One of Australia’s best known children’s storybook characters, Blinky Bill and his friends have delighted young readers for generations. The Complete Adventures of Blinky Bill (HarperCollins, 2010) combines three of Dorothy Wall’s classic Blinky Bill tales in one volume also featuring many of Wall’s original illustrations.
The Complete Adventures of Blinky Bill
The story begins with a new baby for Mrs Koala. Born into a vibrant social bush community, Blinky is cared for and supervised by a variety of bush animals including his nurse Angelina Wallaby. From Mrs Magpie and Mrs Kookaburra to Mrs Koala’s delightfully named cousin Reverend Fluffy Ears, the bush is alive with characters and personalities to encourage, admonish and care for the loveable little koala.
There is sadness in the stories too, with the early demise of Mr Koala at the hands of a hunter and other less tragic mishaps, but overall the stories are fun and adventurous. Blinky gets into and out of all kind of scrapes with his friends including Splodge the kangaroo and Blinky's adopted sister Nutsy.
Despite the bushland setting, Blinky’s adventures have a very domestic feel as her faces many of the temptations and frustrations of everyday life for a child with chores, school, friendships, and trying to avoid the consequences for disobeying his mother’s rules.
The Complete Adventures of Blinky Bill features three of Dorothy Wall’s Blinky Bill storybooks: Blinky Bill (first published in 1933), Blinky Bill Grows Up (1934) and Blinky Bill and Nutsy (1937)
Classic Australian Storybook Characters
Blinky Bill stands tall amongst Australia’s most loveable storybook characters. With May Gibb’s gumnut babies Snugglepot and Cuddlepie, Ruth Park’s The Muddleheaded Wombat and Norman Lindsay’s pudding with attitude The Magic Pudding, Blinky Bill represents a simpler era of distinctly Australian storybook friendships and adventures.
For almost 80 years, Blinky Bill has entertained children with his mischievous escapades. The ongoing popularity of his story can perhaps be partly explained by Blinky’s own sense of fun and adventure, as he relieves the boredom of his daily routine by delighting in taking risks and looking for new ways to entertain himself and his friends.
Dorothy Wall – Author Profile
Born in 1894 in Wellington, New Zealand, Dorothy Wall relocated to Australia in 1914 at the age of 20. Wall wrote and illustrated 13 books, six about Blinky Bill, as well as illustrating five books by other authors including Jacko – The Broadcasting Kookaburra for Brooke Nicholls in 1933.
Wall died in 1942 in Cremorne, Sydney at the age of 48. Her Blinky Bill stories have never been out of print since their original publishing in 1933.
A Classic Australian Children’s Story
Full of adventure, mishaps and mischievous characters, The Complete Adventures of Blinky Bill brings the Australian bush to life for young readers. Parents will no doubt fondly recall their own introduction to this loveable larrikin as they read these stories with their children.
This latest edition of The Complete Adventures of Blinky Bill is a wonderful reminder of the fun and adventures enjoyed by Blinky and his friends as well as offering a glimpse 1930’s Australian bush life.
Review copy details:
The Complete Adventures of Blinky Bill (ISBN: 978-0-7322-8435-0, 356 pages)
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