To the Wild Sky

To the Wild Sky

First edition
Author	Ivan Southall
Language	English
Genre	Children's fiction
Publisher	Angus and Robertson
Publication date	1967
Publication place	Australia
Media type	Print
Pages	184 pp
Preceded by	The Foxhole
Followed by	Sly Old Wardrobe

To the Wild Sky (1967) is a novel for children by Australian author Ivan Southall, illustrated by Jennifer Tuckwell. It won the Children's Book of the Year Award: Older Readers in 1968.^[1]

The novel is a prequel to A City Out of Sight by Ivan Southall, published in 1984.^[1]

Plot outline

Six children, travelling to visit an outback station by plane, are thrown into crisis when their pilot suddenly dies mid-flight. One of the children successfully lands the plane and the children then find themselves having to survive.

Critical reception

In her review of the novel in The Canberra Times Daphne Fisher stated: "This is a book that should prove to be generally popular. Mr Southall writes in accordance with Maugham's dictum that a story should have a beginning, a middle and an end; but more than this, he is to be commended for remembering that children, as well as adults, have sufficient intelligence to both comprehend and appreciate an idea which does not depend merely on the happenings in a fictional narrative."^[2]

Notes

The novel was republished in 2014 by Text Publishing as part of their "Text Classics" series of Australian novels.^[3]

See also

• 1967 in Australian literature

References

1. Austlit - To the Wild Sky by Ivan Southall
2. "Character Development" by Daphne Fisher, The Canberra Times, 15 July 1967, p10
3. Text Publishing - To the Wild Sky by Ivan Southall