To the Wild Sky (1967) is a novel for children by Australian author Ivan Southall, illustrated by Jennifer Tuckwell. It won the Children's Book of the Year Award: Older Readers in 1968.[1]

To the Wild Sky
First edition
AuthorIvan Southall
LanguageEnglish
GenreChildren's fiction
PublisherAngus and Robertson
Publication date
1967
Publication placeAustralia
Media typePrint
Pages184 pp
Preceded byThe Foxhole 
Followed bySly Old Wardrobe 

The novel is a prequel to A City Out of Sight by Ivan Southall, published in 1984.[1]

Plot outline

edit

Six children, travelling to visit an outback station by plane, are thrown into crisis when their pilot suddenly dies mid-flight. One of the children successfully lands the plane and the children then find themselves having to survive.

Critical reception

edit

In her review of the novel in The Canberra Times Daphne Fisher stated: "This is a book that should prove to be generally popular. Mr Southall writes in accordance with Maugham's dictum that a story should have a beginning, a middle and an end; but more than this, he is to be commended for remembering that children, as well as adults, have sufficient intelligence to both comprehend and appreciate an idea which does not depend merely on the happenings in a fictional narrative."[2]

Notes

edit

The novel was republished in 2014 by Text Publishing as part of their "Text Classics" series of Australian novels.[3]

See also

edit

References

edit