You may connect Shamini Flint with her crime fiction novels the Inspector Singh Investigates series but did you know that she also writes books for children? These include the Sasha in Singapore series (picture travel books), novels Diary of a Cricket God, Diary of a Soccer Star, and Ten (about a little girl dealing with her parents’ divorce).
Describing herself as an ‘ex-lawyer and stay at home mum who is determined to change the world through writing’, Flint says The Animal Talkers trilogy written for 9-14 year-olds is an ‘environmental fantasy’. “I caught the environmental bug”, she says. “I belatedly realised that our lifestyles are unsustainable and our children are going to inherit the mess. In a panic, I began to write books (printed on recycled paper) about endangered species and do a lot of school visits to talk to kids about environmental issues. My first collection was of picture books like Turtle Takes a Trip and Jungle Blues.” Then came The Seeds of Time, Book One of The Animal Talkers trilogy.
The Seeds of Time stars Honesty Smith and Spencer Jones. These two ‘ordinary’ children with an extraordinary ability end up being vital to the future of planet Earth which they set out to save from environmental catastrophe. For the children and the Council of Beasts, it’s a race against time and the evil plans of the greedy Mr Valentine who is hell-bent on finding oil in Alaska’s wildlife reserves. This is a man who ‘firmly believed that there was nothing in the world that could not be bought or stolen’. Embarking on a mission with a group of animals including the orang utans of Borneo, a two-horned rhino and the polar bears of Alaska, the team must find the powerful first Seeds of Collective Memory. Will they succeed?
Honesty sometimes could not believe her bad luck. Why did she have to belong to such an unusual family? Not unusual in the sense of being very rich or very famous or only ever wearing purple on Sundays. … But they were vegetarian and lived on a small organic farm with an apple orchard, vegetables, strawberries in summer and a herd of dairy cows. They didn’t own a television and sent Honesty to school in clothes made of hemp. Hemp! … And they had named her Honesty. What sort of parents would do that to a child? It was cruelty to children.
Shortly after I finished reading The Seeds of Time, a TV news ticker alert announced that the Western Black Rhino of Africa had been declared extinct. In reality, one of Flint’s characters, the two-horned rhino of Borneo isn’t far behind. Flint admits taking some liberties with placement of animals (for example tigers in Borneo) but this a fast-paced, fun, adventure fantasy, not a science textbook. And it’s a great way to educate children about the realities of threatened species, environmental concerns and the effects of climate change – without using a sledge hammer approach.
While she tells the story with her natural gift for humour, it’s worth noting that Flint doesn’t spare the reader some sad moments but in my opinion they’re necessary. Even this reader shed a tear or two. No spoilers though.
The foreword is by Dr Isabelle Louis, Director Asia Pacific Region, World Wide Fund for Nature and part proceeds of book sales of The Seeds of Time are donated to this cause by the author.
Book Two of the trilogy, Journey of the Chosen was released in late October which makes this a good idea for Christmas because the kids can read the first two books back to back and still look forward to Book Three.
Shamini Flint was a guest at the Sydney Writers’ Festival in May 2011. The New School: Nicole Watson, PM Newton and Shamini Flint speak with Mark Dapin.
The Seeds of Time Book One: The Animal Talkers ISBN: 9789810804510
Journey of the Chosen Book Two: The Animal Talkers ISBN: 978-9810701048
Publisher: Sunbear Publishing Pte Ltd
More about the author at her website www.shaminiflint.com
© Paula Grunseit 2011
