Friday Old Favourite

In ancient China superstitions are part of every day life. The gods might be watching you and so it is important to be careful. For example Haoyou wears a "brass collar his mother had put round his neck (it) was supposed to fool the gods into thinking he was a dog not worth picking on."

Haoyou lives on the coast. Traders fill their ships with goods to sell across the sea. It is important to know a voyage will go well so they use kites to test the wind but these are not ordinary kites. Haoyou sees his own father tethered to the kite.

"With a noisy rattle, the wind-tester shed gravity and rose into the air on a gust of wind, tautening the rope. ... his father plunged towards him face-first, eyeballs straining their lids, arms spread wide, head and shoulders buckled outwards from the hurdle." "Somewhere during the flight, his heart, over crammed with fear, had burst like a sack of grain and his spirit had been spilled into the path of the prevailing easterly winds."

Why has this happened? The evil Di Chou wants to marry Haoyou's beloved and beautiful mother. Di Chou truly is the murderer but no one will believe a young boy such as Haoyou. He is determined to keep his mother safe and his cousin, the wise Mipeng, agrees to help. What follows is a wild romp involving a kidnapping, a circus, a meeting with the great Kublai Khan and numerous thrilling, dangerous and heart-stopping flights for Haoyou himself.

Fast-paced and densely plotted, absorbing, and at times even hilarious. Kirkus Star review

I first read The Kite Rider in 2001 and the images in this story lingered with me so strongly that I longed to read it again. I even purchased a brand new copy because I wanted to add this book to my own ever expanding shelves. Listen to an audio sample here from Chapter One. Take a look here to see the vast number of children's books by Geraldine McCaughrean. I have a plan to re-read another of her past titles - Pack of Lies.

Here are some past cover designs. If you used this book with a senior primary class it would be great to talk about the power of covers, to discuss the decisions made by book designers, and to think about how much to reveal through a cover. I do like the newest cover above designed by Melissa Castrillion. You can see some of her work in the book Kind. She also did the cover for A pinch of Magic.