Author(s): Nicola Davies

Children Fiction

A child, a wild animal - and a life-changing encounter. This is an exciting new range of books in which children find solutions to problems through conservation rather than killing. Aashiq lives in northern India. His father mistreats his wife and children and the family's dancing bears - an old female and the two new cubs who are to replace her. Aashiq wants all the bears to be free. With the help of his mother and sister, the old bear is taken to a sanctuary for retired bears while Aashiq runs away to the forest with the cubs. There he spends months teaching them how to survive in the wild. When he returns to his family, he finds his father's cruel rule has finally been overturned. His mother has a new way of making a living - and Aashiq and his sister can go to school at last. Nicola Davies has visited all the countries she writes about - and information about real conservation projects is included at the back of each book. Unlike the competition, these books focus on children who live in countries where wild animals pose a threat, and on the solutions that will affect their lives and their future. It features beautiful black and white mixed media illustrations by Annabel Wright.