Blue Wolf Reviews

Tag: fair

  • Fair Game

    Fair Game

    Women’s cricket in Australia has been strong for a very long time, with much of its very recent history happening totally out of the public eye. There have always been fans, who appreciated the talents of exciting women players, but it was not until recent years, that the women’s game caught the eye of the media and hence the general sports’ loving public. It is due to determined, committed women’s players, like Alex Blackwell, who had the conviction that the women’s team deserved more than existing in the shadow of the Australian men’s cricket team that real progress has been made, to enhance the remuneration and working conditions of the women players.

    Not only has Alex Blackwell, former Australian women’s cricket captain, represented Australia 251 times across all its formats – Tests, One Day Internationals and T20 Internationals, she also spent 20 years playing elite cricket, but also spent this time advocating for the women who played the game. Not so many years ago the women’s game was being played on barren grounds with minimal financial support, in front of small crowds, touring players were put up in very basic hotels and they were generally the very poor relatives of Australian cricket.

    Alex’s insightful book, Fair Game, tracks her years as a junior cricketer with her twin sister, to her retirement thirty years later. She, not only recounts her adventures, great highs, the friendships created all around the world and the leadership lessons she learned along the way, but also the development of Australian Women’s Cricket. Throughout the book, she demonstrates her strong support for the inclusion of LGBTQI people; she was driven to ensure a structure within Cricket Australia, which worked towards best practice guaranteeing that cricket is for everybody.

    I highly recommend Fair Game not only to readers who are sports’ fans, but also to those who wish to obtain a greater understanding of women’s struggle for equality and recognition. Women’s cricket has advanced even more since the advent of professionalism, however it still has some way to go to before it is on an equal footing with their male counterparts.

  • Turning Cartwheels

    Turning Cartwheels

    The expectations for many children when they start school, is that things will be like their home experiences. Most children have learned about rights and responsibilities and respectful treatment of others at home. When Emma tries to join the Cartwheel Club at school however, she realises that other children do not recognise the “Fair Play” rules.

    When she is refused entry to the Club because her legs are not straight enough, Emma goes home and practices until they are. Then she is told that her landing is messy, so she goes home and practices for a week until it is perfect. At last, she is accepted in the club, but the rules do not stop there. By Friday Emma is exhausted and she knows that she will have to come up with an alternative solution for those twitchy times at lunch when exercise is foremost in children’s minds.

    Turning Cartwheels a wonderful way of showing children alternative ways to solve problems. To be resilient in today’s world, Emma must find a solution to her problem. She does this in a way that is inclusive of other students, including those with special needs.

    This picture book is splendidly illustrated. Most pages feature double page spreads of grassy green colours, with the girls all dressed in purple. The artwork shows basic features and easy to read attitudes from the characters. Turning Cartwheels is another great way to talk about resilience to children.