Baillie, Allan 1943–

(Allan Stuart Baillie)

PERSONAL: Born January 29, 1943, in Glasgow, Scotland; immigrated with family to Australia c. 1949; married Agnes Chow (a librarian); children: Lynne and Peter. Education: Attended Melbourne University.

ADDRESSES: Home—Sydney, Australia. E-mail—baillie_allan@hotmail.com.

CAREER: Writer and journalist. Sun, Melbourne, Australia, cadet journalist; also worked for newspapers and periodicals in Sydney and Auckland, Australia, including the Telegraph and the Australian Women's Weekly.

AWARDS, HONORS: Captain Cook Literature Award, 1970, for short story "Chuck's Town"; Warana Short Story Award, 1974, for "Empty House"; Kathleen Fidler Award, 1982, for Adrift; Arts Council Special Purpose Grant, 1983; International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) Honour Diploma, 1988; Arts Council A Fellowship, 1988; Children's Book Council of Australia (CBCA) Picture Book of Year, 1989, for Eagle Island; China: Pen Peace and Friendship Award, 1990, for "The Sorcerers"; Bank Street Children's Book of the Year, 1992, for Little Brother; Multicultural Children's Book Award, 1992, for The China Coin; Alan Marshall Diabetes Prize for Children's Literature, Victoria Premier's Award, 1995, for Songman; Australian Council fellowship, 1996; New South Wales Premier's Young People's History Prize, 2005, for Riding with Thunderbolt.

WRITINGS:

FOR CHILDREN AND YOUNG ADULTS

Mask Maker, Macmillan (London, England), 1974.

Adrift, Blackie (London, England), 1983.

Little Brother, Nelson (Melbourne, Victoria, Australia), 1985, reprinted, Puffin (Camberwell, Victoria, Australia), 2004.

Riverman, Blackie (London, England), 1986, Puffin (New York, NY), 1992.

Creature, Methuen Australia (North Ryde, New South Wales, Australia), 1987.

Eagle Island, Nelson (Melbourne, Victoria, Australia), 1987.

Drac and the Gremlin, pictures by Jane Tanner, Viking Kestrel (Ringwood, Victoria, Australia), 1988, reprinted, Puffin (Camberwell, Victoria, Australia), 2004.

Megan's Star, Nelson (Melbourne, Victoria, Australia), 1988.

Mates: And Other Stories, Omnibus/Puffin (Norwood, South Australia, Australia), 1989.

Hero, pictures by Jane Tanner, Viking Kestrel (Ringwood, Victoria, Australia), 1990.

The China Coin, Viking (Ringwood, Victoria, Australia), 1991.

Little Monster, illustrations by David Cox, Omnibus Books (Norwood, South Australia, Australia), 1991.

(With Chun-Chan Yeh) Bawshou Rescues the Sun: A Han Folktale, illustrations by Michelle Powell, Ashton Scholastic (Gosford, New South Wales, Australia), 1991.

The Boss, illustrated by Fiona O'Beirne, Ashton Scholastic (Sydney, New South Wales, Australia), 1992.

Magician, Viking (Ringwood, Victoria, Australia), 1992.

The Bad Guys, illustrated by David Cox, Omnibus Books (Norwood, South Australia, Australia), 1993.

Rebel!, illustrated by Di Wu, Ashton Scholastic (Sydney, New South Wales, Austalia), 1993.

Songman, Viking (Ringwood, Victoria, Australia), 1994.

Dream Catcher and Other Stories, Omnibus Books (Norwood, South Australia, Australia), 1995.

DragonQuest, pictures by Wayne Harris, Scholastic (Sydney, New South Wales, Australia), 1995.

(With Di Wu) Old Magic, Random House Australia (Milsons Point, New South Wales, Australia), 1996.

Secrets of Walden Rising, Viking (Ringwood, Victoria, Australia), 1996.

The Excuse, illustrated by Ned Culic, Puffin (Ringwood, Victoria, Australia), 1997.

The Last Shot, Omnibus Books (Norwood, South Australia, Australia), 1997.

Star Navigator, illustrations by Wayne Harris, ABC Books for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (Sydney, New South Wales, Australia), 1997.

Wreck!, Puffin (Ringwood, Victoria, Australia), 1997.

(With Jonathan Bentley) Archie: The Big Good Wolf, Random House (Milsons Point, New South Wales, Australia), 1998.

Legends: Stories of Australia, Phoenix Education (Putney, New South Wales, Australia), 1999.

Saving Abbie, Puffin (Ringwood, Victoria, Australia), 2000.

Foggy, illustrated by John Fairbridge, Puffin (Ringwood, Victoria, Australia), 2001.

Heroes: Australians at Their Best, Phoenix Education (Putney, New South Wales, Australia), 2001.

Imp, illustrated by Caroline Magerl, Puffin (Camberwell, Victoria, Australia), 2002.

Treasure Hunters, Puffin (Ringwood, Victoria, Australia), 2002.

Villains: A Gallery of Rogues, Phoenix Education (Melbourne, Victoria, Australia), 2003.

Castles, illustrated by Caroline Magerl, Penguin (Camberwell, Victoria, Australia), 2005.

A Taste of Cockroach, Penguin (Camberwell, Victoria, Australia), 2005.

Cat's Mountain, Puffin (Camberwell, Victoria, Australia), 2006.

Riding with Thunderbolt: The Diary of Ben Cross, Northern New South Wales, 1865, Scholastic Press (Gosford, New South Wales, Australia), 2007.

Contributor to books, including Children's Writers Write about Children's Literature, School of Teacher Education, University of Technology Sydney, Kuring-gai Campus (Lindfield, New South Wales, Australia), 1992; The Phone Book (stories), Random House Australia (Milsons Point, New South Wales, Australia), 1995; Last Gasps, edited by Paul Collins and Meredith Costain, Addison Wesley Longman Australia (South Melbourne, Victoria, Australia), 1999; and Ten Out of Ten: A Collection of Short Stories, Phoenix Education (Melbourne, Victoria, Australia), 2003. Books have been printed in several languages and countries, including Japan, Sweden, Holland, Germany, France, Spain, England, the United States, New Zealand, and South Africa.

ADAPTATIONS: China Coin was adapted as an audio-book.

SIDELIGHTS: Allan Baillie is an Australian journalist and writer who has written numerous books for children and young adults, many of which cover important issues concerning society and cultures. In Little Brother, the author tells the story of a Cambodian orphan, Vithy, who escapes from soldiers into the jungle with his brother, Mang, only to have Mang disappear. On his own, Vithy, lonely and afraid, soon finds himself traveling west in an effort to rejoin Mang. A Publishers Weekly contributor called the novel a "haunting tale [that] confirms the universality of human instincts and emotions."

Baillie coauthored Bawshou Rescues the Sun: A Han Folktale with Chun-Chan Yeh. The retold ancient Chinese folktale tells of Bawshou's efforts to rescue the sun, which has been stolen by the King of Devils. Helped by the ghost of his father, Bawshou must overcome evil villagers before he faces the King of Devils himself. A Publishers Weekly contributor wrote that "the story unfolds gracefully in the leisurely style of oral narrative."

Adrift tells the story of Flynn and his little sister Sally who find themselves adrift in a pirate ship and struggling to survive until they are rescued. A contributor to Publishers Weekly called the novel a "well-crafted yarn."

Baillie borrows from a true story to tell the tale of a child who outwits a tyrant in Burma in Rebel! When a general takes over a local village and abuses the people, his pompous persona is destroyed when a young child throws a sandal from a school window and knocks off the general's hat. The general orders everyone out of the building but is not able to find the culprit because everyone has taken their sandals off, leading to both the soldiers and villagers laughing at the general. A Publishers Weekly contributor called Rebel! "a bracing tale of courage in the face of tyranny." Hazel Rochman, writing in Booklist, noted: "The tension and surprise make this a great read-aloud."

The picture book DragonQuest focuses on a bumbling knight's search for the last dragon. Sally Murphy, writing on the Aussie Reviews Web site, noted that the book is "filled with intrigue, excitement and humour." In Wreck, Renee and Ian take shelter in a cave from a horrific storm only to come out afterwards and find a ship wrecked on the coast. Once they begin to explore the wreck, however, they soon learn that there is something else on board and that it may be after them. Murphy, once again writing on the Aussie Reviews Web site, commented: "Baillie's novels are always filled with action and unexpected outcomes. Wreck is no exception."

Secrets of Walden Rising focuses on Brendan, who is new to a remote Australian town and comes across a ghost town which may have secret treasures. Before long, Brendan is involved in violence and murder as he finds that even friends can't be trusted when it comes to sharing treasure. Referring to the novel as "dystopian," Beverley Pennell, writing in Papers: Explorations into Children's Literature, commented: "The bleakest dystopian aspect of Secrets of Walden Rising deals with the effacement of the stories of indigenous populations from white settler histories, addressing pressing issues of reconciliation." Carolyn Phelan, writing in Booklist, called the novel's "final scenes as exciting as they come."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, March 15, 1994, Hazel Rochman, review of Rebel, p. 1369, and Carolyn Phelan, review of Secrets of Walden Rising, p. 1369.

Papers: Explorations into Children's Literature, September, 2005, Beverley Pennell, review of Secrets of Walden Rising, p. 31.

Publishers Weekly, December 13, 1991, review of Little Brother, p. 56; April 20, 1992, review of Bawshou Rescues the Sun: A Han Folktale, p. 56; May 4, 1992, review of Adrift, p. 57; January 24, 1994, review of Rebel, p. 54.

ONLINE

Allan Baillie Home Page, http://www.allanbaillie.com.au/news.htm (September 20, 2006).

Allreaders.com, http://allreaders.com/ (September 20, 2006), review of Little Brother.

Aussie Reviews, http://www.aussiereviews.com/ (September 20, 2006), Sally Murphy, review of Wreck and DragonQuest.

Lateral Learning Web site, http://www.laterallearning.com/ (September 20, 2006), profile of author.

La Trobe University Web site, http://www.latrobe.edu.au/ (September 20, 2006), brief profile of author.

Penguin Books Australia Web site, http://www.penguin.com.au/ (September 20, 2006), information on author and works.

Scholastic Australia Web site, http://www.scholastic.com.au/ (September 20, 2006), profile of author.