The Complete Adventures of Blinky Bill

Although many of us remember this fondly from our childhood, the sad reality is that Blinky and his pals have not aged well. Or, rather, the myth was always greater than the reality. The prose is dreary, the concepts rather dull, and the interactions unexciting.
No Australian born before the mid-1990s is likely to ever forget the image of the koala boy in his little outfit, and it’s a quintessential Aussie moment, but, to quote the song, if that’s all there is, my friend, then let’s keep dancing...

I actually don't remember reading this when I was little so I thought it was time I did! I'm not going to run through the story as I think most of us know the story of the naughty koala by now!
I found this story delightful & very funny. However there are some bits that some people would find rather inappropriate for a children's story these days. I read quite a few negative reviews on this on Goodreads around the time the movie came out. There were a few times when I thought Blinky was a downright poophead but on the whole, as long as you take into account it was published in a time when people were a lot less mindful of most things (it was published in 1939), it's still a good book that happens to contain a lot of opportunities to show more discuss why certain behavious aren't acceptable now with your kids. show less

A much-loved book from my childhood, probably one of the first I read independently. Blinky is a feisty, if mischievous hero and has plenty of satisfying adventures. I recently read a comment about this book in which the writer said she could't read it to her class of seven-year olds as there was too much physical punishment. I don't remember that at all - I did however take away form it Dorothy Wall's environmental message - that native wildlife was vulnerable to human exploitation. The scene where Blinky's father is shot by hunters is indeed horrible, and probably would be deemed too cruel for today's generation.

Blink Bill is the story of one anthropromorphised koala called Blinky, and the various adventures he has. Unfortunately, it is rather poorly written - the book is depressingly cliched in depicting all predator animals as evil, Blinky's understanding of humans and human things changes depending on what's convenient for the author at the time, and the way Blinky acts towards those he doesn't like for various reasons could best be explained as sociopathic.

Terrible, koalas are koalas not bears. Mrs Koalas name kept changing, making it hard to follow.

A 1001 CBYMRBYGU.

Blinky Bill is a young koala boy who is always getting into trouble. He often runs away from home and then immediately regrets his decision to run away. While running away, he meets many other animals.

One of my all time favorites as a kid. Every child should read this/have this read to them!