Imprint
- Hodder Children's Books
For National Curriculum Key Stage 2, Fiction, Animal stories (Children's / Teenage)
A gripping tale of danger and survival in the harsh wilderness of Northern Australia, by award-winning author Geoffrey Malone.
Visiting his uncle's cattle station in the Australian outback, Tom is thrilled when old Sam offers to take him and his cousin, Greg, walkabout. But trekking through the wilderness, the trio are appalled to stumble across an illegal drug laboratory experimenting on animals. Suddenly their lives are in jeopardy. Greg is captured, and Sam must forge onwards in an attempt to get help. Tom finds himself alone under the unforgiving sun, his food supplies dwindling. Meanwhile the lab workers plot to flee the country, and to dispose of Greg along the way.
But the outback holds dangers that even scheming criminals cannot avoid. Kyrek the crocodile watches from the riverbed, assessing his prey. And when finally they take to the water, Kyrek moves in for the kill ...
Praise for Crocodile River
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ELEPHANT BEN: 'An exciting and immensely enjoyable adventure story ... A great read for any young wildlife enthusiast.' - The Northern Echo
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compelling reading - The School Librarian
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Review of 'Elephant Ben' from a child judge of the Stockton Award: '... definitely the most brilliant book I ever read. It's a definite 10/10!' Frederick Nattrass, aged 9.
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The style is attractive and immediate, and might get boys (as well as girls) from 8 upwards, reading for pleasure - The School Librarian
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KIMBA: 'Geoffrey Malone continues to be one of the great specialists of the animal novel.' - West of France review paper
Geoffrey Malone
Geoffrey Malone spent his early life in Africa and did not receive any formal schooling until the age of eleven. He later spent sixteen years as a soldier, then left the UK for Toronto, where he joined a Canadian advertising agency.
An encounter with a colony of beavers in the Ontario wilderness during his stay in Canada, led to his first book - Brunner. He returned to Britain determined to write for children. He has now had eight books published, most of which are about wild animals. They are all closely observed and describe the struggle for survival among differing species, in today's man-dominated world.
He won the (prestigious) French Children's Book of the Year, TamTam Prize, for Torn Ear, the story of a fox. This was followed soon afterwards by the award of the, Prix d' Enfants et Grand-Parents Europeen. In England, he was shortlisted for the 2001 Stockton Children's Book of the Year, with Elephant Ben, a story about ivory poaching.
His subjects have included badger baiting in England; the slaughter of Indian tigers, and life inside a wolf pack, in Wyoming, USA. His latest book, Dead Boys' Club, sees a return to Africa and a vivid description of the horrors of modern day slavery, as a Child Soldier.
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