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Blinky Bill #1-3
Blinky Bill
Originally published in 1939, this is a collection of tales about Blinky Bill, a mischievous little koala. Contains Blinky Bill, Blinky Bill Grows Up, and Blinky Bill and Nutsy.
356 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1939
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 61 reviews
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November 21, 2015Very sad to say that this childhood classic is not to be a classic for my children. We stopped at p 138. I don't usually let the kids stop reading a book part way through, however, they honestly didn't like reading it and found it boring. I was disappointed as the movie was coming out last holidays and I had wanted to read it before we went to the movie, but that proved to be no further motivation. The movie, was nice but lacklustre, and did not provide additional incentive to finish.
January 14, 2020
Stopped reading this book on page 62. I found it a little disturbing as it describes a violent death of an animal, which I didn’t remember reading when I was younger. Felt sad as I was really looking forward to reading it again after many years.
October 31, 2012
I loved to watch the animation series of Blinky Bill when I was a kid. The book isn't quite as funny as the TV show but it is really worth reading anyway. It has a slightly different focus - at least at the beginning. A lot is told of the danger the koalos and the other animals are living in. Kids can really learn a lot about Australian nature and animals from this book.
September 5, 2017
I really dont think this is a childrens book, there are some rather violent themes in it, including murder. I diddnt like Blinky as a character, i thought he was so rude to everyone he met for no reason. I also think there was animals in the bush that shouldnt be there? like for one, there are no hedgehogs in Australia. Besides little details like that it was a cute story.
March 9, 2021
Written in 1933, this book did not age well. At first, Blinky Bill seems to be about a koala family living in the bush of Australia. However the moment you turn the page to chapter two, all the cute innocence of it being a kids book fades away. Mr. Koala is shot three times before dying curled up with his wife and son. It took Mrs. Koala a few days to understand why her husband wasn’t moving, then just left him dead in a tree while her and Blinky Bill move. I’m 22 and I sobbed. It was so descriptive for no good reason. I would never let a child read this. Later on the book there is a group of frogs that fat-shame a larger frog, literally calling him “fatty” and then Blinky Bill accidentally commits murder and just pushes the little frog body into the lake and leaves. Also Blinky’s character changes from a cute little joey to a complete asshole. It’s mischievous and funny, but horrible behavior to display to children.
I’d give it one star for a kids book, but I have to give it two stars. Solely because Blinky Bill is a National icon in Australia and perhaps there is something I’m missing here. It’s not like a lost in translation kinda issue, but perhaps it’s a lost in culture and lost in time kinda issue.
I’d give it one star for a kids book, but I have to give it two stars. Solely because Blinky Bill is a National icon in Australia and perhaps there is something I’m missing here. It’s not like a lost in translation kinda issue, but perhaps it’s a lost in culture and lost in time kinda issue.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 23, 2021
Perhaps if I had read this as a child and had the glow of nostalgia upon me, I would have liked this better, but reading it as an adult, I find it rather pedestrian. While there are some nice touches--e.g. Wall is occasionally concerned with providing what I guess you might call conservationally-oriented messages about human predation on Koalas and other creatures, and I am always happy to see a children's book that confronts death as frankly as this one does (Blinky's dad is killed by hunters early on, soldier ants ambush and skeletonize a couple of predators, etc.)--Wall's writing is competent but no more, the plotting, especially in the third of the three books collected here rather loose--especially in the third book, and there's not much in the way of characterization, beyond Blinky Bill being repeatedly and irritatingly very naughty, as the plot requires. The third volume, especially, feels like it was an afterthought. The sequence in which Mrs Koala decides to start running a guest house is especially unimpressive, despite a few nice jokes (e.g. Mrs Koala not knowing what a double bed is). Wall's art is also perfectly fine, but not exceptional. Inessential.
November 15, 2017
I loved reading this with my kids. I wish I could fake an Australian accent. Blinky is not a good role model and many of the other characters are selfish, but we thought the antics were cute. We listed the animals as they came up and looked them up later.
September 20, 2019
Loved the Blinky Bill tv cartoons when I was a kid. The book unfortunately wasn’t as good. Blinky Bill is downright rude and unlikeable. The illustrations are fun though, if a bit odd for bush animals to be wearing clothes.
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March 16, 2022The good old days, when characters casually died every other second...
January 20, 2016
Remember reading these as a child! Loved them very much
October 20, 2021
In my opinion, the author of 1001 Children's Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up put this book into the wrong section. In my opinion, it should be in the 5+ section, not in the 3+ section. The book is much too long and too wordy for most pre-school children, unless only a few pages (not even a whole chapter) are read at a time (though it might be good for putting a child to sleep). I read the first 5 chapters of the book, which were the first stories about the naughty little koala. I did not like the stories enough to continue on with the other two stories in the book (Blinky Bill Grows Up and Blinky Bill and Nutsy), each of which also have several chapters. It would work as a transitional chapter book for youngsters growing out of beginning readers. As noted, the stories are very wordy, much more wordy than most pre-school picture books of today, but they are illustrated; sometimes an illustration covers an entire page, but most are small illustrations, scattered here and there around the text. The illustrations do capture Blinky Bill's mischievous personality perfectly.
April 27, 2020
Okay, from a serious perspective, this book has a truly unlikeable protagonist. Blinky Bill is the devil’s spawn and not in a cute way.
Secondly, the volume of violence in this chat is too damn loud. Why does every second character die or get tortured in some way? Okay maybe not every second character, but far too many for a children’s book. It’s not even allegorical, it’s just straight up murder half the time and I don’t get it, and I know some may say - Casey, why are you, a twenty-nine year old woman, reading a book for kids and this is why - if you think I’m buying this for my new niece/nephew, you are wrong.
It’s also just poorly written, there’s nothing interesting about it AND as if there are hedgehogs and porcupines in the Aussie bush, like do you even live here, it’s a -ing echidna.
Secondly, the volume of violence in this chat is too damn loud. Why does every second character die or get tortured in some way? Okay maybe not every second character, but far too many for a children’s book. It’s not even allegorical, it’s just straight up murder half the time and I don’t get it, and I know some may say - Casey, why are you, a twenty-nine year old woman, reading a book for kids and this is why - if you think I’m buying this for my new niece/nephew, you are wrong.
It’s also just poorly written, there’s nothing interesting about it AND as if there are hedgehogs and porcupines in the Aussie bush, like do you even live here, it’s a -ing echidna.
March 13, 2017
Blinky Bill, the mischievous anthropomorphic koala, is well known around the world through the TV cartoon and movies, but the book version is a little darker. He runs away from home several times and constantly disobeys his mother, who of course beats him when she catches him - this would have been a normal punishment at the time it was first published in the 1930s. His father is brutally murdered by a man with a gun quite early in the story. The animals are often cruel to each other: for example, Blinky often talks about death rather flippantly and at one point, kills a nice frog, ants kill a goanna and snake, and a fox is tricked into eating a prickle-filled dead rabbit. You could argue that the harsher aspects of the story bring home the difficulties of life to children but it seemed a little strong to me.
For some reason, the pictures are often a long way from the text they illustrate, and this forces the reader to flip back and forth unnecessarily. This is the 1991 edition, so I hope that later editions have corrected this problem. In the story itself, there are some strange mistakes of biology, such as hedgehogs and porcupines living in the Australian bush, despite neither of them being native to the country. The worst error is that Wall constantly refers to the koalas as "bears" when they are marsupials. Perhaps the intended juvenile audience would not know the word or understand the difference, but they are challenged with tough vocabulary like "impudence", "perspiration" and "consciousness", so I think they could cope with the truth about the koala.
My parents read this to me when I was very young but I didn't remember much, only that I liked it. Despite its shortcomings, as an adult I once again enjoyed the adventures of Blinky Bill roaming around the countryside, being cheeky with wombats, kangaroos, kookaburras and other Australian wildlife, and his awkward encounters with human beings. It gives children a fine message of conservation and urges them to maintain a sense of fun and justice in life.
For some reason, the pictures are often a long way from the text they illustrate, and this forces the reader to flip back and forth unnecessarily. This is the 1991 edition, so I hope that later editions have corrected this problem. In the story itself, there are some strange mistakes of biology, such as hedgehogs and porcupines living in the Australian bush, despite neither of them being native to the country. The worst error is that Wall constantly refers to the koalas as "bears" when they are marsupials. Perhaps the intended juvenile audience would not know the word or understand the difference, but they are challenged with tough vocabulary like "impudence", "perspiration" and "consciousness", so I think they could cope with the truth about the koala.
My parents read this to me when I was very young but I didn't remember much, only that I liked it. Despite its shortcomings, as an adult I once again enjoyed the adventures of Blinky Bill roaming around the countryside, being cheeky with wombats, kangaroos, kookaburras and other Australian wildlife, and his awkward encounters with human beings. It gives children a fine message of conservation and urges them to maintain a sense of fun and justice in life.
November 15, 2022
I read this for a paper I am writing on anthropomorphic animal tales and how they can be used to represent the land they occupy.
A lot of people seem to think this book is too violent for a children's story, but this is precisely why I found this useful for my paper. Animal tales tend to be riddled with violence. After all, Peter Rabbit's father is literally baked into a pie and eaten, and Fantastic Mr. Fox gets his tail shot off.
I have found that, beyond the charm, curiosity, the cute animal exterior and the childlike shenanigans, these tales tend to be underlined with the hostility of humans.
In an essay about the Potter tales Charles Frey wrote: "experienced teachers and parents know, childhood is not really all feasting and fun. How will the news be broken?”
Tales like Peter Rabbit and Blinky Bill break it to them softly. After all, it is no secret that children live in a world where rabbit fathers get turned into pie and Koalas are brutally shot in the wild.
A lot of people seem to think this book is too violent for a children's story, but this is precisely why I found this useful for my paper. Animal tales tend to be riddled with violence. After all, Peter Rabbit's father is literally baked into a pie and eaten, and Fantastic Mr. Fox gets his tail shot off.
I have found that, beyond the charm, curiosity, the cute animal exterior and the childlike shenanigans, these tales tend to be underlined with the hostility of humans.
In an essay about the Potter tales Charles Frey wrote: "experienced teachers and parents know, childhood is not really all feasting and fun. How will the news be broken?”
Tales like Peter Rabbit and Blinky Bill break it to them softly. After all, it is no secret that children live in a world where rabbit fathers get turned into pie and Koalas are brutally shot in the wild.
October 29, 2016
I would recommend this book to an older kid but as bedtime reading for younger kids. Blinky's behaviour in the story was quite inappropriate in my view, which are difficult for kids younger than eight to understand and may negatively influence their behaviour as a result. For example, Blinky Bill stole cabbages from Farmer Scratchet but defended himself by saying that it was "borrowing".
Moreover, the use of language in this book was quite colloquial and is not suited for young kids who are just beginning to learn composition at school.
Moreover, the use of language in this book was quite colloquial and is not suited for young kids who are just beginning to learn composition at school.
September 11, 2017
I listened to the audiobook because I wanted to check out literature to read with my son when he's older. Blinky Bill entertains and delights; he's the same kind of mischievous character as Peter Rabbit or Curious George. Australian literature often falls through the cracks so I'm pleased to have stumbled upon Dorothy Wall's creation. My son is only 5 months old but I'll read this with him when he's 3 or 4.
October 26, 2022
DNF. What the blinkin’ eff… This is a far cry from the tv series I fondly remember. The whole thing is weirdly acrid and a little bit mad. The 2 stars is for some of the madness that is endearing but the bitterness permeates the whole thing spoiling most of what I read.
Perhaps though it is an understandable response to the world considering it was written in the 1930s? I don’t think I’m invested enough to find out though
Perhaps though it is an understandable response to the world considering it was written in the 1930s? I don’t think I’m invested enough to find out though
October 3, 2019
I listened to this on audiobook and I found the audio very difficult to listen to as it had so much music, noise and effects, it was hard to hear the narration. Also the ‘theme’ music used was that to Burke’s Backyard, not Blinky Bill. Other than that the story was quite well done, even if quotes are repeated often. It’s a good kids book all the same.
July 1, 2020
This was okay. Kind of a mix between Peter Rabbit and Pippi Longstocking. Blinky is naughty and I had to brush over some parts that I didn’t want to read to my kids because I didn’t want them getting ideas or thinking his behavior was at all okay. But there were some very funny parts and since I could edit as we went it ended up being enjoyable.
September 18, 2021
I read this book as a child and was deeply disturbed by the description of Blinky's father dying much of which I still remember. I would never let a child read this and because of it, when my son was young, I read every single book myself, before reading them to him to ensure he was never traumatised as I was.
May 24, 2017
This review was written by A, 6 years old.
Blinky bill is a koala who is a bit cheeky and he runs away from his home and comes back but he always runs away again. Once, they got caught and taken to the zoo.
The book is set in the Australian bush.
🐨🇦🇺🍃🌾🌸🌼🌷🐍🐝🐺🐄🐐🐏🐖🐎
Blinky bill is a koala who is a bit cheeky and he runs away from his home and comes back but he always runs away again. Once, they got caught and taken to the zoo.
The book is set in the Australian bush.
🐨🇦🇺🍃🌾🌸🌼🌷🐍🐝🐺🐄🐐🐏🐖🐎
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 30, 2019
The entire collection of classic Australian children stories of a mischievous young Koala named Blinky Bill written in the 1930's. A very enjoyable read. Would highly recommend for children, and the young at heart.
December 18, 2018
Not sure if our version is the full story. We didn't get the story of Blinky Bill and Nutsy... A classic.
September 25, 2019
A fantastic piece of fiction for young children and a marvellous journey of nostalgia
January 2, 2020
My boys liked this more than I did, but we all laughed throughout. It was mostly funny because it was written in such a different time than we live in now.
January 6, 2021
Decided to read an Australian classic. Should have read it when I was a child!
June 24, 2021
Honestly, so confused. Super peculiar, some funny points, but l have never had a talking koala who wears knickerbockers make me so annoyed!
November 7, 2021
Only read the first book as others say not a likeable character, decided to call it quits then as I'm not the quickest reader and have plenty more books to read.
March 30, 2022
Australian classis???? Does not age well at all.
April 25, 2022
I was struggling anyway, but it lost me around “blackfellas.”
Displaying 1 - 30 of 61 reviews