What to do with a bag of rice...

1. Use it as a pillow. (Source: B. Montgomery)

2. Use it as a seat. (Source: B. Montgomery)

The Island by John Heffernan and Peter Sheehan

Islands are great literary devices because they can show a culture as a singular unit, untouched by outside influences. John Heffernan's picture book The Island portrays a tribe of people who are always miserable because they work so hard and fail to notice the beauty all around them. Only one member of the tribe, a blind boy, experiences beauty in the things around him: the sounds, the smells and tactile experiences he has.

The Island (Scholastic, 2005)

One day the boy encounters a sea creature and plays with it. His laughter attracts the rest of the tribe who also eventually join in with the frivolity in the sea. But their happiness is short lived and they want to keep the sea creature so they can always be happy. They capture the sea creature and keep it on the island where it begins to sicken.

The blurb on the back of the book asks, "How do we find happiness? And once we find it, how can we hold on to it?"
Posing these basic philosophical questions, the illustrator Peter Sheehan has created a fabulous sea creature which is rubbery, colourful, comical and sweet. The blind boy has a whimsical, soft look in contrast to the rest of the tribe who are rigid and monochomed.

This picture book leaves a lasting impression and generates a lot of discussion with kids about perceptions, values and the pusuit of happiness.

Mutuwhenua by Patricia Grace

Mutuwhenua (Penguin, 1978)

Mutuwhenua is a Maori word that refers to the new moon or when the moon is sleeping. This novel is a kiwi classic because it was the first ever published novel by a Maori woman way back in 1978. It tells the story of Maori woman Ripeka who leaves her extended family to marry Graeme, a Pakeha schoolteacher. Central to the book is the belonging Ripeka feels for the land where she grew up and the sense that she can't be torn from it.
   Mutuwhenua is a thin volume but the writing packs a punch. Patricia Grace has a sparse style particularly with her use of dialogue which conveys pent up emotion well. The book is easy to read and the plot is simple. Poor Ripeka begins to wither away from her ancestral home. Her despair and confusion are well drawn and I must admit to crying several times whilst I read it.
   This book is a good one for PSSC students, the length, easy prose and setting all come together to make a great 'island 'story for students learning English.

More Views of Nauru

Here are some more photos from Nauru in the 1990s. My inspiration for The Birthmark came from teaching these students and living on the island for over three years.


Students dancing at a formal function. Source: B. Montgomery

Japanese pillbox by the side of the road. Source: B. Montgomery

Kids playing in a briny pond in Anabar. Source: B. Montgomery

Sea Hearts by Margo Lanagan

Sea Hearts (Allen and Unwin, 2012)

I have just finished reading the most extraordinary 'island' story. Sea Hearts by Margo Lanagan is at once beautiful, magical, dark and heart-wrenching. It is a story set on fictional Rollrock Island where once the men took sea-wives, that is, women magicked from seals. A young girl called Misskaella discovers she has the power to call the seals and her intentions are far from innocent. The townsfolk have humiliated her for years and her desire for revenge is great. Misskaella becomes known as the witch and it is her story which is central to Sea Hearts. 
   The narrative is told from different viewpoints giving the reader the ability to see the damage caused by this dark magic from all perspectives. The men of the island are bewitched so that their existing relationships crumble with devastating consequences. But life with a sea-bride is not all the men imagine it will be. Problems arise with their new wives who long to return to the sea.
   Lanagan's prose is hauntingly beautiful. She really is a classy writer who can produce powerful scenes using all the senses. If you have the chance to read any of her short story collections you will also be captivated by her skill. She is an amazing author. I cannot recommend this book highly enough. It is a true 'island' treasure.

One Small Island by Alison Lester and Coral Tulloch

Macquarie Island lies to the south of New Zealand on route to the antarctic. It is bitterly cold, "a speck of green in a vast, windswept sea...". One Small Island is a beautiful picture book that documents the ancient geology and modern history of this remote island. A major theme is the damage inflicted to the island's fragile ecology by humans. First the sealers killed thousands of seals and brought introduced animals to the island. The beautiful Macquarie Island parakeet was then wiped out by introduced predators.

One Small Island (Viking, 2011)

The introduced animals included cats, dogs, rats wekas and rabbits. Over time these feral creatures destroyed the native environment and the rabbits in particular reached plague proportions. This book shows how scientists are currently trying to eradicate the rabbit and restore some of the island's habitat for sea birds and mammals.
   This is a delightful and informative picture book. The illustrations are a mixture of realistic drawings, scientific diagrams, maps  and sketches. The result is surprisingly pleasing. One Small Island is an absorbing book which I highly recommend.

Shadow of the Boyd by Diana Menefy

Shadow of the Boyd
(Harper Collins, 2010)

Long ago I'd heard a friend tell the tale of a young cabin boy who had survived a massacre in New Zealand in the early 1800s, along with a woman and two small girls. Shadow of the Boyd is the retelling of this true story, the terrifying experience of fifteen-year-old Thomas Davidson. Davidson's story is told partly as a straight narrative and partly from diary entries which jolt his memories further, revealing details of his time on the brigantine Boyd.
   Menefy took much of her information from old shipping documents but had to rely on imagination to fill in most of the details. The result is an engaging read but a brutal one. Menefy did well to describe the massacre simply but without too much gore. The way the survivors lived with the Maori people after the massacre was fascinating.
   This is a good read for those interested in New Zealand history.

The Island by Armin Greder

The Island (Allen & Unwin, 2007)

This picture book is both disturbing and beautiful. It has one many awards in Europe and was shortlisted for the Children's Book Council of Australia awards a few years back.
   The Island tells the story of a stranger washed up on the beach in a raft. The islanders are suspicious of the stranger and eventually their fears turn to outright hostility. The illustrations are roughly drawn in dark shades but their impact is huge. Some of them reminded me of Munch's famous painting 'The Scream'. Others were very like Van Gogh's early works of farmers in the fields or sitting at the table for an evening meal. The contrast between the well-fed islanders and the naked thin stranger says a lot about wealth distribution, human rights and discrimination. A thought provoking book for older children.

Pacific Poets #2 Konai Helu Thaman

Dr Konai Helu Thaman

Poetry is one section of the PSSC English Exam which students can prepare for easily as long as they memorise at least four poems. Tongan academic Dr Konai Helu Thaman is one poet who has several collections of poems to choose from. An old favourite of mine is You, the Choice of my Parents which was first published in 1974. "Island Fire" is a short poem of only 16 lines from this collection. It is a great one to memorise for the exams because it's so short and it can be compared with other poems around such themes as Western education or the generation gap. Konai Helu Thaman's style is rich in imagery as in the lines "...the slow turning of/ Foreign text book pages" and her use of metaphor is also strong considering she has very few lines to work with in this compact piece.
Other excellent poems from this collection include "You, the Choice of my Parents" and "Reality".