Tigg and the Bandicoot Bushranger by Jackie French

"She never realised that she knew so little about herself, not even her name or family, or even what she looked like now that she was dressed as a girl. ... I know myself now, she thought. I can hold up a stagecoach and catch a possum and cook a pigeon pie so good the pigeon would have proudly given up its feathers for it. I know I can survive an attack by drunken men ... I can find a good life for myself. I just don't know where or what it will be."

Tigg needs money to pay the woman who was given charge of her many years ago. Ma Murphy, a 'baby farmer' was paid enough money to keep her when Tigg was small but when the money stopped coming in she took the four children in her care to the gold diggings with a plan to open a tavern. Sadly, three of these children died but young Tigg survived. In the opening scene Tigg is disguised as a boy and she holds up a stagecoach demanding money from the travellers. During the altercation she is shot in the shoulder. She manages to get back to Ma Murphy but Tigg knows she is now wanted by the police so she needs to leave and hide. She joins a young Chinese man who is escorting a large group of 'Celestials' who are travelling from Robe in South Australia to the Victorian Goldfields. She joins the group at the South Australian border. The journey is anticipated to take three to six weeks. 

I loved all the refences to food in this book especially near the end when Tigg makes two new friends in Goulburn. It was also fascinating to read about all the ways Tigg used her bush survival skills, taught to her by a young indigenous woman, to find food, shelter and even make a possum cloak while she was hiding out in the bush. There are some memorable human characters in this story such as Henry Lau who escorts her on the Long Walk, but I also loved her horse named Bucephalus. It was fortuitous that 'Gentleman Once' who taught Tigg to read and write also gave her a book entitled 'Advice for a Young Lady in the Colonies'. I laughed when Tigg remembered and perhaps misunderstood some of the 'advice' from this book. 

Tigg is an orphan but her hardships and life circumstance have made her very canny especially with 'reading people' and also with money. It was comforting to read she kept her stash of money close to her body and that she also had even more money hidden in the bush. Her dream of a family, a home, comfort and food gave me hope that Jackie French was taking me on a story journey with a satisfying happy ending. Also thank goodness Jackie French allowed Tigg to take a bath every now and again - I always worry when someone has no food, no bed, no shelter, has to contend with wild weather but even more I desperately wanted Tigg to be able to feel clean. 

The back notes in this book are essential reading - especially after you finish this novel - because the give a historical context to these events of 1800s Australia. 

Tigg and the Bandicoot Bushranger has been short listed for our 2025 CBCA (Children's Book Council of Australia) Younger Readers book award. I will confess that while I did adore many of Jackie French's early books her more recent titles have not quite resonated with me - but all of that has now changed. Jackie French, when writing her best books, skillfully blends masses of history research into a terrific story. At no time does this book about Tigg feel like a history lesson but of course that is exactly what it is. For example I had no idea about the Long Walk nor about the way the Chinese people set up market gardens in remote rural Australia. Sadly, I did know about 'baby farming' because decades ago I read another fiction book based on this gruesome practice - Mama's Babies by Gary Crew (2002). My only tiny criticism (echoed by the Reading Time reviewer) is that there are lots of story threads in this book and at times I did find it difficult to keep track of all the characters - a family tree for Tigg might have been helpful. 

I loved this description of Tigg's first ever hug:

"Tigg hesitated. She'd never been hugged before. She'd always thought it looked uncomfortable. She tentatively put her own arms around his waist. A hug didn't feel at all like being imprisoned in chains. It just felt warm and safe ... She stepped back after a while, wishing Advice for a Young Lady in the Colonies had told her how long a father-daughter hug should last for."

Read more about the Long Walk here

Author webpage blurb: The year is 1859 and the goldfields are filled with diggers – and danger! Orphaned twelve-year-old Tigg is the Bandicoot Bushranger, the youngest bushranger on the Ballarat goldfields in 1859. When a robbery goes wrong, Tigg must flee in disguise as one of the tens of thousands of Chinese men and boys braving heat, thirst, starvation and murderous attacks on the long road from Robe in South Australia to the goldfields in Victoria. But even further danger threatens. Who has offered a large sum of money for Tigg's capture? And is the mysterious Henry Lau a friend or enemy? To be safe, Tigg must solve the greatest mystery of all. Who is Tigg?

Here are some teachers notes. Here are the first three chapters of Tigg and the Bandicoot Bushranger.

This story resonates on many levels and stays in the mind long after reading its final pages. The lengthy Author’s Note is a thought provoking read either before or after reading the Tigg’s story. Story Links

The 2025 CBCA Younger Readers short list has really disappointed me. I have previously mentioned six other titles which I think better match the judging criteria for this category. 

In my personal opinion there are only two books in this selection that are worthy of our prestigious National Award - Laughter is the Best Ending and now I add Tigg and the Bandicoot Bushranger. To and Fro is a heartfelt personal story of identity and belonging but the silly additions of 'toilet humour' really distracted from this story for me. Aggie Flea has eight references to 'farts and farting' and Saskia Spark-Lee is a light read - perfect for newly independent readers but not sufficient depth of caliber for our award (again this is just my personal opinion).

Jackie French has talked about bushrangers in previous books such as this fairly recent one which I also really enjoyed:

Night Ride into Danger

Other Jackie French stories about bushrangers are Dancing with Ben Hall; The Night they Stormed Eureka; The Horse who bit a Bushranger; and The Secret of the Black Bushranger.

In my former library I really enjoyed exploring bushranger picture books with my Grade Five groups as a way to extend their class study of our Australian Gold Rush era. Here are a few you could share with a group in your school library (note these are all are now out of print but are sure to be found in well stocked collections). We also explored lots of materials about Ned Kelly of course.

The Oath of Bad Brown Bill

My own favourites, among the enormous number of books by Jackie French (Our IBBY Australia Hans Christian Andersen nominee in 2008) are Tajore Arkle; The Book of Unicorns (short stories); A Waltz for Matilda; The Shaggy Gully Times; The Tomorrow Book; Christmas Always comes; and Diary of a Wombat.

Tearaway Coach by Neridah McMullin illustrated by Andrew McLean

Fenton Wood (Fen) and his father need to travel from Ballarat to Geelong. Mama has gone to stay with her own parents awaiting the arrival of a new baby. Fen and his dad have booked tickets on the famous Cobb and Co coach. Papa pays a little more so Fen can sit up with the driver. The coach is filled with passengers, luggage, bags of mail and gold. A new team of six horses are put into the harnesses. The driver is Edward Devine but he is known as Cabbage Tree Ned. He is based a real coach driver Edward (Ned) Devine (1833–1908).

The coach trip is filled with hazards and of course the danger of attack by bushrangers but this is so much more than a book about bushrangers who robbed stagecoaches during the Australian Gold Rush period of the 1850s. Neridah McMullin weaves other dangers into her story such as riding at night over poorly defined tracks, the danger from broken brakes, wildly stampeding horses and the low visibility of a single lantern. The story pace is set by the urgency to arrive on time and the urgency to arrive, perhaps, before the new baby is born. Then there is also the urgency to escape from the bushrangers and their guns. The coach really is a tearaway. 

The story also explores the relationship between Cabbage Tree Ned, the coach driver and Fen, his young passenger, and it also hints at the caring relationships in Fen’s own family when his father pays extra for Fen to ride next to the driver and when we see the family reunited in Geelong.

The illustrations move between full page spreads and small vignettes and the text uses different fonts for emphasis and to highlight two important introductions – meeting Edward Devine or Cabbage Tree Ned and meeting the new baby. 

The cover illustration is taken from the text and perfectly shows an Australian outback scene. The dust blowing behind the coach reinforces the speed of the coach with bounding kangaroos matching the pace of the team of horses. The illustrations were created with pencil, charcoal pencil, watercolour, pastel and Procreate. The sense of time is created by changes to the background colours and the sky which gradually turns blue as the night moves to day. Use of capital letters for the sounds such as the bang of the gun, the clip clop of the horses and the commands to the horses all add to the drama of the story making it a perfect one to read aloud. 

End notes provide extra details about the Cobb and Co coaches that travelled from Ballarat to Geelong and the hazards they faced. As I previously said - Edward Devine was a famous coach driver of the period.

With Andrew McLean’s expressive illustrations, this story takes the reader straight back into that amazing time in our history that formed such an important part of the Australian story, and as much as Fen’s journey is engaging and exciting, it also opens up another aspect of life in the times to explore. The Bottom Shelf

This wonderful evocation of life in early Australia is wonderfully told, and the illustrations are marvellously presented, giving young readers a great deal of detail to look at. Large sweeps of Australian bush land and vistas of blue skies will make them feel part of Fen’s world. The images of the horses are engrossing, drawing the eyes into the detail of their role in pulling the coach, mesmerised by the way they are linked to the driver and the coach itself. Read Plus

The story, shown through Fenton’s eyes and experiences, is high stakes and exciting, taking readers aged four and over on an epic journey in a mode of transport that many readers will never have seen or heard of before, and in doing so, Neridah has brought history to life again. The Book Muse

(Note this blog post is partly based on the annotation I have written for the National Centre for Australian Children's Literature Picture Books for Older reader database).

EVERY Primary school library should add Tearaway Coach to their library collection and I am very sure we will see this book listed as a CBCA 2025 Notable title. It would be great to compare this book with two older books illustrated by Andrew McLean - The Riverboat Crew and The Steam Train Crew. Trove list over 140 books under his name.

Here are some other books illustrated by Andrew McLean. He is one of our most talented Australian children's book illustrators. Andrew McLean grew up in the Victorian country town of Bairnsdale. He trained as a painter and teacher and taught in secondary schools before becoming a lecturer in painting and drawing at Caulfield Institute of Technology. He has been a full-time artist now for more than thirty years. Andrew and his wife Janet have created many picture books together, and Andrew also illustrates books written by other authors. Many of his books have been award winners: he has won the Children’s Book Council of Australia Book of the Year Award three times.

Check out my recent post of Eat my dust by Neridah McMullin.

The Oath of Bad Brown Bill by Stephen Axelsen

 

Tuesday Treasure

A few days ago I talked about previous winners of our Australian Children's Book of the Year awards. I mentioned The Oath of Bad Brown Bill (1978 CBCA Commended title 1979). I found my copy so I thought I might talk about this funny, scary, horror, bushranger story today. Sadly this book is long out of print but I am sure many Australian Primary school libraries will still have their copy.

Bad Brown Bill and his horse Mudpie travel around the country of Western NSW and Northern Victoria looking for people to rob. 

"Gruff and tough, rude and shrewd,

A scoundrel to the cor,

He plundered, stole, robbed and thieved

And still went out for more."

Bill is a bragger. He constantly boasts and one day Mudpie has had enough. Mudpie sets Bill a challenge to rob the ghostly dead?

Bill is affronted. He accepts the challenge and swears his oath:

"Pure and simple, straight and neat

I vow I'll rob the folk I meet.

Be they live or dead and dry

I swear I'll rob the folk I spy,

And if I ever break this oath

I'll eat my boot! I'll eat them both!"

Late the night Bad Brown Bill encounters a creature - a gibbous ghoul. The ghost invites Bill back to his lair. It is a cavern filled with vile creatures:

"Gross and gruesome monster ghosts

Loathsome and befouled,

Begrimed, beslimed and horrible,

They howled and scowled and growled."

The monstrous creatures plan to turn Bill and Mudpie into bushranger stew. It's all so terrifying that Bill eats his boots and they gallop away. Bill has had such a dreadful shock he changes his ways and invites others to hear his tale. 

"Yes, everyone who heard the tale

Turned grey and shook with dread

And swore they'd change their wicked ways

And settle down instead."

In the final illustration you can see some other famous bushrangers including Ned Kelly!

Our Grade Five students complete a history unit of study each year about the Australian Goldrush. In our library I liked to extend this to a study of the bushrangers who took advantage of the situation robbing stage coaches and gold prospectors. In NSW alone there were over 100 bushrangers. Famous names include Ned Kelly; Ben Hall; Captain Moonlite(Andrew Scott); Frank Gardiner; Captain Thunderbolt (Fredrick Ward); and Mad Dan Morgan.

The Oath of Bad Brown Bill is so much fun to read aloud. The vocabulary is rich but it does need some scaffolding prior to reading with words such as oath; shrewd; plundered; bailed up; bragged; and malodorous.

Here are some of the other bushranger picture books I have used for this topic:

If this topic of Australian Bushrangers interests you or your middle grade child take a look at this new book from Jackie French - Night Ride into Danger.

Night Ride into Danger by Jackie French

"A mystery man with pistols, a married lady not so much fat as expecting, a senorita who might not be Spanish at all."

The year is 1874. The Cobb and Co coach must make sure the mail gets to the train on time. The coach is travelling at night from Braidwood in NSW to Goulburn. This night ride costs each passenger double the day time rate.  It's a fourteen hour journey over rough roads and so it is very uncomfortable. People take this ride because they want to catch the train to Sydney and the train will not wait. The coach must arrive in Goulburn on time. Jem is the coach driver's son and onboard are a very odd assortment of characters. A young Chinese man; a large-sized lady and her husband - Mr and Mrs Pickles; two Spanish sisters who are performers; and a man with a huge carpet bag and those two pistols. This man calls himself John Smith and he demands and pays to ride up front with the driver and his son. The coach is set to go with six passengers and those all important mail bags.

It's a night journey and its a rush. There are plenty of hazards along the way - floods, fog, fallen trees, rivers to cross, kangaroos not to mention the possibility of bushrangers. When Paw is hurt Jem has to take over the driving of the coach which has five strong horses. This is a huge challenge for Jem but he is in for other surprises - a baby and, as you have guessed, a bushranger.

As usual Jackie French brings Australian history to life. I especially loved the river crossing scene when they discover the Shoalhaven River is higher than expected and the bridge has not yet been built. In this scene the passengers have to climb out of the coach. The men take off their clothes down to their "woollen combinations, buttoned up ... and reaching to their wrists and ankles." Luggage, mail and the women are loaded into a large wooden washtub. Paw and Jem lead the horses carefully across the river. They need to make several trips with the washtub and remember it is night and the water is cold and those women are wearing long skirts and layers of petticoats. 

The back of the book has detailed history notes and two poems by Henry Lawson. This book will be an excellent, indeed I think it is an essential, addition to every Australian Primary school library. Huge thanks to Beachside Bookshop for my advance reader copy of this book which is due out tomorrow.

The only thing I would have liked to see with this book is a map.  Here is one I found and also a photo of a Cobb and Co coach.

Image Source Captains Flat

Image Source Loaded Dog Hotel

You will want to find other books about bushrangers from the Gold Rush era. There will be lots of books about Ned Kelly but there were many other famous bushrangers. You are sure to find some of these books in most Primary school libraries: