Reviewed by Rama Gaind.
By Colin Thiele, New Holland, $14.99.
A timeless Australian classic, Storm Boy is a heart-warming tale about an extraordinary friendship and unconditional love. It was released to coincide with a major movie remake starring Jai Courtney and Geoffrey Rush, the 55th anniversary edition.
It’s the story of Mike ‘Storm Boy’ Kingley who likes to wander alone along the fierce deserted coast among the dunes that face out into the Southern Ocean. He rescues three pelican chicks after their mother is shot. He nurses them back to health. He names them Mr Proud, Mr Ponder and Mr Percival. After he releases them, his favourite, Mr Percival, returns and a very special bond is formed between them.
Along with his father, Storm Boy live in a humpy among the sandhills between the Southern Ocean and the Coorong – a lonely, narrow waterway that runs parallel to a long stretch of the South Australian coast.
Storm boy and Mr Percival become inseparable friends and spend their days exploring the wave-beaten shore and the drifting sandhills. Mr Percival learns to help Storm Boy’s father with his fishing and warn the other birdlife whenever poachers are coming. However, his part in rescuing a shipwrecked crew leads to great changes in Storm Boy’s life.
It’s this attachment that brings into focus the conflict between his lifestyle in Coorong and the external pressures of society including his schooling. Then there’s the fate of the pelican.
It’s illustrated with paintings by renowned artist Robert Ingpen that vividly capture the landscape. Australian author and educator, Thiele was renowned for his award-winning children’s fiction, most notably the novels Storm Boy, Blue Fin, the Sun on the Stubble series, and February Dragon.
