 Yellow-Eye David Spillman Mark WIlson 2001 32p., hbk $24.20 1863746072
| Yellow-Eye written by David Spillman, illustrated by Mark Wilson published in 2001 by Era Publications is a thoroughly enjoyable book but it started slowly and took too long to get into the plot, seeing I wasn't hooked until around the half-way point. The story itself is set around a young aboriginal boy named Tom who lives in Mulabindi. One day when talking to his grandfather some environmentalists called Newmob came to discuss the Yellow-Eye fish, which were becoming smaller and decreasing in numbers. Newmob had three reasons why they thought the Yellow-Eye were dying out, though none of Newmob's ideas were correct because only the Aboriginals knew what was killing the Yellow-Eye. After persuasion, Newmob asked Tom's grandfather the reason why the Yellow-Eye were dying. He explained that they were dying because they needed Yanatji, the beautiful flower, to give it power, but Yanatji was shaded with trees and did not get enough light. In the end Newmob cleared all the trees to let Yanatji grow in peace. The moral was that when you work together you will get a better result. For example Newmob fixed the problem of the Yellow-Eye by listening to the Aboriginal people. As for the illustrations I think Mark Wilson did a wonderful job because they are so descriptive, easy to follow, attractive and they keep in time with the story perfectly! I would recommend this book to children from ages 9 -11 and rate it 71/2 out of 10. |
