BLACK DOG BOOKS

BLACK DOG BOOKS.

Black Dog have produced several books about Ned and Bushranging.

In the recent past they produced the following titles:

http://www.bdb.com.au/pdf/teachersnotes/jerilderie_letter_TN.pdf

http://www.carolewilkinson.com.au/

Current books of interest to me:

OUTLAW SON.

Paula Hunt's Outlaw Son: The Story of Ned Kelly was written with young
readers in mind.

The A4 style size is very appealing and the book should be well
received by even those who do not always enjoy reading.
I will give you my thoughts on this book and will try soon to get one
of my sons to do a write up on it considering this book was written
with young people in mind.

The first thing I noticed about this book was the cover, Ned's image
over his famous helmet was certainly eye-catching. Every kid wants to
read about Ned and once they see this cover they will want to open it
up.

This is a factual book and laid out in an easy-to-follow style,
beginning with a quick word on bushrangers then straight in
to the Kelly story. A time line of little helmets takes the reader
from 1788 to 1881. I loved that concept.

Throughout the book there are little snippets taken from sources such
as Ned Kelly's 'Jerilderie' & 'Cameron' letters.

Every facet of Ned's life from 'growing up a Kelly' to his 'execution'
are covered. With a book of only 32 pages the author did well to fit everything in.

Whilst not a glorification of Ned and his gang, the book is
'pro-Kelly', it is sympathetic to Ned's plight and apparent police
harassment.

Even with no prior knowledge of Ned at all any youngster would be
full-bottled on Ned's story after reading Outlaw Son.

There is no need for kids to read Kelly book after Kelly book to get
the basic facts, this text delivers all the basics very comprehensively.
Hopefully reading Outlaw Son will generate enough interest to get them
reading even more books (be they on Ned or not).

I loved the combination of text/snippets coupled with wonderful images.

The 'wanted poster' above was the only image I wish they had not used
because it was never a genuine one.

The rear cover of the book.

Thank you Black Dog books.