Freckles the Fawn - The Story of a Friendship

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.