knowledge of plant life, the climate and the geology of this frozen land.

Among Scott's party are Ernest Shackleton and Edward Wilson and 19 huskies. The men trek to within 850 kilometres of the South Pole, but are forced back by terrible deprivation and the loss of all the dogs. Nevertheless, they remain there for two years before arriving back in England in 1904 with their data of new scientific discoveries. Scott is hailed as a national hero and promoted to Captain.

Interest revives in the South Pole after Robert Peary conquers the North Pole in 1909 and Shackleton’s own expedition to Antarctica comes close to reaching the Pole. Scott, spurred on by this news, forms a second expedition funded by himself. On June 1, 1910, the Terra Nova sets sail for Australia. While docked in Melbourne, to Scott’s dismay, a telegram arrives to say Roald Amundsen, a Norwegian explorer, was challenging him in the race to the Pole.

Once in Antarctic waters, it takes a month for the ship to navigate through the pack ice. The Terra Nova anchors off what is now called Cape Evans, and the preparations for the race to the South Pole begin in earnest. Within two weeks, a hut is built to house the men in the bitter Antarctic winter ahead.

Scott sends out two exploration parties. One returns with the news that Amundsen's ship has anchored in the Bay of Whales. Scott works out that the Norwegian will be 97ks closer to the Pole than his own party. Wondering whether his rival will reach the Pole first must have lain heavily on his mind through the long winter months.

The many experiences of the twenty-five men who remain behind after the ship returns to New Zealand are recorded in both text and brushwork. Peter Gouldthorpe's detailed and powerful illustrations magnify the horrendous conditions and challenges Scott's exploration party face. -44°C temperatures without modern thermal clothing would have been daunting enough, but along with the blizzards, the men suffer fatigue, hunger, frostbite, painful snow blindness, and loss of companions and horses (whose meat provided valuable food). The picture book's title is well chosen and the reader is in no doubt of the outcome.

No Return: Captain Scott's Race to the Pole pays homage to Captain Scott and his team. Their courage, determination and sacrifice is an inspiration and has reserved them a well-deserved place in history. A map is printed on the last page of the book showing the adventurers' routes. There is also a time line which is an excellent tool for an instant overview of the race to the South Pole.

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.’

NO RETURN Captain Scott’s Race to the Pole

 Captain Scott's Race to the Pole (No Return) by Peter Gouldthorpe (Lothian/Hachette)
HB RRP $28.99
ISBN 978 0 73441 220 1
Reviewed by Hilary Smillie

Peter Gouldthorpe is a CBCA award winning author/illustrator and his talented artwork is showcased in this recounting of the race to the South Pole by Robert Falcon Scott.

Lieutenant Scott heads The National Antarctic Expedition in 1901, sailing from London in the Discovery, specially built for hazardous ice conditions. Apart from gaining scientific knowledge of plant life and unearthing geological secrets, Scott hopes to fulfil his dream of being first to reach the South Pole.

Among Scott's party are Ernest Shackleton and Edward Wilson and 19 huskies. The men trek to within 850 kilometers of the South Pole, but are forced back by terrible deprivation and the loss of all the dogs. Nevertheless, they remain there for two years before arriving back in England in 1904 with their data of new discoveries. Scott is hailed as a national hero and promoted to captain.

Interest revives in the South Pole after Robert Peary conquers the North Pole in 1909 and Shackleton’s own expedition to Antarctica comes close to reaching the Pole. Scott, spurred on by this news, forms a second expedition funded by himself. On June 1, 1910, the Terra Nova sets sail for Australia. To Scott’s dismay, a telegram arrives while docked in Melbourne to say Roald Amundsen, a Norwegian explorer was challenging him in the race to the Pole.

Once in Antarctic waters, it takes a month for the ship to navigate through the pack ice. The Terra Nova anchors off what is now called Cape Evans, and the preparations for the race to the South Pole begin in earnest. Within two weeks, a hut is built to house the men in the bitter Antarctic winter ahead.

Scott sends out two exploration parties. One returns with the news that Amundsen's ship has anchored in the Bay of Whales. Scott works out that the Norwegian will be 97 kilometers closer to the Pole than his own party. Wondering whether his rival will reach the Pole first must have lain heavily on his mind through the long winter months.

The many experiences of the twenty-five men who remain behind after the ship returns to New Zealand are recorded in both text and brushwork. Peter Gouldthorpe's detailed and powerful illustrations magnify the horrendous conditions and challenges Scott's exploration party face. -44°C temperatures without modern thermal clothing would have been daunting enough, but along with the blizzards, the men suffer fatigue, hunger, frostbite, painful snow blindness, and loss of companions and horses (whose meat provided valuable food). The picture book's title is well chosen.

Captain Scott's Race to the Pole (No Return) pays homage to Captain Scott and his team. Their courage, determination and sacrifice is an inspiration and has reserved them a well-deserved place in history. A poster showing maps and a time line is included with the book and is an excellent tool for an instant overview of the race to the South Pole.