Drac and the Gremlin by Allan Baillie

This beautifully illustrated book by Allan Baillie, is a celebration of imaginative play. It melds together reality and fantasy. Drac (the girl) sets about to subdue the Gremlin of the Groaning Grotto (her younger brother). She uses her ultra-laser beam (a wrapping paper-covered kitchen paper roll and attempts to rescue the White Wizard(a butterfly) from General Min and her Hissing Horde (the cat and her kittens.) This book would be a useful medium in the study of alliteration. There are many book by Allan Baillie for all reading levels in the Little Library of Rescued books.

Secrets of Walden Rising by Allan Baille

Brendan and his dad move to Australia after his mum leaves home. Settling in a drought-ridden outback town does not seem much of an improvement over a green English village he is used to, and Brendan finds the local kids to be mean, narrow minded and positively hostile. They don't even use his name , to them he is just "the Pom." However, things take a turn for the better when he discovers that something weird is happening outside the dusty town and no-one else seems to have noticed. Everyone else is far too preoccupied waiting for rainfall which will break the terrible drought. It is as if a whole new town from the past has suddenly risen out of the water in front of him. Walden Rising is another worthy read from one of Australia’s best known writers, Allan Baillie

The Riverman by Allan Baillie

I bought this hardback copy off the man himself, Allan Baillie when he came to promote his book in Queenstown. There is an inscription from him on the inside cover. The book is set on the rugged west coast of Tasmania at the time of the Mount Lyell mine disaster in 1912. Twelve year old Tim is forced into adulthood when his father dies and has to learn to overcome his grief and resentment to become a riverman in the wilderness. I would recommend this book to readers from 11-14. Below is a link to Allan Baillie's website:

http://www.allanbaillie.com.au/

Wreck by Allan Baillie

This is a real gem of an Australian children's book which would be appropriate for 10-14 year olds. It is about two children, Renee and Ian, who find themselves in the middle of a cyclone. They eventually seek safety in a beach cave after their houses are destroyed. Later they emerge to be confronted with a huge wreck of a freighter washed up on the rocks. They clamber aboard but are not prepared for what awaits them there. Alan Baillie writes the following about his novel: "The spark for this story had to keep on glowing for about twenty-five years before it was written. Back then, my wife and I were cruising near Noosa, when we saw a freighter, the Cherry Venture, driven by a storm onto a beach. The freighter had been on the beach for only a couple of months and that image stayed with me."

Allan had a close encounter of his own.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MU6VOorKdg4

The Cherry Venture wreck was removed from the beach in 2007. Here are some photos of it.