The Afghanistan Pup

The Afghanistan Pup by Mark Wilson (Lothian/Hachette)
HB RRP $24.99
ISBN: 97807344153525
Reviewed by Hilary Smillie

Part of Wilson's war-themed series of stunning picture books, this latest story is set in Afghanistan and features Kinah, an Afghani schoolgirl who finds an abandoned, starving puppy in her village of Hafir, and an Australian soldier fighting in the Afghanistan war. The puppy is destined to be loved by both.

Kinah takes the puppy to school which she is thankful to attend as some adults do not believe girls should be educated. It is a dangerous time as Spring has arrived and fighting will begin again. When the school is bombed, the injured puppy survives and goes looking for his mistress but she is not there.

Australian soldiers arrive to assess the extent of the damage and one of the engineers finds the weak puppy who has returned to the school. He takes it back to camp to clean its wounds and give it food and water. When the pup is well enough, it accompanies the soldier on patrol until the situations become too dangerous. One day the soldier does not return and the pup waits in vain.

Mark Wilson has portrayed in word and wonderful, atmospheric illustrations his moving story of a soldier's life in Afghanistan and the cruel impact of war. That a pup could survive the insecurity of life in a war-torn country is remarkable and it is due to the pup's own instincts that he has a happy ending.

Young readers will find the action pictures and newspaper clipping-style inserts most evocative and informative. A special inclusion is an illustration of a soldier with the Australian flag created by James Farquarson who served in Alpha Company 5/7th Battalion, RAR. It is located almost at the end of the book.

Mark Wilson is an award-winning author/illustrator whose picture books are instantly recognisable by the consistency and quality of his work.

Caesar the war dog – operation blue dragon

Caesar the war dog – operation blue dragon by Stephen Dando-Collins (Random House Australia)
PB RRP $16.95
ISBN 9780857980533
Also available as an ebook
ISBN 9780857980540
Reviewed by Marian McGuinness
www.marianmcguinness.com

Stephen Dando-Collins. Take a bow. For the past nights I have been living your story. You had me hooked from the opening paragraph – the setting, Sydney Harbour, a black hawk helicopter; Sergeant Ben Fulton in full camouflage gear, an ‘automatic pistol was strapped low on his right thigh, and a rappelling harness covered his torso.’ And at the end of the paragraph,  ‘two small pouches … the smaller one containing dog biscuits.’

Caesar is an EDD, an explosive detection dog. He follows a long line of war dogs, the first serving with the Anzac troops during the First World War. The Caesar of Dando-Collins’ first book was based on the true story of an explosives dog that went missing in Afghanistan. Book 2 – operation blue dragon, fictionally continues Caesar’s extraordinary career. He’s found after missing in action in a gruelling firefight with the Taliban. Just as he is reunited with his handler and best friend, Sergeant Ben Fulton, Dr Park, the Secretary-General of the UN’s helicopter is ambushed. Dr Park is kidnapped by the Taliban and held in a secret cave location, code-named blue dragon. All stops are pulled out to find and rescue him.

There are several stories at play. On another tangent is Charlie’s story; he’s a crack member of the SAS. His legs have been blown off by an IED. He has to prove himself all over again when he is fitted with zoomers (similar to the blades that paraolympians wear).

Sergeant Fulton’s son, Josh, holds the 3rd tier in the storyline. Targeted by the school bully, Josh is taunted with ‘Dog Boy’ and has his possessions stolen.

This is boys-own adventure writing. It is fast-paced, gritty, filled with intrigue and derring-do. The fact that it is set in an area of current confrontation makes it all that more real for the reader. There are drones, frags, Green Berets and the CIA. And if you don’t know the lingo that Dando-Collins uses, there’s an extensive glossary at the back that gives great explanations of military terms.

A book for boys? Definitely. I can imagine boys 10+ glued to this book (and their fathers). Not only is it an education about what happens in these treacherous war zones, it’s adrenalin-pumping and filled with high adventure.

Dando-Collins has more than 30 books to his moniker. Many have military themes. He has won several prestigious prizes for his writing. No wonder the reviewer at the Herald Sun tagged ‘Caesar the war dog – operation blue dragon’ as ‘One of the best war stories I have read’.