Captain Thunderbolt's Recital
Age range 4+
Captain Thunderbolt was known as the ‘gentleman bushranger’. He didn’t like violence, was always polite, and even paid back most of the money he stole. In Captain Thunderbolt’s Recital, author Jane Jolly retells the true tale of one of the bushranger’s most famous robberies with comic effect. When Thunderbolt held up Wirth’s German brass band, he took their money, asked them to play some music for him and promised to pay the money back. Sure enough, when the men returned home, there was a postal order waiting for them, with the exact amount he had stolen.
Illustrations by Liz Duthie perfectly capture the funny text, bringing to life the quirky band members as well as the impish Captain Thunderbolt.
Jane Jolly is a primary school teacher in Adelaide. She has written many award-winning picture books, including Tea and Sugar Christmas and Radio Rescue for NLA Publishing, One Step at a Time and Papa Sky. Her books have been previous winners of the ABIA Small Publisher Children’s Book of the Year award, shortlisted for the CBCA Eve Pownall Award for Information Books and Notables in the CBCA Picture Book and Younger Readers categories.
Liz Duthie is an internationally published children’s book illustrator and visual artist. Her first non-fiction children’s book, Wombat by Christopher Cheng, won the CBCA Eve Pownall Award in 2022. Liz’s hand-drawn style expresses humour, emotion and movement, using traditional mediums.
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