Book Club: Rockhopping

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Author: Trace Balla
ISBN: 978-1-76011-234-9
RRP: $24.99

Rockhopping is the first childrens picture book that we have used for a book club title and it was an amazingly engaging read. I will admit right from the outset that I haven’t read it with any of the children yet but I plan to do exactly that tomorrow. I did try with the 2 year old but he doesn’t have the concentration, he needs vibrant colours, great pictures and hardly any words.

Trace Balla has written, and illustrated, an informative and educational story set along the Glenelg River in Victoria that is gentle and engaging. I was certainly entranced, and would love to go visit the area.

Rockhopping is suitable for ages 8+, I think you could definitely read it with a younger child but it would depend on their concentration span and focus really. The illustrations are realistic and use earthy colours. They don’t jump out at you and they are quite busy, with lots of little details. It would be a great opportunity to refocus I think, if your young reader is losing concentration you could stop reading and start looking at the pictures and seeing what you can find on the page.

Clancy and his Uncle Egg, who were the lead characters in Balla’s 2014 childrens book Rivertime, decide it’s time to head off on another adventure. Their first adventure, canoeing, was Uncle Egg’s idea and it sparked the idea for this 80 page adventure to find the source of the Glenelg River.

Rockhopping takes us through a largely untouched Victorian bushland area, and gently teaches us about the animals, the history and a little of the Indigenous people of Victoria. I was as in love with the illustrations, which labelled all the bushland creatures, as with the text.

80 pages does seem like quite a lot for a picture book but when you get caught up in the story it doesn’t seem like that many, and it is set out in a comic strip format so it isn’t overly wordy.

Uncle Egg and Clancy do some training in the city before heading off on their Grampians adventure, they pack everything they will need, they make a plan, set a course and set off. Even with the best laid plans things sometimes end up sending you off course, that’s what happened to Clancy and Uncle Egg, so they had to find a new plan or just go with the flow.

Six nights they spend on their adventure and we watch as the walking is ever so tiring, and the hiking gear seem to get heavier until the body seems to reset and Clancy becomes more energetic and involved with the environment around him. He begins to revel in the natural world surrounding him, appreciate the stars above and the fresh water and pay attention to the animals to help him find where he needs to be.

A week out in nature, away from electricity and technology and progress reignites the imagination, the willingness to just be; not to go anywhere or do anything but just to be; at one with nature, bare foot and hopping over the rocks.

Rockhopping shows us that sometimes when you get lost it’s just a chance to change your perspective and go a different way, and sometimes when you go a different way you get to see and experience a whole range of things you otherwise would have missed.

A gorgeous romp through the mountains on a quest to find the source of the river, and certainly enough to make me want to read Balla’s other books.

Thanks to Allen & Unwin 20 of our Beauty and Lace Club Members will be reading Rockhopping so please be aware there may be spoilers in the comments.

Rockhopping is book #19 for the Australian Women Writer’s Challenge 2016;

Rockhopping is available now through Allen & Unwin, Booktopia, Angus & Robertson Bookworld and where all good books are sold.

20 thoughts on “Book Club: Rockhopping

  1. Review by Jemima Day (11)

    It’s a really good book about nature and animals. It teaches kids to go outside, go on an adventure, and be daring. I like how it shows the animals, plants and their names so we can all learn a fact or two.
    The story was easy to understand and fun to follow along.

    The illustrations are amazing and so detailed! I can tell it would’ve taken a long time to do.

    There are some nice quotes in there too,

    “There’s some pretty good stuff when you’re not in woop woop too, though….. Like the shed, footy, and friends.”

    “And if I could chose any person on the whole planet to be with, I’d chose you, Uncle Egg.”

  2. Review by Miller (Age10)

    I think Rock Hopping is a fun story with many twists and turns along the way. It is about a father and daughter who go on an adventure to find the source of the Glenelg River.

    My favourite bit was when Clancy found a shelter and made a fire when she was stranded in a ditch.

    I gave this book a 7/10 because I liked the format but not always the story. The pictures were great. Thank you

  3. Reading Rock Hopping with my kids aged 5, 8 and 11 made us want to start packing and head to the Grampians immediately!!

    Beautiful way to introduce the varied flora and fauna of Australia to kids in a more indepth way. Loved the part where Clancy got lost and his little rock shelter nook! Loved the way he drew the beautiful wildflowers for his Mum, lovely idea for a permanent reminder without harming the flowers!

    My only negative was the colours were too dull for the kids aged 5 and 8. A lot of the illustrated wildlife and flora is much more brightly coloured in real life and would hold their attanetion better if depicted as close to nature as possible.

    The diary like format of the book was brilliant and little Miss 5 spent almost as long on the text of the story as looking at all the pictures on the page.

    Hope to follow them and rock hop among the Grampians during the next school holidays! Fantastic book overall and is already a firm bed time favourite!

  4. My 7 year old took to this book instantly. She has quite a long attention span and she read it over 2 nights.
    Rockhopping isn’t the type of book she’s read before and I was curious if she’d get into it, I was pleasantly surprised. I too got into this book and we both spent a lot of time after reading just looking through the front and back inside covers naming the animals and plants.

    Miss 7 said ‘I loved Rockhopping, Uncle Egg is really smart and my favourite part was when Clancy got lost. My favourite page is Page 7 with all the stuff they have to pack because I love packing for holidays’. I thought her wording and comprehension of the book was great!

    When I was younger my parents took me camping in Halls Gap and it brought back some nice memories of our fortnight exploring The Grampians and surrounding towns. This book has made me want to stop by on our next trip to Melbourne for some exploring with our kids.
    Miss 7 is taking this book into show her teacher and I have a feeling it will be a hit with her too.

  5. My 9y.o and I read “rockhopping” by Trace Balla, together over three evenings. She, actually we both were, totally engrossed by the adventures of the 2 characters Clancy and Uncle Egg! Especially Clancy’s growth and self discovery throughout the book. After finishing the book Miss 9 was on the internet researching “the Grampians”.
    Glad I got to read and review such a wonderful book!

  6. By Ave, age 9:

    Rockhopping is about a boy called Clancy & his Uncle Egg who go on a camp in the bush.

    They have a great time & enjoy exploring together.

    I liked this book because it has lots of exciting adventures, cool cartoon pictures and lots of Australian characters.

    I would tell other kids to read Rockhopping, it’s great!

  7. What a beautiful book, I personally loved this book and really enjoyed reading it to my son. My son on the other hand had trouble sitting listen to the story as it was such a long story so we broke it up into 4 parts. We loved all the Australia fanua and the fact the story was a comic style book. It’s was a very cute and fun book to read and I highly recommend adding it to your children’s collection.

  8. My 8 year old and 10 year old really enjoyed this book!
    They loved that it was set out like a comic, and that it is about exploring in Australia. We chatted for a long time about the pictures and different parts of the story, and it was great that our whole family went on this adventure together!
    I found the book great because the places, flora and fauna are all real and not made up like many children’s books are.
    This is a book that my kids have already gone back to on different occasions, and I think it will remain a favourite in our house!

  9. This book is wonderful. Written and illustrated in a similar fashion to a comic, it really showed everything. I love how it is such a learning experience and also a local story. It was a wonderful way to learn as they go through their adventure, meeting people, discovering Australian flora and fauna.

    My daughter instantly loved it, especially thinking it was especially funny Clancy’s uncle was Egg. We are now inspired to go camping so she can have a similar experience.

  10. By Erika, age 8
    I thought that the book was good and some bits were funny, Especially when uncle eggs bag rolled away. I read the book to my sister and she thought it was a good book. I loved the pictures they were fantastic. I learnt about lots of animals, insects and plants. I loved the book.I thought the book was well set out and was interesting. Thank you for letting me read Rockhopping 🙂

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