Title: Walkabout

Publisher: Heinemann

Retold by Jim Alderson

Year - 1992

The book is about two children who are going to Australia to visit their uncle Keith. But on the way, one of the plane’s motors suddenly begin to burn. They had to land. They got down alive. The two children, a girl and her little brother ran out of the plane, but the pilots didn’t get out before the plane suddenly exploded and then they died.

The kids were in the middle of a big, warm desert all by themselves, now.

The girl was called Mary and was about 13 and her brother, Peter, was 8 years old. They soon understood that there was nothing else to do than to start walking and hope they would find something.

After many hours of walking they found a stream. They were lying there drinking and bathing. The next day they went further with only a little chocolate as food. The chocolate was soon gone, and they had to start looking for food. They were very lucky and found a tree with some delicious fruit. They ate a lot until they finally weren’t hungry anymore. They took some fruit in their pockets and went further.

Some days later, after a lot of wandering, they met a bush boy. They used their hands to communicate and understood each other very well. The bush boy helped them on their way. He helped them to find food and water. They went over big cliffs and mountains, but most of the trip they wandered in a desert with just sand.

Once in a while they stopped and took a bath in the rivers which crossed their way. In the night they slept and sometimes the bush boy was awake to guard the area against wild animals.

After a lot of walking they finally found the village the bush boy led them to. They were so happy when they found this small village that they almost could not believe it was true. The inhabitants helped them getting home and that was the end of the book.