The Girl who Raced the World by Nat Harrison

Maggie is an orphan. All Maggie Appleton has is a letter written by her mother that she must deliver to a stranger but on the way the letter is taken by a policeman/detective. Maggie is distraught but she continues her journey through London having just escaped from the workhouse only to make the surprising discovery that the man who was supposed to get this letter now works as a valet for the famous explorer Phileas Fogg. I need to tell you that all of this action takes place over the first 25 pages. 

Maggie is swept up into the famous journey around the world and, as you are sure to have already guessed, and time is ticking because this unlikely crew have to be back in London in just 80 days. Maggie also needs to get her important letter back from , but she needs to keep Mr Fogg away from the Detective Fix because she knows it is not true that Phileas Fogg stole thousands of pounds from the bank. Has he been framed?

If you love trains, ships, catastrophes, wild story twists, and heroes you will devour this debut book by Nat Harrison. I read the whole book of over 300 pages in one day - yes, it is that good. This book could also be a terrific family read aloud. Oh, and I love the gold embossed cover. There are world maps scattered through this book but I would also suggest you might grab a real, old-fashioned, atlas so you can follow the around the world journey in more detail. Your young reading companion is sure, also, to ask questions about the way time works in the world and how you can jump days when you travel from west to east.

Book seller blurb: It is 1872 and, when Maggie Appleton's beloved mother dies, she is left with nothing but a letter for a mysterious stranger called Passepartout. With nowhere else to turn, Maggie seeks out Passepartout and, in doing so, is drawn into an adventure beyond her wildest dreams. Together with Passepartout's employer, the enigmatic Mr Phileas Fogg, Maggie journeys to Italy, India, Hong Kong, Japan and America, in a daring race against time to win the wager Mr Fogg has accepted. But with a bank robber on the loose, an angry Inspector on their tail and unread secrets in her mother's letter, Maggie soon discovers that there is much more at stake than keeping on schedule to win the bet. Who can she really trust - and will she ever find out where she truly belongs?

Listen to an audio sample.

Maggie is a feisty and relatable character, providing an ingenious and accessible doorway to the world of late Victorian explorers and their heroic exploits. Book Trust

Each character has a distinct voice and purpose, making the group feel like a true family created through shared experiences and mutual respect. Harrison also updates moments from Verne’s original story to reflect contemporary values. Just when readers think the journey is over, Harrison invites them to imagine where Maggie and her newfound family might travel next and what new adventures await them. This is a gentle, exciting promise that the spirit of exploration and love continues beyond the final page. Children's Books Ireland

Like other readers who pick up this book I have not read the Jules Verne classic - Round the World in 80 days - so my knowledge of the plot was somewhat limited. I am telling you this because your young reader aged 10+ can easily read this new book The Girl who Raced the World with absolutely no idea about the original story. They are sure to enjoy this action-packed adventure. Some readers though might, after reading this book, which is based on the famous 1872 book, want to hunt out the Jules Verne story or perhaps read an abridged version or listen to it as an audio book. Huge thanks to Gleebooks Kids for sharing this new book with me. The Girl who Raced the World is available in paperback but if you find the hardcover edition you must lift the dust jacket - there is a terrific surprise under the cover. 

Here it is (from Instagram)

I now discover I have read several books with covers designed by Tom Clohosy Cole. (Cobweb; An Elephant in the Garden; Clifftoppers).  Here are some teaching ideas to use with The Girl who Raced the World. 

The sequel to The Girl who Raced the World is due later this year:

Companion books:

The Silver Arrow

The train to impossible places

The Boundless

On the Blue Comet

The Ship of Doom

The Pearl in the Ice

Eat my Dust by Neridah McMullin illustrated by Lucia Masciullo

In 1928, Jean Robertson and Kathleen Howell broke the land speed record when they traveled from Perth to Adelaide 2824km in two days, nine hours and 57 minutes. They broke the record by five hours driving their Italian Lancia Lambda car.

"Intrepid, dynamic, pioneering, Jean and Kathleen broke down gender stereotypes by excelling at driving, discovering Australia by car, and conquering what was considered a male-dominated frontier." (endnotes)

Eat my Dust recreates the journey by these pioneer women. It also explores the bias/sexism of the times - against women.

"I bet you're back by dinnertime,' sniggers the official."

You could build a writing lesson around the power of the word choice here - sniggers.

Later we read this:

"You two are dreamin'. You'll get lost out there in five minutes and I won't be coming to find ya."

On the other hand - you are sure to be cheering when the two women blow a tyre and without a second thought they jump out of the car and quickly execute a repair. And when their car seems to fly through the air.  I love the colloquial Aussie slang too:

"The saltbush is a silver blur as they go like the clappers."

This book is certain to be a CBCA (Children's Book Council of Australia) Eve Pownall (non-fiction) notable title and I am sure it will also be shortlisted. Add this book to your library shopping list today and plan to read it to groups of students as soon as it arrives. 

Congratulations to Neridah McMullin for finding, researching and sharing this story. Congratulations to Lucia Masciullo for her fabulous illustrations - you can almost feel the heat and smell the dust. And finally congratulations to Walker Books Australia for publishing this book so children can read this story about the history of our continent. Read some review comments on their webpage. Also congratulations to Walker on teaming Lucia and Neridah together - just a perfect pairing of illustrator and author. Here are some teachers notes and an interview with Lucia Masciullo about this book. 

This is a story of perseverance and resilience, and an important yet relatively unknown part of Australian history. Read Eat My Dust! with your kids, it's a story that deserves to be celebrated.  Kids' Book Review

A great addition to any library ... Reading Time

With the 2023 CBCA Book Week theme of Read. Grow. Inspire still fresh in our minds, this is another story that allows young readers to meet the pioneers who followed their dreams, inspired others and  made something “abnormal” normal for today’s generations.  The Bottom Shelf

Lucia Mascuillo has a piece of art in our IBBY Australia Mini Masterpiece art auction (18th November 2023). 

I have talked about other books by Neridah McMullin:

Drover

Fabish

Evie and Rhino

And I have talked about these books illustrated by Lucia Masciullo:

Go Home, Cat!

Olive of Groves

The Imagineer

The Hole

King of the Sky by Nicola Davies illustrated by Laura Carlin

"King of the sky would go to Rome by train, then race back a thousand miles and more!"

Blurb: Starting a new life in a new country, a young boy feels lost and alone - until he makes friends with an old many who keeps racing pigeons. Together they pin their hopes on a race across Europe and the special bird they believe can win it: King of the Sky (Re Del Cielo).

June 13th is Pigeon Appreciation Day and my friend at Kinderbookswitheverything has been gathering books from her extensive and rich library collection ready for a display. Take a look at this Pinterest collection of pigeon books. 

King of the Sky was shortlisted for the Kate Greenaway Medal in 2018. 

This touching, quiet tale about a boy who is a long way from home is full of the atmosphere of a dusty, rainy ex-coal-mining town, lit with accents of yellow hope. Davies considers the strangeness of new places, especially their smells, and the simple acts that can make us feel part of a new community. Book Trust

This book is outstanding in every way. Deeply emotive hand-lettered text, joins with delicate soft-coloured fine illustrations by multi-award winning Laura Carlin, to make this a highly collectable children’s book. Filled with beauty and strong messages, there is nothing to fault here. It’s one of those books that draw a sigh of utter satisfaction from the reader as it is pressed to their chest. Kids' Book Review

Carlin’s smudgy, near-transparent mixed-media illustrations, depicting soot and sun and shadow, capture the essences of the old and new homelands, and a number of wordless spreads emphasize the differences, and distances, between them. Quiet, tender, and profound, this window into immigration offers an intimate understanding of just what it means to come home. Horn Book

With a group of older students you could compare the way Laura Carlin depicts the coal mining town in this book with the work of Sydney Smith in his book Town is by the Sea. 

The word choices in this book are truly special:

"Little houses huddled on the humpbacked hills. Chimneys smoked and metal towers clanked."

"Mr Evans' face was crumpled and he could hardly walk but when his birds flew he smile like springtime."

"Its head was whiter than a splash of milk, its eye blazed fire."

Last week I talked about The Remarkable Pigeon by Dorien Brouwers and in that post I mentioned King of the Sky which I had read many years ago in the wonderful city library in Austin Texas so I was pleased to be able to borrow this from a library this week. Here are some varies of pigeons:

When you look inside this book the end papers are sure to make you gasp! They echo the chart above and are filled with pigeons of every colour. 

The Epic Race by Marie Dorleans

"They're off. The competitors take off at a brisk pace, amid a deafening roar. The horses leap forward, the rides hold on tight, the spectators cheer. Meanwhile ..."

I love this word - meanwhile. The page turn is perfectly placed at this point. Turn the page and we see the riders at the back of group "still trying to cross the starting line." The officials disqualify the donkey, rocking horse and statue. But something crazy is happening. Some riders in the race are reclining on chairs, some have come off their mounts and are flying along holding the tail of the horse and one guy has attached a rocket to his back!

Wait a minute. As the horses almost reach the finish line a small white mouse steps onto the track. CRASH.  But one rider is determined to carry on - literally - carry on by carrying his horse on his own back all the way to the finish line!

"But alas, when the trophy is awarded, the rider doesn't quite get the prize he was hoping for ... "

Do you remember the scene in My Fair Lady at the races? The opening pages of The Epic Race

This is the PERFECT book to share with any Primary school class on Melbourne Cup day which might be why the Australian publisher Wilkins Farago invested in translating this book from French into English.  Translation by Philippine McDonald.

I would link this book with The Emperor's new Clothes Horse by Tony Wilson illustrated by Sue DeGennaro.

The Mapmakers' Race by Eirlys Hunter

Advice from Pa

No rush; take care

Carry the longest rope you can

An expedition should never go faster than the speed of its slowest member

Be observant

Use your compass and your brain

Always leave markers

Don't forget to turn around often so you know what the journey back should look like

This story has so many elements that I enjoyed:

• It is has a page turning plot (I galloped through the last 150 pages in one sitting)
• It involves problem solving and team work
• The ingenuity of the survival strategies employed by these plucky kids makes a for a terrific daring adventure - you will be hanging by your fingernails, clambering over rocks and shivering in freezing rivers
• Even though their food supplies are short the food they create sounds delicious
• Every person in their team has an important skill and these kids are so caring and kind towards each other
• Maps are always fascinating
• There are lots of wonderful words in this book such as doolally, comtemptible clotmongers, holygamoley and busticated
• The illustrations of the maps are just perfect - I almost feel I need to copy all of them to create the full map the children triumphantly present to the race judges 

The story opens with the Santander kids on a train. Their mother has jumped off the train in search of Joe. He makes it back to the train in time but she does not. The group are on their way to the start of a huge race which will be held over twenty-eight days. Teams have to find a way from Grand Prospect to New Coalhaven. The winners will receive five hundred guineas but there is also an additional prize for the team that produces the best map which will then be used for a proposed railway line.

The Santander group are only young children but they have a splendid team. Francie can draw maps and she has a extra skill which allows her to fly, out of her body, to survey the landscape. Her twin Joe is an excellent scout he is also the optimist of the group. Sal, their older sister, is a maths genius so she can work on the surveying aspects of their map and Humphrey is an amazing four year old. He has the best observation skills of the whole group plus a terrific sense of humour. They also have a parrot called carrot. What they lack is transport but luckily early on they meet Beckett. He knows how to get the group some donkeys, and he is very keen to find this route because it will mean great prosperity for his home town of Grand Prospect. Luckily for the children Beckett is also a terrific cook!

This is no easy journey and they face some stiff competition. Roger Rumpledown and his Ruffians; Mr Cody S Cole and his team of Cowboys; the Solemn Team - Society of Logical Explorers, Mappers and Navigators; Montague Bassingstoke-Black leader of Monty's Mountaineers; and The Association of Women's Explorers.  The teams have all sorts of splendid equipment including mechanical horses and giant pillows lifted by birds. Our team have only their tent, some food supplies, and their precious altimeter.  They have to face a difficult landscape and worse survive the dastardly tactics of some of the other teams. You will certainly want to cheer them on right to the end.

I follow Gecko Press on social media. When I saw The Mapmakers Race mentioned I was curious but what really sealed the deal for me was the realisation that the author was known to me.  Years and years ago I read a slim early chapter book called The Astonishing Madame Majolica.  It is such a favourite of mine even though it has long been out of print.

Watch this little film where you can see illustrator Kirsten Slade at work and hear Eirlys Hunter reading part of the story. Here is a detailed review by The Book Bag. Read an interview between Eirlys and Julia Eccleshare.  In this post Eirlys talks about the ideas behind her story.

Adult readers might team this book with Fitzcaraldo the 1982 movie about pulling a whole ship across the mountains of Peru.

Younger readers could follow The Mapmakers Race with The Boundless by Kenneth Oppel. If you enjoy books about racing to a goal you might also enjoy Bartlett and the Ice Voyage by Odo Hirsch and The Mapmaker Chronicles series by AL Tait.

The Mapmakers' Race already feels like a timeless adventure. Its roaring spirit and dashes of fantasy are sure to inspire many children to take on their own intrepid journeys, but for now they'll be more than happy to live vicariously through the Santanders, each of whom have their own strengths, and whose bond is heartwarming.Combined with Kirsten Slade's classic maps and illustrations, author Eirlys Hunter has crafted a thrilling tale full of derring-do and heart.  Book Trust

Once I started reading this book, I didn’t want to stop. I loved the characters and their special skills, especially the way Francie draws the maps for the train routes by seeing everything from above. Poetry Box from New Zealand

All of me is excited. Even my hair!  

Humphrey Santander

Akiak A tale from the Iditarod by Robert J Blake

I recently saw a copy of Little Devils by Robert J Blake and I was captivated by the wonderful illustrations and story about our little Tasmanian devils - unlikely heroes for a story especially by an American author.  I looked for more books by Robert J Blake and found Akiak. This book appealed to me because as a young child I loved books by Jack London such as Call of the Wild and White Fang.

Akiak is based on a true story. There are maps on the opening pages showing the route for the Iditarod Race.

"A musher must stop and sign in at each check point ... take a twenty-four-hour stop at some point during the race ... An injured, stick or fatigued dog may be dropped at a designated dog drop ... A dropped dog may not be put back in harness and may not run next to the team."

Akiak does not know all these rules.  This is her eight attempt at this race. "She had bought them in fifth, third and second, but had never won."

Everything is going well until sadly on day four Akiak is seen to be limping. Her pawpads are damaged. Mick reluctantly leaves Akiak to be flown home. Of course this cannot happen. Akiak needs to race, she needs to win. She escapes from the handlers and heads off alone to catch up with the race. The race volunteers know she will stick to the trail but all their attempts to catch her fail. By day nine she is just two hours behind her team. "A crowd lined the trail to watch her run through the town." She finally catches up and while she cannot go back into the lead harness she can ride in the sled! "As sure as if she had been in the lead position, Akiak won the Iditarod Race."

This is a perfect book for dog lovers.  I would pair Akiak with Stone Fox.  I am very keen to read more books about husky dogs by Robert J Blake especially Togo, Swift and Painter and Ugly.

Read some reviews
Kirkus
Carol Hurst
Publishers Weekly

Dixie O'Day In the Fast Lane by Shirley Hughes and Clara Vulliamy

The possible ingredients for a winning story are fairly easy to identify:

1.  The story makes you feel something - this little gem made me smile and cheer
2.  The story might contain echoes of other stories - with this book you will think of the Aesop story of the Hare and the Tortoise
3.  Action can help a story move along so the reader keeps turning the pages in order to discover the answer to an important question or two such as how will this all turn out?

In the fast Lane is the first in a series of three books about Dixie O'Day.  Every detail in this little book is a delight.  The patterned end papers, The chapter heading pages. The interview which opens the story which gives the reader insights into our story hero Dixie. The character introduction pages and most of all the map. I adore books with maps!

Dixie loves his old car.  His best friend Percy enjoys spending a day with Dixie driving in the country and perhaps enjoying a picnic. The car often breaks down but help is usually close by.  Dixie has an annoying neighbour called Lou Ella.  "Lou Ella bought a new car every year, always an expensive one.  It annoyed Dixie a lot when she drove past his house and tooted her horn."  One day our intrepid heroes see a sign announcing a car race from Didsworth to Dodsworth.  Dixie decides to enter the race with Percy as his co-river (he can't drive but this doesn't matter).  Everything goes wrong on the day of the race.  Meanwhile Lou Ella is also determined to win (at all costs).

The Dixie O'Day series is  little set of easy and colourful books from Clara Vulliamy.  Take a look at my review of Mango and Bambang which are  also illustrated by Clara who is the daughter of Shirley Hughes!  You might like to read this Library Mice review.   Here you can see some of the illustrations from this book.

With seven chapters in each book – a chapter for each night of the week – and a whole host of extras, the Dixie O’Day series is perfect for young readers.