A Fowl Kind of War.

The Dirty Bombers by Ed Taylor

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

As a lover of Watership Down and a writer of animal protagnoist novels, I jumped at the chance to read this title. Gulls have always held character to me - garrulous, greedy and bold. I did enjoy this book. It moved along at a clipping pace, showed the situation from both viewpoints, allowing the reader to both sympathise with the gulls and the poor villagers being besieged by these fowl bombs.
Animal protagonist books can usually fall into two or three different categories - there are the allegory type ones, like Jonathan Livingstone Seagull and Animal Farm; the semi-realistic ones like Watership Down, the Kine Saga and the fantasy ones like Tailchaser's Song and Redwall. This falls into the second camp and does so in a manner that is more-or-less convincing - the gulls behave much as gulls are expected, with the addition of structure and military organisation.

I enjoyed it, the plotting is tight and the characters - both human and avian - entertaining. Whilst the gulls plans for non violent protest may seem sound to them, there is an ever increasing sense of dread as you realise that their "peaceful" actions are condemning them to the probability of a cull. The ending seemed rather sudden, but I am not sure more was required.

My main issue is that I am not sure how well considered the audience is for the writing. It is listed as a "teen" book and considered an analogy of the Palestinians and Israelis conflict. However, given the "dirty bombs" delivered by the gulls, I feel it would probably garner more interest to the younger readers - it would have made a pretty neat plot idea for the 7-10 age range. However, the writing style is entirely unsuited for this age group, with a few (rather tame) curse words, rather mature concepts and relatively complicated prose. I do not think that there are many teens who would be interested in reading a book where the main characters were gulls. However, I could be wrong - and I certainly have devoured animal novels my entire life. So, in summary, it's a decent and enjoyable read, but I am not sure of the intended market.

Interestingly enough, soon after I started reading this, a news article popped up in my Google Newsfeed about the scourge of black-backed gulls in one of our major cities - they are carting rubbish from the local tip and depositing it and their droppings on high end businesses in the seaside district. A cull of their numbers may be approved.

eARC received courtesy of Troubador and NetGalley.

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InterSpecies Communication

Mind Bond by Julie Haydon
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

There is something tremendously romantic about the thought of being able to psychically connect with a non-human animal and communicate via telepathy. So, the concept of being an Inter Species Telepath is awesome, and had me immediately hooked on this book. The main character, Christa, mentally connects with a wolf whilst on vacation in Sakima National Park. This is a fictional (I'm fairly certain) US park that appears to be based on Yellowstone. I do find it a little bit cliched that in all of these style of stories - whether they be shifters or psychics, the animals they connect with are always the most charismatic, the most romantic - in this case: wolf, eagle and cougar for the three main IST characters. All predators, all considered symbols of power, freedom and the wild. Of course, having someone who became telepathically bonded with a squirrel or a blue jay would probably hold rather less appeal for the reader.

The story is a richly crafted, complex affair - dealing not only with Christa's newfound bond; but also a brother, kidnapped as a child; friendship; her relationship with the distinctly unlikeable Tom; a brutal poacher who is killing and removing tails as trophies; some rednecks and a wide cast of other characters all creating a rich tapestry and entrapping the reader into the story. Haydon weaves her web well, her emotive and evocative language bring the scent of pine, the chill in the air, encompasing the power and grace and the divine wildness of the wilderness. Her passion is evident in her words, and cannot fail to touch those that read it.

This was a hard tale to let go - I am already craving a sequel!

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Cute animal stories for children

Donna Jo Napoli is well renowned for her delightful children's books, including her own versions of popular fairy tales. Writing across the whole spctrum from age zero to teenages, it is her animal stories that have currently enchanted me.

Both of the two I have read recently have been based on fairy tales, and both have provided me with inspiration for my own animal chapter books. I shall review them both here:

Mogo, the Third Warthog
An adorable story about a little warthog growing up. I loved the portrayal of this ugly, yet endearing pigs and Mogo's accounts of his adventures in the African savannah. Written in first person narrative, this felt a little odd at first - but I found it quite enjoyable. It helped me relate better to the character, and his trials and triumphs. A goodly amount of facts were thrown into the mix, scattered higgledy-piggledy in a way which educates the reader almost without their knowledge. There is a fair amount of action as well, and she does not shy away from darker issues, like death. Whilst something of a retelling of "Three Little Pigs" this is more the story about survival and spirit. Gotta love the Wild Dog being cast as the Big Bad Wolf!

Ugly
Another delightful story, also told in first person narrative. This one is set in Australia, and contains themes of friendship, family and also spirit. Ugly is the last duckling to hatch in Mama duck's brood, and much larger (and uglier) than his siblings. His behaviour also provides something of a conundrum. Ducks do not trust strangeness, and Ugly and his family quickly find themselves being bullied by the other ducks in Dove Pond. A pacifist by nature, Mama Duck realises that there is no way around it - Ugly must use his brains and survive on his own. But once it is him against the world, Ugly quickly learns that he's not as smart as Mama has lead him to believe. The world is a dangerous place, and a friend is what one needs to get by. He makes many new friends on his quest for his identity - a competitive wallaby; a sweet, loveable wombat; two bawdy geese and a feisty possum, before he finally realises what family and friendship truly are. Enchanting.

These books are both well suited for the 8-10 age group. But because of the inclusion of death in both books - albeit briefly - parents are also encouraged to read them. So they can discuss it with their children. And because they're good ^^