African adventures: ‘Kip of the Mountain’ by Emma Gourlay

I love that Melbourne author Emma Gourlay has chosen to set this middle-grade story in the land of her birth, South Africa. It’s pretty rare for Australian children to be exposed to stories of that country, so in itself that is a plus. Another is the occasional word in Afrikaans sprinkled throughout – especially buffel, which apparently means a ‘special, rare creature.’

In Kip of the Mountain, Buffel is the name Kip gives to a tiny creature that comes to her via a mysterious bottle in the forest, near the side of Table Mountain where she lives.

She spends her twelfth birthday wondering what her Something Odd will be – a tradition in her hometown is that everyone receives a Something Odd on their twelfth birthday. When she finally realises that the strange little creature that cracked out of the egg in the bottle is, in fact, her Something Odd, she decides she will love him forever.

First, though, she has to keep him hidden from her dad, who has a ‘no pets’ policy, but who is busy as always in his shed, trying to build a flying machine. Then she must avoid the mean kids and even meaner teacher at school, who tease her about her hair and her family background of black dad and white mum.

Last but certainly not least is the threat to Buffel’s freedom when he is kidnapped. To rescue Buffel she must travel away from her beloved mountain to a strange island across the sea.

Kip is a shy loner who learns that good friends can be made and that doing the right thing can be hard but is always the most rewarding.

The story is set in the 1980’s when the hideous apartheid regime was still in force, and there are references to this which introduce the concept to young readers, but very much from a child’s perspective. It offers a way to open discussion about hard issues like institutionalised racism, bullying and discrimination to younger readers, while encompassing them in an adventure story full of magic and wonder. The black and white illustrations by Kate Moon brings scenes to life throughout.

Kip of the Mountain will appeal to young readers who like their stories sprinkled liberally with zany characters and adventure.
It is published by HarperCollins Children’s Books in October 2023.
My thanks to the publishers for a review copy.