The+Quicksand+Pony


 * "The Quicksand Pony" by Alison Lester**

Biddy is a young Australian girl who loves riding her white pony, Bella, and hanging out with her best friend, Irene. Irene talks about Joycie, her aunt who supposedly drowned with her baby trying to row a boat to the headland. Though a lot of people think that Joycie is dead, she and her eight year old son, Joe, are hiding in a cave in the bush. Biddy goes mustering with her parents. (Mustering is rounding up cattle.) When they have rounded up most of the cattle, Bella, the pony, falls in quicksand. Biddy is to leave her and hope she'll get out and walk home like Taffy the big horse did years ago. Joe, Joycie's son, sees Biddy and watches the drovers. His mum, Joycie, passed away, and he is all alone with a dingo pup he found. He named the dingo pup Devil. He and Devil become good friends and share the food they gather. Joe finds Bella, and he gives her a bath and watches over her. Biddy finds Joe and Bella, and he goes home with her and the pony. Joe is forced to leave Devil in the wild, but gets a new domesticated puppy.

I learned that in Australia they say unique words such as "mustering", "billy", and "bush." Mustering is herding cattle, a billy is a tin can for boiling water, and the bush is the rural area in Australia. "Australia" is Latin for southern land. There used to be tribes in Australia, like the Luritja tribe. People in Australia dress like people in America do. Often people live in the bush on farms. Some people, however, live in the city. They talk like English people, only with more slang words. Their speaking is not as proper as the English people. Australia is surrounded by ocean, and is not in any way landlocked. Some people are lucky enough to own a house or farm right next to the ocean. Australian people are a lot like Americans. - Casey Sybesma Australia is sort of different then we are used to. They have more wild land than us, which I find cool. What's more is that they use interesting words like mustering. -Tom Tazelaar In Australia they have different animals like wallabees and dingos. There is a lot of uncovered land instead of cities. There is also a lot of brush and weeds to avoid. Quicksand is also a dangerous obstacles. Chad Kooiker I love this story. It's one of those books that you tuck under your arm, throw yourself on the sofa, and read. I loved how short the chapters were, and how quickly I was able to get through it. It was a very, VERY short read. I love how it was based in Australia, one of my absolutely favorite countries. I would recommend this book to anyone that wants a quick read. Also, if you would like to learn more about Australian culture, this may be the book to read. You learn a lot about the headland and the ocean. - Casey Sybesma I liked this book a little. It is a short and good story to read, even though the cover was uninviting and boring, it was a good book.love Chad Kooiker