Publisher's Synopsis
The Adventures of Timothy and Shan is a 'You Picture It Story Book', for children. The concept behind the stories is the development of imagination. Therefore, rather than illustration aiding comprehension of the language used, the reader uses the written text to imagine and then draw the scenes. The reader then becomes the illustrator of the book.
The story is written for a reading age of 8-9 (US), grades 3-4. The story will captivate older children too, and because of the absence of illustration, a higher reading age may be helpful. Besides being a general story for children it can be used in both the Language and Arts curriculum. The stories are set in a fictional West Australian town called Tumbleup. It is a desert environment and traditionally there has been farming and gold mining which once sustained a thriving town. The stories are set in the present day in which the town is now very small, the gold mining finished decades ago, but there are some farms in operation. The main characters are a white mouse named Timothy and a black cat named Shan and the human family of which they become a part: Deegan, Lucy and Mum (Mom). The first story A New Home tells of how the people and animals become a family. Mum is looking for a place of her own where she can peacefully raise her children. Shan adopts them and it turns out that Deegan has the ability to communicate with him. No one really believes Deegan can talk with Shan. Shan rescues Timothy from a snake named Roger and brings him to Deegan. Deegan can communicate/talk with him too. Deegan's ability to communicate with animals grows. In this story Lucy gets trapped in a mine shaft and needs rescuing. All the main characters help her which helps cement them all as one family. The second story Timothy's Troubles tells the story of Timothy being mouse-napped and his rescue. The family is established by this time and they have interaction, not only with the people of Tumbleup, but also the animal residents. Deegan is a unique boy, and his sister who loves him dearly keeps him in check. Watch out for more adventures with Timothy, Shan and their family.
