Margaret Dunkle

The Stone Swan by Helen Bell Cygnet Books, $22.95 hb Swans are said to mate for life and The Stone Swan (Cygnet Books, $22.95 hb) builds on the love and anguish of such a relationship as the focus for a lesson in environmental responsibility. A pair of swans, lagging behind the rest of their flight, take solitary refuge in a wetland adjacent to a new housing estate, unaware that it is targe ... (read more)

 I know nothing of David Martin’s childhood or family, but I think that he must come from a long line of slayers of dragons, and that somewhere during the formative years of his childhood he listened to many adult conversations on social justice and human dignity. At any rate, his adult life has been spent dealing with dragons, in one way or another. David Martin arrived in Australia in th ... (read more)

Q: What is the most outdated, boring genre in children’s literature?A: The boys’ boarding school story, a fossil left over from the last century. Q: Would it be possible to revive it?A: Out of the question. And anyway, who would want to?   Miracles can still happen. Robin Klein and Max Dann, two of the most popular and successful contemporary children’s authors, have combined forces ... (read more)