The amazing story of Australia's first surgeon and the boy he adopted.
It's 1789, and as the new colony in Sydney Cove is established, Surgeon John White defies convention and adopts Nanberry, an Aboriginal boy, to raise as his son. Nanberry is clever and uses his unique gifts as an interpreter to bridge the two worlds he lives in.With his white brother, Andrew, he witnesses the struggles of the colonists to keep their precarious grip on a hostile wilderness. And yet he is haunted by the memories of the Cadigal warriors who will one day come to claim him as one of their own.
This true story follows the brothers as they make their way in the world - one as a sailor, serving in the Royal Navy, the other a hero of the Battle of Waterloo. No less incredible is the enduring love between the gentleman surgeon and the convict girl who was saved from the death penalty and became a great lady in her own right.
PRAISE
'[Jackie] is one of few masters who can embed historic characters in rattling good tales, and her meticulous research is seamlessly inserted so that you live the detail rather than learn it. Irresistible for history buffs of any age.' - Good Reading Magazine, five stars
'If every Australian history class in the country could be taught by Jackie French, we'd have an entire generation of kids with an enormous thirst for knowledge about our early European settlement and a whole lot more compassion for those who already called this country home.' - Sunday Tasmanian
'I've been telling all my friends to read this book, and to give it to their kids to read. It's absolutely engrossing.' - Herald Sun
A prizewinning novel for readers of 8 - 12, told through the voice of a contemporary child, as she weaves a story about a secret child of Hitler.The bombs were falling, the smoke was rising from the concentration camps, but all Hitler's daughter knew was lessons with Fraulein Gelber, the hedgehogs she rescued from the cold and infrequent visits from her beloved Duffi, her father.Was it just a story? Did Hitler's daughter really exist? If you were Hitler's daughter, would it all be your fault? Could you still love your own father if he had done what Hitler did? Mark, a contemporary child, starts to question his own beliefs as he listens to the story that Anna weaves.A wonderfully sensitive and gripping time-slip novel that will sit well with When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit; Number the Stars and Big Tom. WW2 is a major historical topic studied in in UK primary and secondary schools, but this novel also deals with questions children so often ask of the 'What if?' variety.
A wombat's work is never done...
The star of the international bestseller Diary of a Wombat is back - with a new mouth to feed! Cuter, stroppier and even more determined than her mother ... meet Mothball's baby.
Like any growing family, this baby wombat and her mum are finding it hard to fit into their home. When setting out to dig a new, bigger hole with room for them both, Shaggy Gully's newest resident gets some help from a friend, causes more mayhem than Mothball ever did, and sorts things out in hilarious style.
A wombat's work is never done...
Take a trip with a wombat, and discover the ins and outs of her day in this modern classic Australian picture book. There are holes to be dug and territory to be defended - and don't forget all the eating and sleeping that needs to be squeezed in too!
