Blue Wolf Reviews

Tag: boots

  • BOOTS

    BOOTS

    The Picture Book Boots, tells the story of a pair of boots. The boots are shown looking out of a shop window, waiting to be bought. They dream of living and working in the outback. Many people pass by the window but one day a man pays for the footwear and then the dream becomes reality.

    Set in the Australian outback, the reader is shown the many facets of living on a property through the eyes of the boots. Horse riding and rounding up cattle, helping give water to parched animals, and dancing are some of the activities.

    The time comes when there are fires and drought and boots experiences all of these. When the owner’s children were small they liked to run around in the boots. Eventually the owner and boots become old and tired and boots rests on the grave.

    The illustrations are very appropriate to show the Australian outback and the families who live there. Children could devise their own stories about where their shoes have been.

  • My Deadly Boots

    My Deadly Boots

    Shiny brand new boots with spikes on the bottom in your favourite colour is very exciting, but saving up for your own distinctive pair of boots is even more special.  The aboriginal boy in this story believes his new deadly boots will help him reach his goals; jump higher, run faster, kick more goals and make his dreams come true.

    Imagine how he feels when can’t find his ‘kick the best torpedo’ boots! It isn’t until his grandfather sits him down and explains that he doesn’t need shiny boots; his identity is more than what he wears on his feet.

    My Deadly Boots is an up lifting, beautifully illustrated hard backed ‘picture’ book written by award winning authors Carl Merrison, respected Jaru/Kija man and Hakea Hustler Darwin, teacher, who is committed to Indigenous education. The rhythmic text is meaningful but simple, making it perfect for emerging readers, particularly those lacking a little confidence.

    Samantha Campbell’s wonderful illustrations, not only expose the young reader to the beauty of Australia’s outback but also to the life of an aboriginal boy.

    A must for all school libraries.

  • 13 Pairs of Boots

    13 Pairs of Boots

    We meet Mark Howison as he is taking refuge up a tree out on the Nullabor. Why, because his father has run out of smokes and Mark happened to make the comment, ‘perhaps now was a good time to give up the smokes’, as his father was a heavy smoker. His father exploded in rage and it was either fight or head on up the tree until either a truckie came past and gave his Dad a packet a packet of cigarettes, or he fought his father. The tree was the wise option.

    How they came to be out on the Nullabor back in 1974 in such a situation, makes a heart-warming and poignant story of growing up in Australia in a family with a father who had an entrepreneurial flair for business, sometime successful and sometime not.

    After several failed ventures, along with a failed marriage, his father, David, took on the cause of raising money for a kangaroo sanctuary to be established on a lovely tract of land in country New South Wales. He became a vocal and passionate member of the Save the Kangaroos Society (KPC) and so the basis for what was to become a massive adventure was laid.

    His mission was to walk around Australia promoting the cause and fundraising by sponsorship, school talks, community events on the way around and much more. He ‘volunteered’ 17-year-old Mark as his travelling companion. One year with his Dad out in remote Australia, walking all the way was something that took some considerable time to adjust too, but eventually created a warm and lifelong bond between Mark and his father, which in later years and in spite of this fathers somewhat volatile nature, held true.

    Told with a comfortable use of the Australian language, 13 Pairs of Boots return to the days when life was vastly different, the road around Australia was largely dirt with few travelers, and people were not always in such a maddening rush.

    Feral pigs, bullocks refusing to give way to two lonely travelers, deadly snakes, people eventually losing interest the cause, always constant worry of starvation hanging over their heads, let alone being in each other company constantly and more, makes an often hilarious, entertaining and memorable tale of growing up, survival and love in remarkable circumstance.

    13 Paris of Boots is a must read as it is, in good old Australian story telling tradition, a bloody good yarn by a storyteller who, like his father, has a very good way with words to paint a wonderful picture, around the bonds that make up family!

  • Me and My Boots

    Me and My Boots

    Bronte has some lovely new boots which are her most favourite boots of all. Why? Because they can make her feel like many things such as Queen of all the lands, or  very brave as she sets out to snare a dragon to come home for tea.

    Whenever Bronte wears her boots, she feels very special. But not everyone thinks she is always special as sometimes she is told she has on her Bossy Boots!

    Beautifully written by Penny Harrison with illustrations from Evie Barrow, Me and My Boots is the first in what is to be a series of wonderful everyday adventures, with the fun loving and soon to be much loved Bronte, as she views so many interesting challenges in her world with fun loving energy.

    Rhyming text, with bold energetic illustrations create a fun filled romp with the imaginative ways one simple pair of boots can be worn. Dad calls them bright-eyed boots, and Nan calls them big-dream boots. Her teacher calls them her bustling boots because when she wears them to school, she is a busy as a bee and the best at guess what, boot type jobs!

    But best of all, she calls them her Bronte boots, because when she wears them she is just being Bronte. How many ways do you think Bronte wears her boots and how many ways can you wear yours?

    Me and My Boots is perfect for young readers who are learning so much about their world and how their imagination can take them to wonderful places, just by reading a book or putting on a pair of boots.

  • Strayan Dictionary

    Strayan Dictionary

    As one of the founders of the popular show The Chasers, Domenic Knight knows a good deal about the English language and of course how to speak ‘Oztrayan’ or Strayan, the new Aussie style of speak that somehow seems to have taken over from Strine, the old ‘Oztrayan’.

    To prove it, he has spent hours and hours researching words along with other things, to create the Strayan Dictionary for those who don’t get Strayan and the wonderfully colourful words that make up the lexicon of the Strayan person.

    Not only has he researched the words, but also some of the many quaint customs, err sorry history, that go with the vernacular such as, interestingly enough, the word A.AAARDVARK common as the first entry into all Yellow Pages phone books created before Google took over the marketplace making phone books almost obsolete.

    Moving right along though, the word Cobber, no longer in modern use, has been replaced by the word mate, which men use eloquently when out in male groups, but originally appears to have come the Yiddish word ‘chaber’ meaning comrade! Who says we are not a multicultural country?

    Nasho was word in common use during the Vietnam War, when men of 20 years old were drafted into National Service. It was a lottery where, if you won you went into Military Service for two years, while everyone else got on with the lives.

    A more modern addition is Seachange, based on a former television series, where the protagonist moves from a hectic city life, to what is meant to be a fresh, more peaceful life by the ocean. Treechange has derived from this terminology, but sadly the price of Seachange and Treechange lifestyles have gone up exponentially over the years in between, making this a not so desirable option for the everyday Strayan.

    Ugg boots or ‘Uggies’ to those initiates, are beautiful warm boots made from sheepskin and worn by bogans, which would be a point to be seriously disputed by owners of beloved ‘Uggies’, and possibly bogans!

    And believe it or not the Yidaki should not be confused with a Didgeridoo, or ‘Didge’ even though they look almost the same! A Zac was a sixpence back in the day, pre decimal currency and the Zuytdorp rose to fame by becoming wrecked off the West Australian Coast and now rises to fame once again as the very last, yep, very last, on the list of Australia Post’s alphabetical list of postcodes.

    In between A.AAARDVARK and Zuytdorp is a world of wonderful, glorious quirky facts which go to make up the background history of the everyday Strayan, and their colloquialisms. Perhaps the Strayan Dictionary should be given to, or included in every tourist pack, before they, tourists, come to this wonderful, idiosyncratic country known as Australia, or Oztraya, depending on your place of birth, so they totally get How Good is this Lucky Country of ours.

    Hooroo.

  • One Shoe Two Shoes

    One Shoe Two Shoes

    There are many aspects that go to make up a good Children’s Book. For early readers the pictures must be large and clear and bright (with small cameos). The language needs to show patterns such as a plural (one shoe two shoes) The language should also flow, there should be humour, and interesting side issues. This book has all of these features as well as others, such as maths, counting, and learning colours.

    Another aspect of this story is the skilled way the artist has omitted things from the illustrations allowing the reader to ask questions such as “Who do you think is walking the dog? “How did a mouse get in the shoe?” and so on. The story itself is basic with minimum text, but the information is clearly visible, visually.

    Each double page spread has four or five single pictures which add greatly to the text. “Who’s hiding in there?” shows a shoe with a tail curling up from the inside. Perfect for guessing who might be there, what colour it is and why it is there. The whole story revolves around shoes and mice and is a great example of an entertaining and informative picture book for early readers.