The Those Kids series is a set of environmentally themed multi-layered adventure books written for children from 9 to 14 years, (as well as their parents and grandparents), based on real places, people and events. These linked stand-alone illustrated books follow the lives of two fictional sailing families (Australian and Kiwi) over the course of two years. drawing on the sailing & camping lifestyle of the author’s own five sons while voyaging around NZ, Australia and the Pacific.
The first five are now published, and available individually as paperbacks (and ebooks) worldwide here . (The first four are available as an economical boxed set in ebook format here.)
The books are carefully constructed to cater for time-challenged contemporary readers in the upper-primary and lower secondary school age-group, with 2200-word chapters (approximately twenty minutes reading time). Parents and teachers find these manageable bites helpful when reading aloud to children
Jon Tucker originally conceived these books as a feeder series for Arthur Ransome’s more complex ‘Swallows and Amazon’ series. However they bring his ‘adventure realism’ genre squarely into the 21st century – incorporating current technology, values and environmental issues – as readers will soon discover. Already it appears that having gained confidence and interest from this series, a number of pre-teenagers have moved on to similar longer books, including Ransome’s.
Interestingly enough, it has also internationally gained the attention of a significant proportion of adult readers, who are fascinated with the deeper underlying themes of trust and responsibility, as well as the interrelationships between the young characters and adults in the books.
The series is now listed as a schools resource on environmental websites (click here) . Those Eco-Pirate Kids was a finalist for the Environmental Award for Children’s Literature in 2015, and Those Shipwreck kids has received acclaim from the Children’s book Council of Australia (click here). Those Sugar-Barge Kids has already received the LiFE award (Literature for Environment) and was a finalist for the 2019 Environmental Award for Children’s Literature.
Book 1: Those Snake Island Kids
When three Tasmanian kids are joined by Kiwi twins to camp on a small local island, they don’t anticipate the events which are to leave them isolated. With real buried treasure on their minds, it’s hardly surprising that they misinterpret the intentions of a bearded bird-lover who arrives on their island with his suspicious map and rifle. (Click here for details) [Environmental theme: Minimum impact, Feral cats]
Book 2: Those Eco-Pirate Kids
Fin has always been passionate about responsible fishing, so when he discovers an illegal net full of undersized fish in Sydney’s northern waterways, his first reaction is to empty it. The subsequent events turn a joint Kiwi-Australian holiday into a rather more complex experience. (Click here for more) [Environmental theme: Sustainability and the need for responsibility]
Book 3: Those Shipwreck Kids
When a Tasmanian sailing family anchors near an old wrecked hulk in New Zealand’s Marlborough Sounds, the kids discover a strangely abandoned campsite nearby, with plates of uneaten food and children’s toys still visible under the cockroaches and mould. Their curiosity leads to an investigation which adds a layer of intrigue to their much-anticipated fun experiences of an unfamiliar foreign land. (Click here for for more details) [Environmental themes: Predator control issues, Biosecurity]
Book 4: Those Sugar-barge Kids
Three Tasmanian sailing children pursue a black-sailed dinghy in New Zealand’s Bay of Islands. Before they know it they are up to their neck in a conflict with a local oyster farmer, who mistakes them for another pair of feisty young pirates who live with their often-absent father on an abandoned sugar-barge among the mangroves. (Click here for details) [Environmental themes: Sea-level rise, plastic in the ocean, renewable energy]
Book 5: Those Seal Rock Kids
When three Tasmanian kids are given some freedom to explore New Zealand’s Bay of Islands in their sailing dinghies for a week with some Kiwi kids, some interesting dynamics develop. Tensions are largely dissolved when they are joined by a pair of local Maori kids who bring cultural and social insights, showing remarkable resilience in the face of challenges which threaten to turn their world upside-down. (Click here for more details) [Environmental themes: Maori sustainability practices, tourism impacts]
Book 6 : Those Compass Rose Kids (Pending 2024)
A Tasmanian family voyage to an uninhabited atoll in New Caledonia’s Loyalty Islands turns into a desperate exercise in cooperation and self-reliance for three kids when their parents are struck down with serious fish poisoning. The two brothers and their sister are able to combine their distinct separate qualities and passions, to successfully sail their yacht to a safe port for their parents’ recovery. [Environmental themes: Ocean acidification, coral bleaching]
Book 7 : Those Kids up that Lake. (pending 2025)
When five Tasmanian and Kiwi sailing kids decide to explore a remote lake for a few days in some kayaks, they chance upon a set of odd paw-prints. Could this be evidence of the supposedly extinct Tasmanian Tiger? In their search for further clues, they learn more about themselves and their environment than they expected. [Environmental themes: Human impact, diminishing biodiversity]
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