Teachers Notes The Boy from Snowy River Written by Edwina Howard Illustrated by Joe Bond Teachers Notes by Rae Carlyle Category Title Author Illustrator Mates series The Boy from Snowy River Edwina Howard Joe Bond Publication date April 2014 Format Extent Binding Printing 198 x 128 mm 64 pp Paperback Colour ISBN 978 1 86291 997 6 Previous publications Edwina Howard The Ice-cream War (Omnibus Books, 2012) Joseph (Joe) Bond Iron Soldiers(Omnibus Books, 2005) Contents Introduction... 2 About the Author.. 2 About the Illustrator. 2 Activities... 3 Previous publications (Bob Brown and Ben Wood) Give Me a Home among the Gum Trees (Omnibus Books, 2007) Teachers Notes may be reproduced for use in school activities. They may not be redistributed for commercial sale or posted to other networks.
Introduction There is a new theme park on the Gold Coast, and George desperately wants to go there. But Big Spills Water World is a long way from the farmhouse in Mumblegum, which as George says is in the middle of nowhere, and it doesn t seem likely that he will ever get his wish. But then George s Gran has an idea: if George and their ancient stockhorse Bandicoot can win the Stockman s Cup in the nearby town of Dargan s Ridge, then the prize money just might take him all the way to the theme park he is dreaming about. George isn t entirely sure about the plan, but Gran is determined, and unbothered by such trifles as age-limits or parental permission, she sets out to make sure that George has every chance to win the money by any means she can. About the Author Edwina Howard was born in 1969 and spent her early years in the NSW mid north coast town of Taree. She now spends her time between Old Bar, a village on the mid north coast, and Quirindi, a small town on the north-western plains, with her husband, her son and daughter, and a motley assortment of animals. Edwina s first novel for junior readers, The Ice-cream War, was published internationally. About the Illustrator Joe (Joseph) Bond is the illustrator of Iron Soldiers by Dave Luckett. He has also completed a number of other commissions including artwork for Shipwreck at Madman s Corner and other Omnibus titles and cover artwork for a series of fantasy books. He lives in Adelaide and is a full-time illustrator specialising in many different styles of work including portraiture and historical and fantasy art. 2
Activities English When authors introduce and develop a character in a story, they will often use a number of different techniques to help the reader gain a picture of how the character looks, thinks and acts. Some of the ways that authors can develop characters are by: - using dialogue between two or more characters. - having one character describe another. - telling the reader about a character s past or current actions. - describing how a character looks. The character of Gran in The Boy from Snowy River is likeable, and somewhat unprincipled. George describes her as a bit of a joker, and can t always be sure when she is teasing and when she is being serious. It is Gran s actions that drive the story, and understanding her character is key to understanding how the story unfolds. What sort of person is Gran? At the beginning of the story, George describes his gran. What are two things that he talks about her doing that show two different sides of her personality? How does George describe her? What words does he use? How does Gran speak to and about Mr Harrison? When Mr Harrison s goats get free, why does George think that his gran might have had something to do with it? How does Gran react when George accuses her of releasing the goats? Why might she react like this? At the end of the story, George tells his dad that Gran will be taking him to Big Spills Water World. Why do you think she is doing this? List the actions of Gran in the story that are examples of her trying to break the rules (e.g. lying, cheating, or trying to trick people). Why do you think she does these things? Does this make her a bad person? How do you think her being a practical joker by nature affects her decisions and actions? The Boy from Snowy River is clearly inspired by the classic Australian poem The Man from Snowy River by A.B. (Banjo) Paterson. The title of the book reflects the title of the poem, the big race at Dargan s Ridge is advertised as celebrating the spirit of The Man from Snowy River, several of the characters have the same or similar names as characters in the poem, and George s ride down Dadman s Drop is reminiscent of the ride described by Paterson. What name did Gran use when she entered George in the race? Why do you think she chose these names for his horse and for him? 3
As a class read The Man from Snowy River. Discuss the poem. What happens in the poem, and how is this reflected in The Boy from Snowy River? Make a list of all the similarities, references, and allusions to the original poem that you can find in The Boy from Snowy River. Why do you think the author chose this poem as the inspiration for her story? Read some other examples of Banjo Paterson s poetry. Write a short story set in modern Australia that reflects or is influenced by the plotline of one of them. How has the language we use in Australia changed since Paterson wrote his poem? Make a list of all the words in the poem that have different meanings nowadays, or that you don t understand. Make a list of words used in The Boy from Snowy River that Paterson would not have used, or that are now used in a different way than they were 100 years ago. Compare the two lists and discuss as a class what you can tell about when something was written by the author s language choices. Creative Activities Design a race track to go on your school grounds or the surrounding streets. Draw a detailed picture/map of your design. Make sure to mark down any hazards such as fences or traffic! Build a diorama of a model race track. You can use plasticine, playdough or clay, cardboard, glue, sticks or twigs. Make sure to show fences and some of the surrounding scenery (are there trees and wombat holes nearby? Or are there houses and cars?). If possible people your race track with plastic horses or other animals. On page 9 George says that Gran is a bit of a joker. The illustration on that page shows her wearing a joker s hat. Think of some other common phrases that are used to describe people and their behaviour (e.g. He s a tough cookie, She s a cool customer ) and draw a picture to illustrate one of them. Write a poem about an imaginary running race around your school grounds. As a class, chant the first verse of The Man from Snowy River using a rap beat. Make sure to clap or drum along with a strong percussive rhythm. Experiment with adding different percussion instruments to your chant. Try to mimic some of the sounds of the poem (hoofbeats etc.) with your percussion. Design a poster advertising the chase after the goats as if it had been an actual planned event at the Festival. In the story, Dadman s Drop was originally called Deadman s Drop, but someone misspelt it on a map once, and the new name stuck. Look at a map of your local area, and make a list of as many place names as possible, where you can change the meaning of the name by changing one or two letters. Draw a cartoon to illustrate someone misunderstanding one of the names. 4
Science and Technology Croak, the crow, was hand-reared from a chick by Gran. He can talk, is best friends with Bandicoot the old stock horse, and scares the kangaroos. He can t, however, fly. Research crows. Can they really learn to talk? How do birds learn to fly? Research other birds that can learn to talk. Choose one bird that can talk and present your findings about it to the class. In the wild birds communicate with each other (just not in words!). Choose a native Australian bird and research what different noises it makes to communicate with other birds. Mr Harrison keeps goats, and makes cheese from their milk. What other types of milk can cheese be made from? As a class list all the different types of cheese you can think of. Make a graph of these to show which is most popular. Individually, choose one of the types of cheese, and research how and where it is traditionally made, and what type of animal milk it uses. Is it possible to have vegetarian cheese? What about vegan? Why do you think cheese was invented as a food? What are the advantages to turning milk into cheese rather than just drinking it? Geography George wants to go to a theme park on the Gold Coast, in south-eastern Queensland. How far is the Gold Coast from where you live? What are some of the different ways you could get there? On a map of Australia, locate your home and the Gold Coast. Put the point of a compass on the Gold Coast, and the tip of the pencil on your home. Use the compass to then draw a circle with the Gold Coast at the centre and your home on the circumference. o Look at all the other places that the circle passes through or near. They are all the same distance from the theme parks as your home is! o Search on the internet for pictures of the other places on the line. Do they look similar to where you live? Different? In what way? Which part of Australia do you think that George and his family live in? Why? Give as many good reasons based on the text to support your theory as possible. 5