My almost four-year-old grandson is now a deer hunter. When Ma dropped around to his place the other day, he proudly showed her his rifle (a long-armed wood clamp) and then adopted the prone position and waited to ambush the cat, inspired by Rob Baldinger’s new Australian book, I am a Deer Hunter.
Some of Eamon’s first words were, “Pa goes bang!” He knew I shot but didn’t show much interest until he became a deer hunter. It began the first time I read this book to him.
He took it home that evening and his mum says he’s been into it ever since.
The beautiful illustrations probably grabbed him initially but the engaging bush poem of the hunt — full of action, emotion, description and reality — locked him into the whole experience portrayed by the book. And I had a great time reading it to him, too: it opened up the world of hunting to him and permitted me to engage as Pa ought to.
Eamon is certainly old enough for I am a Deer Hunter but may not have been six months ago. Older kids will find it even easier to grasp the concepts, which don’t shy away from the kill or the realities of nature as our hunter stalks, shoots and butchers a rutting stag.
Eamon now tells us how he is going to “eat everything, even the eyes”. I guess he gets the concept of not wasting anything but is yet to refine it…
Some of the words and phrases are still too grown up for him but I see those as details that I can explain and that will eventually mean something to him. Rob Baldinger added some little explanatory asides on the pages, too.
Overall, though, Eamon understands not just the concept of hunting in a way he couldn’t before, but for the first time he has seen how a hunt plays out and what we must do after we’ve killed an animal that we will eat.
I’ve not yet taken him hunting, but he’ll be well primed for it when I do. I think Eamon now understands why Pa goes bang, and he connects it with some of the meat he has eaten.
I’m sure it won’t be long before he asks to come hunting.
Rob Baldinger, aka the Venison Diplomat online, is an absolutely dedicated hunter from the NSW South Coast. He self-published I am a Deer Hunter, and is close to releasing I am a Duck Hunter and, on a different note, Ode to the Barista.
He describes himself as Australia’s first and only author of children’s books based on hunting.
Because I am a Deer Hunter is the only Australian kids’ hunting book, I’d probably recommend it regardless, but the fact that it is a great kids’ book, full stop, makes it a shoo-in.
My grandson has enjoyed it and been thoroughly influenced by it. Every kid should have a copy.
I AM A DEER HUNTER: By Rob Baldinger. Illustrated by The Illustrators. Self-published; available at thevenisondiplomat.com.au and Amazon. Paperback ($23.09) & ebook ($11.99). 210 x 210mm, 32pp. ISBN: 978-1-7643484-0-9 (paperback), 978-1-7643484-1-6 (ebook). A dollar from every book is donated to conservation hunting.
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