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Freckles the Fawn - The Story of a Friendship

Valerie Helps

A unique true story of a friendship between an orphaned antelope fawn and a girl. Set in Tanganyika (East Africa) in 1951, he becomes her shadow and is accepted by the dogs and cats. He takes a fancy to the African cook Hamisi who features strongly through the story, won't tolerate the socks knitted by the girl to prevent slipping on polished floors and solves the problem by crossing on his knees, falls into a deep hole while a marauding leopard attacks the cattle boma and mauls a young calf, "rides" bareback with the girl on Snuff, the girl's white pony, is mistaken for a dog and given a plate of raw meat by a hotel waiter, has several swims in the pool with the girl, loves a bath and eats the soap. On reaching maturity, he uses his sharp four-inch horns effectively when playfully butting the dogs and the girl. Becomes more aggressive occasionally and, as a yearling, gradually goes wild and inevitably finds a mate and returns to his natural habitat.

 

 

Valerie Helps was born in London and grew up in East Africa. Widely travelled she has lived in Australia, Greece and France where she established herself as a successful non-fiction writer and illustrator. Her short stories, poetry and children's books have been published in major newspapers and journals worldwide. She now lives in Sydney close to her family.

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ABOUT VALERIE HELPS


Valerie Helps was born in London and grew up in East Africa. Widely travelled, she has lived in Australia, Greece and France, where she established herself as a successful travel writer and illustrator.

Valerie's first book, Freckles the Fawn, was written when she was eighteen. In Australia, she established Valerie's Page, a popular children's page in a major Sunday newspaper, with stories inspired by her children and her African background. Seven of these featured in her television series.

Her short stories, poetry and children's books have been published in journals and newspapers worldwide.

During the eighties, Valerie worked with Youth Orchestras and as Orchestra Manager in the Sydney Opera House. When she needed something "completely different", she moved to Crete to lease out holiday villas and later left for France with Geoffrey, her new partner, to spend the summers on their canal boat ‘de Villehardouin'. She now lives in Sydney.