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Mavis is a feisty
ten-year-old who lives in rural Australia with her mum, dad and sister,
Doreen.
It’s World War Two,
and Darwin is bombed. Life as she knows it changes.
Her dad and Uncle
John dig a trench in the backyard, and school lessons are replaced with air
raid drills.
Mavis is keen to
help the war effort at home, and an opportunity arises when a soldier comes
to school seeking
volunteers. Too young to help on her own, she convinces her older sister,
Doreen, to join her
in plane spotting.
Every Saturday, they
climb the stairs of the town clock tower, armed with binoculars and
pictures of bombers,
to record the times and direction of aircraft. Planes come and go, but
they are local
friendlies.
One Saturday, Mavis
must work alone. She is nervous but determined to carry out her duty
for the war effort
at home.
When an enemy plane
comes into view, she is more excited than frightened! She rings it in
and becomes a hero.
That is until it’s
revealed the aircraft is a captured enemy plane that she just happened to see
when the local air
force was testing it.
Mavis feels
deflated, but her spirits are boosted when Mum makes dessert in her honour and
Dad lets her play in
the trench.
Mavis never sees
another enemy plane, but after the war when she hears a rumble come over
the hills of home,
her eyes still search the skies.
About the author
Angela Toniolo is a
picture book author and qualified teacher. She lives in Australia with her
husband, son, and
cat. When she’s not dreaming up stories inspired by the world around her,
she’s making a lot
of noise on her drumkit or playing with the cat. She eagerly awaits the
publication of her
first picture book, Mavis, the Little Plane Spotter, which was inspired by
the brave and eager
children who volunteered to help the war effort at home during WWII by
keeping their eyes
on the skies for enemy aircraft.
Summary
Ten- year-old Mavis, the Little Plane Spotter examines the role children played in World War Two. Frustrated when she is told she is too young to help the war effort at home. Mavis discovers she can volunteer alongside her older sister, she becomes an enemy plane spotter and must keep her eyes on the skies to help protect her community.
