A flock of Puffins

Press, 12 September 1981, Page 17

A flock of Puffins

(Reviewed by Margaret Quigley) What could be better than a small, new flock of Puffins to fill in the odd half-hour or a long, wet day . during the school holidays? Five are to hand, all reprints of previously published hardbacks, all suited to the 10 to 13 age group, and all in the $3 to $3.50 price range. There, however, the similarity ends, for they, are widely divergent in story, setting and mood. Eric Knight’s "Lassie Come Home" is such a classic dog story, and has given rise to so many film and television dramas since it was first published in 1942, that it comes as a surprise to learn this is its first appearance in paperback. What a pleasure it is to re-read the original story. Eric Knight vividly and realistically portrays the harsh world of the Yorkshire miners and the devoted love of the boy and his dog. Even children who have been put off Lassie by the syrupy American versions should be impressed by this unsentimental and well-written story. “The Fire in the Stone,” by Colin Thiele, the well known Australian author of children's books, tells of a 14-year-old boy, Eric Ryan. Eric lives with his alcholic father in a primitive dug-out in the opal fields of central Australia. . Even closer to home is Maurice Gee’s “Under the Mountain,” a fantasy set under Auckland’s extinct volcanoes. Red-heater twins, Rachel and Theo are helped by a

kindly but strange old man to defeat the terrible worm-like creatures who threaten to destroy the world. Well received when it was first published, it is good to see this exciting and well-told New Zealand story available to a wider public. Bernard Ashley, headmaster of a junior school in South London, is making a name for himself as a writer of realistic stories set in the modern London schools he knows so well, and dealing with problems that confront the children of today. “Break in the Sun,” his latest work, which has already been adapted for television, tells of Patsy, who hates life in her new London flat, with her new, hard stepfather. Her unexpected escape and her return to reality make a moving and interesting story. A book which will probably appeal to a much smaller audience than the previous four is Ivan Southall’s “King of the Sticks..” A strange and haunting story of a violent incident in an isolated homestead, its central character is a vague and pixilated boy, Custard. He. his crippled sister, and his determined mother, defend their home against an inexplicable attack. Ivan Southall, author of more than 50 books for children, has written another excellent book which will appeal to children with imagination and a liking for the unusual.