The Silver Brumby Wild horses From this site: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-09-02/differing-views-on-future-of- snowy-brumbies/2868284 Great Australian Classics Series #2 Blooms Taxonomy Literature Unit By T. Shaw February 2013 About the author Elyne Mitchell was a prolific writer of non-fiction and children’s fiction. She was also a mother, grazier, ski champion, environmentalist and skilled horsewoman. Her 5 broken legs are testimony to her active, adventurous lifestyle in the high country of Australia. Elyne was the daughter of the famous Australian cavalry general of World War One, Sir Harry Chauvel. After marrying Tom Mitchell in the 1930s she went to live a Toowong Hill Station near Corryong at the foothills of the Australain Snowy Mountains. With her husband often away (serving in World war two and as a parliamentarian) Elyne became a capable grazier and horsewoman. In her spare time she began writing. Her most famous book, written to entertain her daughter Indi, was The Silver Brumby, published in 1958 and the first of many entertaining sequels. The high country she describes in her early books no longer exists. Cattle no longer roam the high country and brumbies are not so highly valued. They have been replaced by skiers and eco-tourists but Mitchell’s tales captured the romance and grandeur of the high country and its fauna and flora as well as the skills and dedication of the mountain men who worked the land. Elyne Mitchell died in 2002. Elyne Mitchell on horseback. Image from: http://jenniferlshelton.com/2010/12/30/elyne- mitchell-1913-2002-woman-of-the-week/ The Book The Silver Brumby was written by Elyne Mitchell for her horse-mad daughter Indi who was constantly complaining that she had no books of interest to read. She devoured the book and millions of other children around the world have also loved the wonderful tales about the mountains, bush, wild brumbies and native animals of the Australian bush. Elyne’s rides through the mountains of the Upper Murray and her love of skiing inspired her writing and became vivid features of her brumby stories. Elyne wrote 13 stories in her brumby series Setting, Plot and Characters The Brumby stories are set in the Australian high country (Google Kosciusko National Park.)The country is wild and rugged. Elyne Mitchell believed the secret of her books was that children loved to identify with the wildness, freedom and beauty of the countryside described in her books. The characters of the brumby books are the wild horses of the high country. In these stories the horses talk to each other and to other bush creatures yet not in a fantasy world where animals act like humans. This makes these stories quite unique (Like ‘Watership Down’) The plot of the first book tells the story of Thowra, a palomino stallion born in a thunder storm to Bel Bel and the Yarraman the King of the Cascade Brumbies. As Thowra grows and takes his place as his father’s heir a ‘man’ tries to hunt him down and break him but the elusive and majestic Thowra has other ideas. The version of the book read as a serial for this unit is the 2003 edition published by Angus and Robertson which also includes a glossary and Mitchell’s last brumby story written just before her death, Wild Echo Rising. I have found some of the animated adventures on Youtube and the 1992 movie is readily available and a good support to the book. Activities Remembering (Locating / retrieving knowledge) Make an illustrated timeline of events from the story. Complete a crossword and word search based on the story. Complete a cloze and reading comprehension activity from the book Make a list of quotations from the story and link them to the character that said it.. Children devise 5 quiz questions after reading several chapters of the story and test each other after the book is completed. Make a list of ‘facts’ about the story or a list of survival tips for living in the mountains in winter. List 5 new words you’ve learnt from the story with definition and illustration if appropriate. (Refer glossary activity) List the other children’s books written about horses and the people who love them. (Get this information from the internet) What animals are mentioned in the story (other than brumbys) and what impact / influence do they have? In your sketch pad and using a variety of art material draw what you regard as the pivotal episode from the story. Write a top 10 facts about the Mount Kosciuzko and the Snowy River. Understanding (Paraphrasing, categorising, extrapolating) Make a cartoon strip of an important episode from the story. Design a newspaper advertisement offering brumbies for sale Make an illustrated bookmark based on one of the characters from the story. Complete a literary socio-gram for major characters from the story What emotions was ‘the man’ feeling at pivotal points in the story? (You choose 4 major episodes that demonstrate his feelings. Develop a ‘How to….’ Fact sheet related to the book. Complete an events and motives chart. Did any character from the story do something you didn’t like? What was it? What would you have done instead? Write a set of true or false questions about the story as part of a class quiz. Application (Applying knowledge) Use the story map (refer worksheets) Label interesting locales from the story. Make a travel brochure for the high country as if you were a developer trying to sell it to potential customers or as an environmentalist trying to promote the area as an important environmental refuge. Relate a personal experience similar to an event in the story. (Like the Man have you ever craved something but failed to achieve?) Design a newspaper front story as if you were a witness to an important event from the story. Pretend you are the Man and write a letter or send a postcard to a friend from the low lands about life in the mountains or his quest for the silver brumby. Design a poster for the library to illustrate one of the Brumby stories. Create a clay model of one of the horses in the story or the old hut. Create a PowerPoint project about some of the animals mentioned in the book such as wild horses and working dogs (Topical issues related to cattle grazing in the Snowy Mountain National Park can be explored.). Create a ‘pop up’ book, diorama or mural for an episode of the book. (The interior of the hut or the horse auction ) Create a poster advertising a brumby sale. Write a persuasive letter explaining why or why not you think catching and breaking in wild horse is cruel or justified Create a profile for the Man (Character web worksheet attached) Analyse (Distinguishing relevant from irrelevant, determining points of view and how elements fit and function within a structure) Visit a farm or a riding club. Make a list of conflict situations from the story. Were they resolved? If so, how? If not, why not? Create a ‘Y Chart’ of an event from the story. Create a Venn diagram comparing the book to the 1992 movie. If the man had captured Thowra how might the ending have changed? Use a graphic organiser of your design to compare 2 characters from the book. Use a literary sociogram to map out the relationships between the characters. On the attached worksheet Link up the characters with colored arrows and on the arrows attach words or phrases describing their relationship. Create a mind map for the story. (On the worksheet provided write subtopics for the topic and draw as many connecting lines as you like.(some sub-headings could include: friends, enemies, man, environment)Don’t forget to use images and symbols Explain an event only implied in the book. Write a ‘How to break a horse’ or ‘how to look after a horse ’fact sheet Write 5 questions you would ask the author about her life and work. Evaluation Write 5 alternative story chapter names Give the book a rank or rating as part of an alternative book cover. Pretend you are a librarian or book reviewer. How would you recommend the book to a friend? What character would you be a friend with and why? Write a letter to Tim Winton and ask him questions about his book. Create a list of the top 10 Australian children’s novels or 2 top horse stories. Write a book report for one of them or create a T Chart comparing one of them to The Silver Brumby. If the book was being made into a movie what changes would you make? Creative (generating, planning and producing) Change the ending of the story. (Why did you change it?) Design a new dust jacket for the book and include a personal review of the book as well as a blurb. If you included yourself in the story, who would you be? Why? Make a board game about the story. Choose a poetry style and write a poem about the book. Create a short story using 2 characters from the book as an infant reader or record dialogue between characters from the book. Sell the idea of resuming cattle grazing in the high country. How would you do it? Create your own Brumby World magazine front cover. Study Jeannie Baker’s collages from books such as ‘Where the Forest Meets the Sea’. And create one of your own inspired by the story. Write a sequel or prequel to the story.