Forgotten Vintage Children's Lit We Want Republished! discussion

Australia Ivan Southall seems well-known down under, but not so much here on GR. :)

I haven't read anything by him yet, but there was an entire Boy's Adventure series that wasn't listed, with no ratings or reviews on most of them.

I felt sorry for them, so here's Simon Black and his incredible adventures..

Meet Simon Black
Simon Black in Peril
Simon Black in Space
Simon Black in Coastal Command
Simon Black in China
Simon Black and the Spacemen
Simon Black on Venus
Simon Black in the Antarctic
Simon Black Takes Over
Simon Black at Sea

The ratings (where they exist) are abyssmal. XD

The Simon Black books aren't brilliant, Biggles with an Australian accent, but Ivan Southall went on to greater things winning the Carnegie Medal for Josh. He is still the only Australian winner. There is an interesting article on the Simon Black stories here: www.collectingbooksandmagazines.com/i... . I say here, I hope I've got the link right, ivan and southall may be separate words.

Thanks, Len! Yes, they look wretched! XD

Josh is a wonderful story that I very highly recommend, about poetry and that being a poet does not make the main character somehow girly etc.

(view spoiler)[Josh (the 1971 Carnegie Medal winner) is a both stylistically and thematically intriguing and evocative young adult novel (taking place in Depression era Australia and with the author of Josh, with Ivan Southall also being the first Australian to be awarded the Carnegie Medal). Penned and presented in a delightful stream-of-consciousness narrative (a bit difficult to get into at the beginning perhaps, but in my opinion well worth persevering) Josh concerns 14-year-old Josh Plowman (a budding poet from Melbourne) who makes a 4-day visit to his great-aunt in the remote rural Australian village of Ryan Creek (which was first settled by Josh's great grandfather, Maximilian Plowman).

And in the chapters of Josh, one representing each day of the visit, Josh interacts continuously disastrously with the Ryan Creek adolescents and also with some of the adults, nearly gets drowned by an outraged and raging crowd, and finally cuts short his stay by walking the 100 miles back to Melbourne (but also and wonderfully, with Josh not reacting violently and physically fighting his bullies, but instead cutting his losses and stoically walking away with both his integrity and his dignity intact and unblemished). Sometimes a bit dated (and with certainly a bit of textual misogyny, but considering the publication date of 1971 actually and in my opinion Josh often feels rather ahead of its time and also of its place). And yes, I most certainly have quite enjoyed my reading time with Josh, finding how Ivan Southall depicts the main protagonist and that Josh sticks to his principles, to his poetry and to his active dislike of hunting and other so-called many pursuits refreshing and stimulating, a rare and also a very much surprising five star novel for me (evocative of the Australian landscape and with important messages regarding holding fast to one's principles, rejecting violence and embracing poetry and the celebration of lyricism). (hide spoiler)]