A massive round of applause to all of the school librarians who made Book Week rock. Far from being the buttoned-up noise-Nazis that we’ve come to expect, the librarians I’ve encountered love to see kids excited about reading, and they’ll happily put on a costume, throw a parade and lure authors away from their desks to get things going.
I spent Book Week with students from John Paul College and Churchie, in Brisbane, sharing the inspiration for the Hazard River series.
Things started for me with a holiday on the Noosa River. My sons teamed up with friends and spent the summer exploring sand banks, dodging sting rays and snakes. I had to write about it.
I’m delighted to see Shark Frenzy, Bat Attack, Snake Surprise, Tiger Terror, Blood Money and Toads’ Revenge still entertaining kids five years after the first book in the series was published.
The stories are fast-paced and action-packed with a subtle message about the environment. Even though there are very angry animals on the covers (thanks to Illustrator Extraordinaire – Marc McBride), the baddies are rogue fishermen, dodgy developers and smugglers.
One class I worked with came up with some very creative answers to the big mystery in Shark Frenzy. Why did a dead shark wash up on the bank of Hazard River? Perhaps it was killed by a zombie diver. Or maybe it was a rogue chicken.
You’ll just have to read the book and find out!
Book Julie for a school visit.
See the Hazard River teachers’ notes.
Julie Fison 