Promotional Information

Another enchanting novel from the author of The Ghost's Child.

About the Author

Over the past decade this prolific author has produced a string of engrossing tales. Born in Melbourne, Hartnett was 13 when she wrote her first novel, Trouble All The Way, and it was published when she was 15. This child prodigy is now a mature and polished writer in her mid-30s with over a dozen published bocks to her credit. Hartnett's works have won numerous awards, including shortlistings for the Children's Book Council of Australia Book of the Year Award for Older Readers in both 1999 and 2000, and a shortlisting for the Miles Franklin Award, Australia's most prestigious literary award. In 2002 Sonya won the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize 2002 for Thursday's Child.

Reviews

"The Silver Donkey is a gorgeous jewel of a book... It will be a children's classic." - The Age "... outstanding in every way. Precise, sensual, wise, heroic, witty - a tale of growth and selflessness." - Magpies Magazine"

Gr 4-6-A lieutenant walks away from a battle in France during World War I. Tired of the fighting and unable to see, he wants to return home to England. Two French sisters living near the English Channel find him and provide him with food and other supplies. The girls quickly realize that caring for the soldier is more than they can handle and involve their brother and his friend. As the days pass and the boys work on a plan to help the man across the channel, the soldier shows the children a small good-luck charm in the shape of a donkey. During the course of the book, he tells them four tales about the creature, the first one being a version of the Christmas Story. Gradually, readers learn that the soldier is not blind, but that he has closed his eyes to the violence around him. This is a charming book in many ways. In spite of its setting, it's a gentle story that introspective readers will find satisfying.-Jane G. Connor, South Carolina State Library, Columbia Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.