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Storm Boy and Other Stories
When Storm Boy goes walking along the beach, or over the sandhills, or in the sanctuary, the birds are not afraid. They know he is a friend.
One of them comes to live with Storm Boy and his father, Hideaway. He is the pelican they call Mr Percival.
This is one of Australia's favourite stories, for everyone knows that birds like Mr Percival never really die.
One of them comes to live with Storm Boy and his father, Hideaway. He is the pelican they call Mr Percival.
This is one of Australia's favourite stories, for everyone knows that birds like Mr Percival never really die.
178 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1966
18 people are currently reading
188 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews
April 7, 2019
Jest to całkiem niezła pozycja. Zawiera zbiór kilku opowiadań. Pierwsze 2-3 podobały mi się najbardziej. Były najdłuższe, a co za tym idzie najbardziej rozbudowane.
Fajne jest to, że każda historia zawiera podobny klimat, dzięki temu wszystkie są ze sobą powiązane.
Nie powiem, by mnie ta książka zachwyciła, ale nie była tez nie wiadomo jak słaba.
Fajne jest to, że każda historia zawiera podobny klimat, dzięki temu wszystkie są ze sobą powiązane.
Nie powiem, by mnie ta książka zachwyciła, ale nie była tez nie wiadomo jak słaba.
April 15, 2023
Pierwsze dwa opowiadania - absolutne cudo, choć to drugie aż nazbyt tragiczne, to mimo to z każdego można by wyciągnąć jakiś morał. Cała reszta - nie koniecznie już mnie wciągnęły, na ostatnim wyłączyłam się całkowicie niezainteresowana. Generalnie mój problem jest taki, że nie wiem, jaki jest motyw przewodni tych opowiadań, są strasznie nierówne, choć na plus, że są bardzo dopracowane i każde z nich stanowi zamkniętą opowieść. Przyjemna książeczka, choć bardzo krótko i jednak miałam nadzieje głównie na historię o chłopcu i jego pelikanie, a to tylko króciutka opowiastka, więc odrobinę mnie to zawiodło.
January 14, 2019
Cudowne opowiadania o przeróżnych, czasem niekoniecznie pozytywnych zakończeniach, które uczą pokory, miłości i rozsądku. Moralizatorskie, ciekawe, momentami przejmujące, gdzie do głosu przede wszystkim dochodzą dzieci. Tytułowy Chłopiec z Burzy to drugie z kolei opowiadanie, na podstawie którego nakręcono film. Wszystkie historie chwytają za serce, pomagają zrozumieć trudy życia i niekoniecznie pozytywne jego aspekty. Chociaż nie przepadam za opowiadaniami te przeczytałam z niemałą przyjemnością.
September 22, 2020
Some stories are better than others. (Storm boy was sad and beautiful!) But they all make me miss Australia. I can't believe it's been 8 years since I've last visited and 10 years since I lived there! 🦘
February 17, 2015
I really only read this because I wanted to re-read The Water Trolley, which I read as a child as a separate book. Apparently these stories were originally published together as The Rim of the Morning, and I can't find evidence that The Water Trolley was ever published separately. Despite this, it's what my memory of thirty years past tells me, and I'm more inclined to believe it than google.
January 25, 2015
Only really persevered with this book because of 'Storm Boy' being a so-called classic, and because it's something that my father had to read in school. It's not something that has aged well, and is hilariously bad in some points, particularly the dialogues. Storm Boy, and the first story (the name escapes me) are perhaps work reading, though.
January 10, 2022
Ciekawe opowiadania, każde związane ze zwierzętami i relacjami. Pokazują jak ważne mogą być relacje między człowiekiem a zwierzęciem. Miłość, przyjaźń, wsparcie. Niektóre historie podobały mi się bardziej, niektóre mniej. Najbardziej przeurocze i piękne było to które jest w tytule.
May 4, 2022
Opowiadanie "Muszelka" jest zdecydowanie najlepsze.
May 6, 2023
"Chłopiec z burzy" najlepszy, reszta to takie 3/5
February 23, 2019
Thiele has written some of the most quintessential Australian children's stories and in this collection some of his best work is made available in a reprint to coincide with the new film version of 'Storm Boy'. Of course it is that short story that takes centre stage, and it is a wonderfully evocative tale of the relationship of a child with nature. However I was surprised at how short and how lightly the story was written; there are depths to Thiele's work that he either skates lightly over or daubs in with a painter's touch. For example, the manner in which the three outcasts (Storm Boy, his father Hideaway Tom and the Aboriginal man Fingerbone Bill) come together and exist within the Coorong landscape is shadowy, tenuous, perhaps reflecting the marginal nature of the sea and wind battered land they live in. Thiele also makes sure that it is the environment who really dominates the story, thanks to the omnipresent influence of the waves, the birds, the grass tussocks that surround the human characters. Then there is the fickle and tragic influence of fate on Storm Boy.
The other stories in this collection range from the short novella 'The Water Trolley' through to the sketches 'The Shell' and 'The Fish Scales'. 'The Water Trolley' reads like it could've been written by Henry Lawson, and is certainly redolent of the earlier author's 'The Drover's Wife'. 'Dad Ran a Fowl run' is an updated variation on Steele Rudd's bush farming yarns and (I assume) is part of the wider 'Sun on the Stubble' group of tales based on Thiele's life on the land in South Australia. 'The Lock Out' is the only urban, truly modern story in the collection and it will find a receptive audience today among youthful readers perhaps more than the other stories. 'The Shell' is a surprisingly tragic sketch that reminds the reader of the potential for danger on the South Australian coast, whereas 'The Fish Scale' is the exact obverse, a fisherman's yarn that is moonshine and silliness.
Aside from 'The Lock-Out' Colin Thiele's short stories are in essence about how people, especially the children, deal with the wildness of South Australia's bush and beaches. The tales capture the country with much charm and accuracy, and whilst the stories are arguably for children adult readers will enjoy them too. They may not sit in the first rank of Australian children's literature in terms of fame or popularity today, however Thiele was one of our greatest writers in the genre, and he is the man who brings South Australia to life through his fiction.
The other stories in this collection range from the short novella 'The Water Trolley' through to the sketches 'The Shell' and 'The Fish Scales'. 'The Water Trolley' reads like it could've been written by Henry Lawson, and is certainly redolent of the earlier author's 'The Drover's Wife'. 'Dad Ran a Fowl run' is an updated variation on Steele Rudd's bush farming yarns and (I assume) is part of the wider 'Sun on the Stubble' group of tales based on Thiele's life on the land in South Australia. 'The Lock Out' is the only urban, truly modern story in the collection and it will find a receptive audience today among youthful readers perhaps more than the other stories. 'The Shell' is a surprisingly tragic sketch that reminds the reader of the potential for danger on the South Australian coast, whereas 'The Fish Scale' is the exact obverse, a fisherman's yarn that is moonshine and silliness.
Aside from 'The Lock-Out' Colin Thiele's short stories are in essence about how people, especially the children, deal with the wildness of South Australia's bush and beaches. The tales capture the country with much charm and accuracy, and whilst the stories are arguably for children adult readers will enjoy them too. They may not sit in the first rank of Australian children's literature in terms of fame or popularity today, however Thiele was one of our greatest writers in the genre, and he is the man who brings South Australia to life through his fiction.
October 1, 2023
This is a collection of short stories by Australian writer Colin Thiele, about the adventures of young boys growing up in rural, coastal and suburban South Australia in the mid-twentieth century. The cover story Storm Boy was originally published as a short novel for children in 1964 and is a touching fable about the close friendship between an unnamed young man with the nickname “Storm Boy” and a pelican whose life he saves. Several of the tales in this volume feature people battling against the harsh Australian environment as they struggle for survival or are just frustrated with their misunderstanding of nature. I remember seeing the original 1976 movie version of Storm Boy many years ago and reading Blue Fin, another popular novel of his, in primary school, but I was unfamiliar with most of Thiele’s other work, so the book was both a nostalgic window and a pleasant surprise. If you like easy-to-read books with emotional depth about twentieth-century Australia, I can heartily recommend his books.
August 26, 2019
I expected these six short stories to be a pedestrian read, but I was completely mistaken. The centerpiece of the collection - Storm Boy - was a children's story imbued with a strong Australian flavour of landscape and nature. There was an emotional resonance to the tale and I'm surprised that they didn't make me read it in school.
This was not my favourite out of the six, though. That honour went to The Water Trolley, which I had never even heard of. Essentially the tale of a boy undertaking a futile attempt at an unobtainable goal, it maintained tension throughout and was the longest of the tales. It was quite exciting and, like Storm Boy, included Indigenous Australian themes, which I thought was illustrative of the author's penetrating awareness of context.
The other four stories were ok, but shorter and less impactful.
This was not my favourite out of the six, though. That honour went to The Water Trolley, which I had never even heard of. Essentially the tale of a boy undertaking a futile attempt at an unobtainable goal, it maintained tension throughout and was the longest of the tales. It was quite exciting and, like Storm Boy, included Indigenous Australian themes, which I thought was illustrative of the author's penetrating awareness of context.
The other four stories were ok, but shorter and less impactful.
December 19, 2023
Beautifully written. I'll have nightmares inspired by The Water Trolley, the novella. Storm Boy is short and almost saccharine, but has a good environmental message that was probably desperately needed at the time (and probably is still needed somewhat). The other stories include humor, horror, and a wonderful sense of place & time that illuminates them and makes them especially appealing, I'm sure, to the original readers.
Now, of course, they're easier to read as a sort of historical fiction... and yet, they're not actually that dated, imo. I do recommend if you're interested, or if you have a challenge to read a classic from Australia. Oh, and don't let the 'children's lit' label deter you... these are for all ages, and likely even better for adults who can appreciate the details & nuances.
Now, of course, they're easier to read as a sort of historical fiction... and yet, they're not actually that dated, imo. I do recommend if you're interested, or if you have a challenge to read a classic from Australia. Oh, and don't let the 'children's lit' label deter you... these are for all ages, and likely even better for adults who can appreciate the details & nuances.
October 24, 2017
Nice little, easy to read stories, especially when you know they are for the most part, locally set. (South Australia)
His characters and their stories are as convincingly real as their environs.
His characters and their stories are as convincingly real as their environs.
April 1, 2019
A nice story for sure and an easy read. Would happily recommend it to any middle primary students 😊
August 18, 2023
3⭐ za całość podobało mi się tylko opowiadanie o chłopcu z burzy jemu dam 4⭐
July 11, 2024
3.25/5 ⭐
December 14, 2020
Trochę się zawiodłam. Kupiłam specjalnie dla opowiadania "chłopiec z burzy",które było według mnie mało rozwinięte, słabo dopracowane. Może po prostu miałam zbyt wysokie oczekiwania... Dodam jeszcze, że samo opowiadanie miało troszkę ponad 40 stron.
Ale bardzo bardzo podobało mi się opowiadanie "o tym, jak tata hodował drób". Bardzo zabawne i pouczające! :)
Ale bardzo bardzo podobało mi się opowiadanie "o tym, jak tata hodował drób". Bardzo zabawne i pouczające! :)
February 18, 2013
Read this today on my Kindle, mostly while waiting at the doctor. I remember reading this as a child and it was just as great to read it as an adult. Beautiful friendship and love between Strom Boy and Mr Percival. I love the part where they save the men on the sinking boat.
December 20, 2016
A lovely collection of short stories of Australian lives on the land, in the desert, and along the coast - with brilliant use of settings - all the more enjoyable to a South Australian reader when places like the Coorong, Goolwa, Port Lincoln and Adelaide turn up regularly.
May 2, 2015
dont usually like short stories as I find the transition from one to the other hard. However really liked this collection and didnt seem to have that problem :)
April 10, 2021
3,5*
Niektóre opowiadania bardzo dobre, inne średnie.
Niektóre opowiadania bardzo dobre, inne średnie.
April 30, 2021
Ocena: 2,5 ⭐️
May 4, 2022
Nie zachwyciła mnie.
July 4, 2022
No ja przepraszam, ale nie...
September 8, 2022
Poruszająca. Co prawda nie każde opowiadanie przypadło mi do gustu, aczkolwiek poziom świetnie utrzymany
Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews