Allan Baillie
Author of Little Brother
About the Author
Allan Baillie was born on January 29, 1943, in Scotland. At the age of six, after his father had died and his mother remarried, Baillie and his family moved to Australia. He wrote and illustrated his first book at the age of thirteen. After finishing high school he became a cadet journalist with show more the Melbourne's Sun. Baillie sold his first story to a farming newspaper for four pounds (eight dollars). After a near death experience, Baillie began to travel all over the world. He returned home to work for the newspaper again but had heard about the discontent in Camobodia and Laos and was interested in traveling there as a freelance journalist. The Vietnam War was going on at that time as well as civil unrest in Laos. Although there was nothing in particular going on in Cambodia, Prince Sihanouk banned Western journalists, so Baillie entered the country as an artist. He wrote an adult novel, Mask Maker, set in Laos after that, and continued to write stories based on his experiences in the Far East and elsewhere. His books include Adrift, Little Brother, The China Coin, Riding with Thunderbolt: The Diary of Ben Cross, and A Taste of Cockroach. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Series
Works by Allan Baillie
Aussie Bites - IMP 1 copy
Our Sunburnt Country 1 copy
Associated Works
The Road to Camelot: Tales of the Young Merlin, Arthur, Lancelot and More (2002) — Contributor — 42 copies
Into the Future: another exciting collection of stories from sixteen of Australia's top children's authors (1991) — Contributor — 16 copies
Top Drawer: Unique Collection of Short Stories, Chosen by the Authors, for Adolescent Readers (1992) — Contributor — 6 copies
Bittersweet [eleven new stories of... anguish, thrills, heartache, and humour] (1992) — Contributor — 4 copies
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Birthdate
- 1943
- Gender
- male
- Occupations
- children's book author
- Awards and honors
- International Board on Books for Young People, IBBY Honour (1988)
- Nationality
- Australia
- Birthplace
- Scotland, UK
- Associated Place (for map)
- Scotland, UK
Members
Discussions
YA Historical Vietnam story told from child's viewpoint in Name that Book (October 2010)
Reviews
Here is a story of about an oppressive General coming into a village in Asia with visions of being a dictator. As he begins tearing down buildings and demanding obedience from the villagers, a small thong is thrown at him from a school window. The General tries to find out who threw the thong, but as an act of quiet rebellion all the villagers take off their thong so the General can't see who has one missing. In this story the General leave in a huff and the villagers celebrate their win. At show more the back of this book there is the statement "The heart of this story is true. It happened in 1990 at a school in Rangoon." As adults we know that the reprecussions and violence that must have followed this act of defiance were greater than what the picture book tells us. However the message of freedom, cival rights and the strength to stand up against opression is very clear.
Review by: Fiona show less
Review by: Fiona show less
The mystery of an ancient coin and the search for a family she doesn't know, drives Leah across China, and slowly but surely towards the terror of Tiananmen Square. The author draws on his own experiences in this story as he was there when the tragedy happened
Oh, now this I like. The children are so beautiful and also so real they melt my heart, and the story is told effectively, as if it's real... only the pictures reveal it's imaginary. I want to wrap this whole family in my arms and tell them how glad I am that people like this are in the world. I will definitely look for more by author and illustrator.
A rowdy, bossy child wreaks havoc all day long in his home and in the Chinese village where he lives. The story highlights the daily life activities of a family in a rural community in China. Children should with some discussion be able to identify similarities and differences between their family and the one in the book. Just below the surface lies a good discussion on the quality of a leader.
What would it be like to live in a place where the boss was real and everyone had to do what the show more boss wanted? What would life be like, would people be happy?
Review by: Fiona show less
What would it be like to live in a place where the boss was real and everyone had to do what the show more boss wanted? What would life be like, would people be happy?
Review by: Fiona show less
Lists
Awards
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Statistics
- Works
- 49
- Also by
- 15
- Members
- 1,040
- Popularity
- #24,754
- Rating
- 3.5
- Reviews
- 20
- ISBNs
- 149
- Languages
- 4
- Favorited
- 1