If on a winter's night...

The winter solstice is almost upon us. We are wearing beanies and scarves. We are eating soups and stews. We are drinking tea and red wine. And sometimes our feet are still cold, here in the big old House of Onion.

So, as a companion to our list of summer books, here are some of our favourites that encourage rugging up and hunkering down.


Winter Holiday by Arthur Ransome. The Lake is frozen, Nancy has mumps, and the race to the North Pole is on. (And Kate Constable loves it too.)

Speaking of Kate Constable: The Tenth Power. Tremaris is under a wintry spell and "...bears and other animals dozed...they could not know that this winter had lasted too long, and the time for spring's return had already past." Which sounds as though it might just be a longer-than-usual winter, but then there are women being sealed into the Wall of Ice and Darrow has the snow-sickness and Calwyn has to reach towards the dark magic and the dark magic-maker...

The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder. The old Indian warned, 'Heap big snow come.' He was not wrong. It looks seriously as though Laura and her family might starve to death for a while there, but they keep their spirits up as best they can in the little town on the lonely prairie. And then it's the intrepid Cap Garland and Almanzo Wilder to the rescue. (Actually, let's also slip in a mention of These Happy Golden Years, for those freezing cold sleigh rides of Laura and Almanzo's.*)

The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe by CS Lewis. The White Witch's chilly grasp means that in Narnia it's always winter but never Christmas (not such a foreign concept for an Australian child). The snug home of Mr and Mrs Beaver seems all the more warm and inviting with all that snow and ice outside.

Sabriel by Garth Nix. It might be clear and cool in Ancelstierre, but once Sabriel crosses the wall into the Old Kingdom it's all snow and ice, and we know from our experiences in Narnia that that bodes no good at all.

The Snowman by Raymond Briggs. Quiet, wintry adventures are all very well, but what happens when the sun comes out...

Soul Eater by Michelle Paver. Torak's pack-brother, Wolf, has been captured and Torak must brave the frozen wilderness of the Far North, and many demons, in order to rescue him. Gripping icy goodness.

The Silver Brumby by Elyne Mitchell. The book's not set entirely in winter, but, born in the middle of a storm, Thowra is never more at home than when snow falls on the High Country. (We have only just discovered that there was a movie made in the early 90s - starring Russell Crowe. Anyone seen it? Should fans of the books see it immediately or avoid at all costs?)

Call of the Wild by Jack London. North to Alaska; they're goin' North; the rush is on. In this heart-breaking dog's-eye view of the world, Buck must endure the cruelty of humans - after being a pampered pet he is in for a tough time in the wilds of Alaska.

*It was while reading These Happy Golden Years that one Onion discovered the interesting fact that 40 below zero is where the Fahrenheit and Celsius scales intersect.

An Onion's best friend

What a lovely rainy day. A good day to be snuggled in your burrow or safe in your den.

Our ten favourite animal characters in children's fiction (in no particular order)

1. Wilbur (We could fill up all 10 spots with characters from Charlotte's Web, so Wilbur is standing also for Charlotte, Templeton and the rest of the inhabitants of the Zuckerman farm)
2. Buck from The Call of the Wild
3. Badger from Wind in the Willows (You may cry for Ratty, Mole, or Toad, but Badger is an Onion favourite)
4. Reepicheep from several of the Narnia books
5. Simpkin from The Tailor of Gloucester
6. Pooh and Piglet (There was also a vote for Owl, because he can spell his own name W.O.L.)
7. The Wombat from Diary of a Wombat
8. Mogget from the Old Kingdom trilogy
9. Tao from The Incredible Journey (and yes we love handsome Luath & dear old Bodger as well, but we are cat people)
10. Kapecki from Peka-boo the Smallest Bird in All the World

Honourable mentions to animals that are just animals. (No speaking, no anthropomorphism, just wonderful, faithful, brave animals)

1. Hedwig from the Potterverse
2. Jack from the Little House books
3. Fortinbras from the Wrinkle in Time series
4. Old Yeller
5. Willow from Sunny Side Up

And an extra extra extremely honourable shout-out to Mr Chicken - the most loveable cooked chicken ever to grace children's literature*.

Here is an EXCLUSIVE sneak preview of Mr Chicken's next excursion:

*Ahem... Sonya Hartnett thinks so too:

'The world's most beautiful city meets the world's most startling chicken ... Not since Quasimodo has Paris been host to a monster of such charm. In typical exuberant style, Hobbs takes us abroad with the gentlemanly Mr Chicken, who tours the magnifique sites of Paris unaware that his enormous top-hatted self is the most astonishing spectacle of all. Joyously colourful, brilliantly observed, hilariously wry, Mr Chicken Goes to Paris is Leigh Hobbs' masterpiece.' - Sonya Hartnett

You'll have to wait until August to get your own copy of Mr Chicken Goes to Paris, but keep your eyes peeled because we may not be able to resist letting him make an appearance here every now and then before that.



But back to the list... which beloved animals have we missed?

What Book is That?

Spoiler alert!

In the spirit of literary trivia if you want to test your familiarity with closing sentences look away now! Or more precisely look here now to check out the last lines to some of our favourite books, then see below for the books and authors these famous last words belong to.

1. Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
2. The Red Tree by Shaun Tan
3. The Island by Armin Greder
4. Fox by Margaret Wild & Ron Brooks
5. Charlotte’s Web by E. B. White
6. Storm Boy by Colin Thiele
7. How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff
8. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon
9. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
10. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott FItzgerald
11. 1984 by George Orwell
12. Tirra Lirra by the River by Jessica Anderson
13. The Children’s Bach by Helen Garner
14. The Life of Pi by Yann Martel
15. Schindler’s List by Thomas Keneally (Schindler's Ark, if you are like totally old school)
    
16. The Princess Bride by William Goldman
17. Sense & Sensibility by Jane Austen
18. The House at Pooh Corner by A. A. Milne
19. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
20. Happy Days with the Naked Chef by Jamie Oliver*

* Okay - so this one was a little bit left of field, but who doesn't love Jamie?

The colours of our world

The destruction caused by the bushfires in Victoria is devastating and almost incomprehensible.

We are so grateful that, as far as we have been able to ascertain, no members of the extended Onion family have lost their lives or family members. Some have lost friends, some have lost homes and land, and some have had frighteningly close shaves. We know it's not over yet, but so far, we are grateful.

We are grateful and we are remembering.

We edit books for kids, and some of us were kids and teenagers in communities affected by the terrible fires in 1977 and the Ash Wednesday bushfires of 1983.

This week we have been remembering what it's like to be a child whose world has burned: the smells, the sounds, the colours, the aftermath.

One thing we remember is how disconnected to the new world all the old books seemed. Favourite picture books were comforting, but also off-key somehow.

The real world was black and grey and white for so long.
The picture book world was greens and blues and yellows and purples.

One picture book that I did love in the new world was Dragon's Breath by Michael Dugan, illustrated by Allen Hicks. A girl befriends a dragon who then saves the village from a bushfire - from memory by back-burning with it's own fiery breath.

The illustrations were intricate black and white line work (etchings maybe?). They were solemn and, in my memory, somehow larger than the page. I remember it as a very beautiful book, but also quite frightening. I liked that it was frightening. I did want reassurance (in bucketloads), but sometimes I also wanted to be scared. I wanted to be scared and then be able to stop being scared: to shut the book and put it under another book and go and do something else.

Dragon's Breath is out of print and I can't find a cover pic on the internet. But I've got a desperate yen to read it again, so I'm going round to my mum's tonight to dig it out of a box in her attic. I'm also going round just coz she's my mum and I love her, and I know I'm not the only one feeling how important that is at the moment

Did you have books you clung to as a child? Books that reflected your world or rescued you from it?

You can donate money for bushfire relief to the Red Cross, or the Salvos, or you can volunteer here.