This month our task was to read a book that in some way featured animal/s.
Joan & Judy: Foal's bread by Gillian Meers
The book has a gorgeous wrap around cover featuring the head of a horse. It is set in rural NSW between the 2 wars and takes you into the harsh world of horse high jumping.This was evidently very popular after WW1 when there was quite an extensive circuit of the country agricultural shows, with some good prize money and few regulations.
The main characters are the Child's family, including Cecil and his daughter Noah. They are itinerant workers but also involved with horses and the jumping circuit. We also have the Nancarrows including their son Roley who is generally recognised as the best high jumper.
Norah and Roley meet and fall in love. The story follows several generations of their lives as they struggle to raise a team of jumping horses. Personal conflict and tragedy plus the vagaries of weather and life of the land add to the colour of the story.
It is a wonderfully evocative story of love, life and hardship in the bush.
Judy commented that it is ironic that the author describes so beautifully the sensation of freedom to go higher and higher over the jumps while she herself is confined to a wheelchair due to MS.
The author has a unique style of writing using a mixture of the rough ungrammatical country speak of the locals and then her flowing descriptions of the trees, flowers, and the colours of the countryside.
Connie: Silver Brumby's Daughter and White Fang by Jack London
Connie's grand daughter loved the Silver Brumby series but after reading this book, Connie saw it as a children's book about horses. The horses speak to each other which Connie can't cope with. She thought she had left it too late to enjoy it.
Her grandson had recommended White Fang by Jack London and while she had previously been reluctant to read a London book, she loved this one.
Set in the cold northern wilderness of North America in 1906, White Fang is 1/4 dog and 3/4 wolf. The author describes the dog's feelings so well, you feel for him as he forages for food and is captured and cruelly treated by people. There are great descriptions about the wolf pack and how they breed.
Connie really enjoyed it much to her surprise.
Anne: Red Dog by Louis de Bernieres
The dog is born a wanderer but even though he had been adopted by John, he still wanders off occasionally. He was able to hitch rides on trains and trucks etc because people recognised him. The dog is distraught when John dies and spends most of his life looking for him, having his adventures along the way.
Based on a real dog, several other books have been written about him, and recently a very successful film was released.
Jane & Dianne: Marley and Me by John Grogan
John Grogan writes a weekly column for a suburban newspaper. When he and his wife Jenny get a new puppy, he decides to write about the highs and lows of looking after this dog. Jenny is worried whether she will be able cope with a baby, so the pup is almost a trial for raising a child.
The dog gets into the heart of the family and they do go on to have children. Its a true story, light hearted about a loveable dog you could throttle. They were a lovely couple, had a lovely house and lovely children. It is all about loving the dog.
Dianne thought it a bit schmaltzy and sentimental. The dog was the runt of the litter but quite neurotic, terrified of thunderstorms, almost destroying the house when left alone.
Rosemary: The Donkey Who Carried the Wounded by Jackie French
While she has only read about 1/4 of this book, she thought it would be a good way for children to learn more of our history.
Sometimes the story is told through the eyes of the donkey, sometimes through the eyes of Jack.
Wendy: Horrie the Wog Dog by Ion Idriess
Wendy reread this old book set in the Egypt in 1941. Horrie was a dog found in the dessert by an Australian soldier James Moody. The dog was adopted by the soldiers, going into battle with them in Egypt, Crete, Palestine and Syria.
When the war was over, all animal mascots were ordered to be euthanized. Not wanting this to happen, Moody smuggled Horrie back into Australia. There is some confusion as to what happened then, although it seems likely that when the law caught up with Moody, another dog was surrendered in Horrie's place.
Pamela: Never Cry Wolf by Farley Mowatt
A young biologist is sent to the Northern Canadian wilderness in 1948/9 to investigate the decline in the caribou population, believed to have been from attacks by wolf packs.
He discovers that it is not the wolves as they eat small vermin, rodents and fish. They aren't generally aggressive animals and are more likely to run away than attack.
Pamela lost some confidence in the author after his descriptions of his interaction with some wolves.
Further research showed that much of the book is fiction and that he had plagiarized 2 very important science books.
But by chance the book got an unexpected result.....it reduced the negative prejudice against wolves. The caribou numbers were decreasing because they were used as food by humans and were being killed by recreational hunters.
Lesley: My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell
He was born in 1925 in India, and came back to live in England in 1928 after his father died. The family was very eccentric in a lovely British way. Being totally obsessed with animals and a great observer of their habits, Durrell became a well known conservationist beginning the Jersey Zoo. Many of his principles were in contrast to generally held beliefs of those times.
He only began to write during the war, because he was poor. His writing is laid back, gentle and easy to read. He meanders through life treating everyone equally.
It is a lovely, gentle story full of animals, and a lovely family who didn't see themselves as eccentric, but fascinated by everything and anything,
Kris: A Friend Like Henry by Nuala Gardner
The author is a midwife, and when her son was born he didn't communicate in any way with the family. There was not a lot of professional help around in the 1980s. In desperation they acquired a dog, a golden retriever named Henry and it was through this dog that their son began to communicate. He was eventually able to attend a special class within a normal high school.
A very inspiring book!
Kris also read Life of Pi by Yann Martell.
Her comments...interesting, very descriptive but a bit gruesome.
Tammy: Blind Hope, an unwanted dog and the woman she rescued Kim Meeder
This true story is set in Oregon on a ranch for abused animals mainly horses. They also rescue people who are broken by pairing them with suitable animals.
The author is telling Laurie's story. She has had a troubled childhood, dabbled in drugs etc and eventually ended up on the ranch. When Laurie is paired with a rescue dog who has many problems including blindness and diabetes, she learns to trust, to love, to be dependable and they grow together. There is a Christian emphasis through out the book and many parallels with God in behavior and attitude.
Tammy thought it was a lovely book, a real tear jerker!
Jules: Jonathon Livingstone Seagull by Richard Bach
A classic book first published in 1970. It is a fable of a seagull who learns about life and flight and is told in 3 parts. The 4th part is only now (this year) available having been written by the author.
The pictures are really inspiring and the book has been referenced in many other films and books.
A timeless, spiritual classic said Jules.
