Aussie Kid Heroes — Dianne Bates

Heroes. You find them in the strangest places, doing all those wonderful things. But kids can be heroes, too, in so many different ways. Author Di Bates has collected lots of stories about what Aussie kids have done to earn their stripes as heroes. And we're sure that you'll enjoy the illustrations that artist Marjory Gardner has drawn to go with their special stories. Here are just a few of the amazing but true stories you'll find in this book: 16-year-old Grace Bussell and young Aboriginal stockman Sam Isaacs saved 40 out of 48 people in 1876 after the Georgette was shipwrecked off the Western Australia coast... At the age of 14, Melinda Tubolec won a trip to the United States to spend five days in an astronaut-training program at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). During the program Melinda won awards for her innovative space station designs and simulated space shuttle missions... On his first try to scale Mount Everest (the world's highest mountain), Christopher Harris became the youngest person to climb above 7,000 metres. Christopher started mountaineering with his dad Richard at just eight years of age. Since then, Christopher has won the Australian Geographic's Young Adventurer of the Year award... Justin Kroh has been blind since he was five years old. However, he entered and won the 1993 UNICEF Art Award when he was 11. Justin's collage, titled How the Crocodile Got to Like Fish, was judged the best overall entry from a total of 4,890 entries from 254 schools.