The Crooked Snake
Book by Patricia Wrightson
 First edition cover | |
| Author | Patricia Wrightson |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Margaret Horder |
| Country | Australia |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Children's fiction |
| Publisher | Angus and Robertson |
Publication date | 1955 |
| Media type | |
| Pages | 153pp |
| Followed by | The Bunyip Hole |
The Crooked Snake (1955) is the first novel by Australian author Patricia Wrightson. The book was illustrated by Margaret Horder. It won the Children's Book of the Year Award: Older Readers in 1956.[1]
Plot outline
A gang of children form a secret society to protect a nearby national park from vandals. They record the bush with a camera and write to the Ministry of Conservation requesting the park be designated a flora and fauna sanctuary.
Critical reception
In a survey of Australian children's books dealing with the Australian bush, Susan Sheridan and Emma Maguire noted: "In their preferred method of research, and in their dealings with the bureaucracy, these children mark out a specifically modern, as well as Australian, mode of the Enid Blyton or Arthur Ransome adventure story in a natural setting."[2]
See also
- 1955 in Australian literature
References
- v
- t
- e
Children's Book of the Year Award for Older Readers
- The Story of Karrawingi the Emu by Leslie Rees (1946)
- Shackleton's Argonauts: A Saga of the Antarctic Icepacks by Frank Hurley (1948)
- Whalers of the Midnight Sun by Alan Villiers (1950)
- Verity of Sydney Town by Ruth C. Williams (1951)
- The Australia Book by Eve Pownall (1952)
- Aircraft of Today and Tomorrow by James H. Martin & W. D. Martin (1953)
- Good Luck to the Rider by Joan Phipson (1953)
- Australian Legendary Tales by K. Langloh Parker (1954)
- The First Walkabout by Norman B. Tindale and Harold Arthur Lindsay (1955)
- The Crooked Snake by Patricia Wrightson (1956)
- The Boomerang Book of Legendary Tales edited by Enid Moodie Heddle (1957)
- Tiger in the Bush by Nan Chauncy (1958)
- Devil's Hill by Nan Chauncy (1959)
- Sea Menace by John Gunn (1959)
- All the Proud Tribesmen by Kylie Tennant (1960)
- Tangara by Nan Chauncy (1961)
- The Racketty Street Gang by L. H. Evers (1962)
- Rafferty Rides a Winner by Joan Woodberry (1962)
- The Family Conspiracy by Joan Phipson (1963)
- The Green Laurel by Eleanor Spence (1964)
- Pastures of the Blue Crane by H. F. Brinsmead (1965)
- Ash Road by Ivan Southall (1966)
- The Min-Min by Mavis Thorpe Clark (1967)
- To the Wild Sky by Ivan Southall (1968)
- When Jays Fly to Barbmo by Margaret Balderson (1969)
- Uhu by Annette Macarthur-Onslow (1970)
- Bread and Honey by Ivan Southall (1971)
- Longtime Passing by H. F. Brinsmead (1972)
- Family at the Lookout by Noreen Shelley (1973)
- The Nargun and the Stars by Patricia Wrightson (1974)
- Fly West by Ivan Southall (1976)
- The October Child by Eleanor Spence (1977)
- The Ice is Coming by Patricia Wrightson (1978)
- The Plum-Rain Scroll by Ruth Manly (1979)
- Displaced Person by Lee Harding (1980)
- Playing Beatie Bow by Ruth Park (1981)
- The Valley Between by Colin Thiele (1982)
- Master of the Grove by Victor Kelleher (1983)
- A Little Fear by Patricia Wrightson (1984)
- The True Story of Lilli Stubeck by James Aldridge (1985)
- The Green Wind by Thurley Fowler (1986)
- All We Know by Simon French (1987)
- So Much to Tell You by John Marsden (1988)
- Beyond the Labyrinth by Gillian Rubinstein (1989)
- Came Back to Show You I Could Fly by Robin Klein (1990)
- Strange Objects by Gary Crew (1991)
- The House Guest by Eleanor Nilsson (1992)
- Looking for Alibrandi by Melina Marchetta (1993)
- The Gathering by Isobelle Carmody (1994)
- Angel's Gate by Gary Crew (1995)
- Foxspell by Gillian Rubinstein (1995)
- Pagan's Vows by Catherine Jinks (1996)
- A Bridge to Wiseman's Cove by James Moloney (1997)
- Eye to Eye by Catherine Jinks (1998)
- Deadly, Unna? by Phillip Gwynne (1999)
- 48 Shades of Brown by Nick Earls (2000)
- Wolf on the Fold by Judith Clarke (2001)
- Forest by Sonya Hartnett (2002)
- The Messenger by Markus Zusak (2003)
- Saving Francesca by Melina Marchetta (2004)
- The Running Man by Michael Gerard Bauer (2005)
- The Story of Tom Brennan by J. C. Burke (2006)
- Red Spikes by Margo Lanagan (2007)
- The Ghost's Child by Sonya Hartnett (2008)
- Tales from Outer Suburbia by Shaun Tan (2009)
- Jarvis 24 by David Metzenthen (2010)
- The Midnight Zoo by Sonya Hartnett (2011)
- The Dead I Know by Scot Gardner (2012)
- Sea Hearts by Margo Lanagan (2013)
- Wildlife by Fiona Wood (2014)
- The Protected by Claire Zorn (2015)
- Cloudwish by Fiona Wood (2016)
- One Would Think The Deep by Claire Zorn (2017)
- Take Three Girls by Cath Crowley, Fiona Wood And Simmone Howell (2018)
- Between Us by Clare Atkins (2019)
- This is How We Change the Ending by Vikki Wakefield (2020)
- The End of the World Is Bigger than Love by Davina Bell (2021)
- Tiger Daughter by Rebecca Lim (2022)
- Neverlanders by Tom Taylor (2023)
- Picture Book (1955–present)
- Early Childhood (2001–present)
- Younger Readers (1982–present)
- Eve Pownall Award for Information Books (1988–present)
