Tonk and the Battle of the 200 by Jon Mann
Series: The
Adventures of Tonk #1
Publisher:
Desert’s Memory Publishing
Publication
date: 14th January 2018
Pages: 266
Format read:
eBook
Source: from
publisher
Blurb
Tonk isn't your average
squirrel. While most squirrels live out their lives in the safety of
their home tree, little Tonk is curious. He wonders what is out there
beyond the End of Things. What lingers over the horizon? What has he
never seen?
One day he hears of a magical flying squirrel whose coat is as white as snow. She is held captive in a place called "The San Diego Zoo", and Tonk knows his time has come.
Leaving his family behind, he sets forth on a dangerous journey to rescue the legendary squirrel with the hope that he, too, can learn the secret of flight. Along the way he makes friends with Bogey, a crusty old jackrabbit: El Curador, a Mexican museum mouse; and Pockets, an alarmingly awkward pelican. Together they forge a trail across a treacherous urban landscape to the mysterious place where the creature has been imprisoned against her will.
Once there, Tonk and his brave friends wage war against the enemies who have imprisoned the white squirrel. In doing so, Tonk becomes much more than the simple creature he is -- he becomes a hero.
After all, who says you have to be big to make a difference?
One day he hears of a magical flying squirrel whose coat is as white as snow. She is held captive in a place called "The San Diego Zoo", and Tonk knows his time has come.
Leaving his family behind, he sets forth on a dangerous journey to rescue the legendary squirrel with the hope that he, too, can learn the secret of flight. Along the way he makes friends with Bogey, a crusty old jackrabbit: El Curador, a Mexican museum mouse; and Pockets, an alarmingly awkward pelican. Together they forge a trail across a treacherous urban landscape to the mysterious place where the creature has been imprisoned against her will.
Once there, Tonk and his brave friends wage war against the enemies who have imprisoned the white squirrel. In doing so, Tonk becomes much more than the simple creature he is -- he becomes a hero.
After all, who says you have to be big to make a difference?
My Thoughts
Tonk and the
battle of the 200 is a lively tale of adventure, curiosity and wonder. And a
reminder to follow your dreams.
Tonk is not
your average American squirrel, content to live their life in one tree never
venturing farther than the weather vane on the carriage house, he dreamt of
sights and sounds far away. Tonk stared out at the mystery that was the horizon
and wondered what he would find at the End of Things.
One fateful
day Tonk hears about a place where every animal from every continent is held
captive. Inside this place is the white squirrel who can fly. Tonk thinks how
wonderful it would be to fly. He could fly to the End of Things. Tonk sets out
to find this prison, made by man, and ask the white squirrel to teach him to
fly. Along the way he will face many dangers and make new friends. His quest
for knowledge turns into a quest for freedom.
Mann has
written an extraordinary adventure story with an underlying theme of death.
Tonk, the squirrel, sees death around him and also has a scrape with death
himself when the neighbourhood cat pounces on him.
”Some
hunt, and some are hunted. Some feed, and some are fed upon. This is simply the
way it is. The natural way of things.”
On his
adventures Tonk meets Bogey, The Jackrabbit, who is a whole lot more worldly
wise than little Tonk. Bogey saves Tonk’s life more than once as they encounter
the perils of man-made machines, pets and predators.
Mann doesn’t
humanise his characters. They are still very animalistic by not understanding
how things in the human world work and not being able to read signs even though
Bogey thinks he can which gives rise to some very funny animal names and also
explains the title of the book.
The story
tells the reader how the animals feel. They have a fear and hatred of humans.
All humans are evil and everything they do is evil. The zoo is a terrible
prison and all the animals are unhappy.
"There
is no dignity to be found inside a cage, not for any living creature, including
man. But for wild creatures of the earth, captivity means the loss of
everything, including self.” “Once brought to that place, animals never see the
outside world again. They die there!”
The writing
is complex and literary and at times a little macabre.
”The
dogs tore into them as if seeking nothing more than bloodshed and carnage.” “The
bodies of the dancing *Tethin were flung across the concrete, their blood
splattering the grass, the stench of their entrails filling the air.”
Authorial
intrusion is used consistently to make the reader feel more connected and quite
often gives a humorous aside to a sometimes sombre tale; for instance when the
author suggests to the reader to look up a certain word in the dictionary.
A story to
stretch the imagination and the vocabulary as well.
I would
place this book in the same category as Watership Down – the “Not quite
appropriate children’s books.” And as Watership Down was, The Battle for the
200 will be read and remembered by children and adults alike.
Content:
animals die in this story
Recommended for
10years + though not for the highly sensitive child.
*Tethin –
the name by which the squirrels regard themselves.
A. H. Richardson is a treasured storyteller, whose unlimited imagination conjures up challenging and unforgettable characters, both good and evil, daring children everywhere to delve into their imaginations and learn to rely on courage and bravery to win the day.