It was a month before Christmas and time for a tree, but where, oh where, could the decorations be?
As the family searches from the attic to the garage to under the house where Dad had to crawl, no-one heard the quiet BEGERK! That night as they tucked up the hens into bed they discovered that one was missing. Gloria. They searched high, they searched low. They noticed up in a tree, right by the chicken coop, was a hunter – a hawk – having a snoop.
The facts were quite clear, the facts were quite grim: that hawk was no longer particularly trim.
The flock of hens is not too fussed that Gloria has gone missing. After all, None of them liked her, they thought her quite strange. She had weird ideas – completely free range.
Where oh where could Gloria be!
Honestly, while writing this review I am hard-pressed not to burst into rhyme. You can’t help but get caught up in the rhythm as the rhyming words swish along.
I giggled my way through reading The Daring Tale of Gloria The Great. When I finished, I read it again. I laughed out loud. Then I read it again, out loud, and my heart was filled with joy. Such hilarious fun, fabulous illustrations. A book you simply have to go and borrow or buy.
Don’t miss it!
Reviewed by Rowena Morcom
Age Guide 3+
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jacqueline Harvey worked in schools for many years but has had a passion for storytelling since she was a child.
She is the author of the popular Alice-Miranda, Clementine Rose, Kensy and Max and Willa and Woof series, which have sold almost two million copies in Australia alone. In 2022, she released a picture book, That Cat, illustrated by one of her former students, Kate Isobel Scott. Jacqueline’s books have received numerous shortlistings and awards while her picture book, The Sound of the Sea, was a CBCA Honour Book.
Jacqueline speaks to thousands of young people at schools and festivals around the world, and says the characters in her books are often made up of the best bits of children she’s met over the years. While she is not a twin, like Kensy and Max she does have excellent powers of observation and has always thought she’d make a great spy.
Jacqueline lives between Sydney, Australia, and Queenstown, New Zealand, and is currently working on more Willa and Woof adventures, several picture book projects and an exciting new middle-grade story.
