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Hello Barney!
Barney, the cockatoo, becomes the caged pet of William Jackson of Australia, until, 70 years later, Barney flies out of the cage
320 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1989
3 people want to read
About the author
Mary K. Pershall
15 books6 followersMary K Pershall grew up on a farm in Iowa, heart of the American corn and Bible belt. She escaped to Australia as a freshly graduated teacher in 1974, and has lived here ever since.
Beginning her career editing and writing for children’s magazines such as Pursuit and Comet, Mary went on to write young adult novels such as the highly acclaimed You Take the High Road, Stormy and A Long Way Home.
Drawing infinite inspiration from her ongoing career as a teacher, Mary now writes books for late primary and early high school students. As well as writing for the enormously successful Aussie Bites series (Too Much To Ask For and Making Jamie Normal), Mary has written a popular tween trilogy with daughter Anna, focussing on the pitfalls of popularity; entitled Two Weeks in Grade Six, A Term in Year Seven and Escape from Year Eight.
Most recently, Mary has drawn on spooky experiences in her own childhood to create the Ruby Clair series. Ruby, a reluctant hero, just wants to go to school and live a normal life, but the ghosts she can see have other ideas. Ruby Clair: The Trouble with Ghosts and Ruby Clair: Ghost with a Message are now available. A third book is on its way.
As well as writing and teaching, Mary gives talks at schools about what it was like to grow up in a haunted farm house in Iowa.
Beginning her career editing and writing for children’s magazines such as Pursuit and Comet, Mary went on to write young adult novels such as the highly acclaimed You Take the High Road, Stormy and A Long Way Home.
Drawing infinite inspiration from her ongoing career as a teacher, Mary now writes books for late primary and early high school students. As well as writing for the enormously successful Aussie Bites series (Too Much To Ask For and Making Jamie Normal), Mary has written a popular tween trilogy with daughter Anna, focussing on the pitfalls of popularity; entitled Two Weeks in Grade Six, A Term in Year Seven and Escape from Year Eight.
Most recently, Mary has drawn on spooky experiences in her own childhood to create the Ruby Clair series. Ruby, a reluctant hero, just wants to go to school and live a normal life, but the ghosts she can see have other ideas. Ruby Clair: The Trouble with Ghosts and Ruby Clair: Ghost with a Message are now available. A third book is on its way.
As well as writing and teaching, Mary gives talks at schools about what it was like to grow up in a haunted farm house in Iowa.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
May 18, 2013
A friend of mine lent me some of her favourite picture books. This one "Hello, Barney" is a sadly sweet/sweetly sad book about a trapped cockatoo who becomes dependent on humans and accustomed to his caged life for many, many years. The sweetness of the tale arises from the beauty of the relationship between Barney and his owner, the sadness from the obvious tragedy of an entire life spent trapped. The tale also offers the cockatoo's trapped life as a reflection of the owner's trapped and lonely life. Upon reflection, this story is more bitter than sweet.
Displaying 1 of 1 review