Captain Blunderbolt

Carol Ann Martin (author)

Loren Morris (illustrator)

Omnibus Books, Scholastic, Australia: October 2011; 53pp

ISBN: 9781862918238

Genres: adventure, realistic fiction

Alberta, the eldest, is tired of fighting Maudy and Tully in order to drag them to school and just for once she agrees that the three children will go and have some fun. But wagging school for the day brings an unexpected adventure – they witness the somewhat underskilled Captain Blunderbolt attempting to rob a coach.

When they get back home it is to find that a rumour has spread that Captain Blunderbolt is actually the children's often-absent father. Worse yet, the local police constable has set a trap to catch the bushranger. The children aren't sure who Captain Blunderbolt is but they certainly don't want to see him caught. What can they do?

Another delightful 'great Australian yarn' in the Aussie Mates series, Captain Blunderbolt explores the odd relationship early settlers had with bushrangers. The Aussie Mates series are good stories to help younger readers make that leap from picture book to novels, having short chapters, large print and plenty of pictures. While the words in other fonts are rather irritating, they have at least been selected as vocabulary that might challenge struggling readers, allowing teachers and caregivers to work through these first to develop a reader's confidence.