Mustara

Rosanne Hawke (text)

Robert Ingpen (Illus)

Lothian Books, Australia: 2006

ISBN: 0734408994

Genres: adventure, animal stories, historical fiction, picture book

Issues: assumptions, confidence, judging

CBCA Notable Book, Picture Book of the Year, 2007

This beautifully illustrated, simple story will appeal to all those young readers who are in a hurry to join the adult world, to have their talents recognised and respected.

Taj's father trains camels for those who travel across the desert - either carrying supplies to and from the large cattle stations, or the explorers who search for new inland travel routes. Taj longs to join one of these parties but Mustara, his young camel, is too small yet for such trips - or so his father tells him. But when Taj and a friend are nearly lost in a dust storm, it is Mustara's instincts that bring them safely back home. Taj's father and the explorers realise that size and strength are not the only things to value in a camel - or in a person.

Ingpen's delicately drawn, earth-tinted illustrations are wonderfully emotive and he achieves a remarkable range of textures and tones with the watercolour medium.