Forgotten Vintage Children's Lit We Want Republished! discussion

(Another one from Len!)

Mary Elwyn Patchett was an Australian author who later emigrated to the United Kingdom.

She appears to be best known for her book The Brumby, but as Len attests, she also wrote some science fiction titles, such as:

Space Captives of the Golden Men
Flight to the Misty Planet
The Venus Project
Lost on Venus
Send for Johnny Danger

Not on Goodreads:
Adam Troy, Astroman: The Exciting Story of How a Great Space-Pilot Saved the World from Radiation Beasts

I enjoyed her series about Mary, who lives on a cattle ranch in the outback. Ajax the Warrior, Tam the Untamed etc. My favourite is the last one Ajax and the Drovers. Although published as fiction, I think they are based on her own childhood.

Ah, interesting! I had no idea there was another place named Texas in the world before today! ;)

There's quite a robust (and useful) Wikipedia page for her as well:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_El...

Jane Badger's site is also interesting: https://janebadgerbooks.co.uk/book-au...

Here is the Ajax series for other interested parties (credit to LibraryThing for having this info - couldn't find it easily!):
Ajax the Warrior
Tam the Untamed
The Great Barrier Reef U.S. Title. Original is "Treasure of the Reef"
Return to the Reef
Outback Adventure
The Call of the Bush
The End of the Outlaws
The Golden Wolf
Ajax and the Haunted Mountain
Ajax and the Drovers

It’s a good series. I particularly like the good relationship Mary and her family seem to have with the local aborigines, there seems to be real friendliness between them.

The Brumby books! 💗

Rereading Call of the Bush at the moment. Excellent book. Mary is poisoned by a tick and nearly dies, ends up having to spend the summer in a wheelchair, but doesn’t let it slow her down.

I only remember reading two of Mary Patchett's books, quite some time ago.

Send for Johnny Danger, which I didn't appreciate at all. Captain Danger is more small time superhero than square-jawed space pilot and in this story he and his astronaut chums had to fight some sort of menace - I'm not sure whether alien or human villains - on the way to the Moon. It was just too comic book style to really work. On the other hand, if I had been a ten year old I would have loved it.

The other book was The Quest of Ati Manu which, although it was a fairly conventional boys treasure hunting story, had the advantage of the unusual setting of northern Queensland. I think it was part of a series about an adventure seeking family called the Brewitts - or something like that. It was straight-forward, uncomplicated, but a good read.

Thinking about it brings to mind another Australian writer - I'm pretty sure he was Australian - called John Gunn. The Humpy in the Hills is the book I remember. I will have to see if I can find out a bit more about him.

I have had Ajax the Warrior for many years as it was published in Puffin books. I was lucky enough to find an original hardback of Tam the Untamed in a charity shop in England over a decade ago.

Her fiction also includes Wild Brother, a good story of dingoes.
The Brumby series starts off well but after the first couple of books becomes less suitable for young readers. However, it keeps reflecting the bush life and wildlife.

A similar author is Reginald Ottley

By The Sandhills Of Yamboorah


The Roan Colt of Yamboorah