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Playing Beatie Bow: Popular Penguins

By Ruth Park
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Check link for latest rating. ( 5,367 ratings, 332 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
Playing Beatie Bow: Popular Penguins by Ruth Park is a captivating children's novel that blends time travel with a gripping mystery. The story follows Abigail, a young girl from Sydney, who finds herself transported back to the 19th century after encountering a mysterious child known as Beatie Bow. As she navigates this unfamiliar world, Abigail unravels secrets and learns valuable lessons about love, destiny, and courage.
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Format: Paperback / softback
$1699
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

You might enjoy this book if you're fond of stories that blend time travel with rich, historical detail. Set in Sydney, it follows a young girl's unexpected journey back in time to the 19th century, offering insights into family dynamics and the past’s mysteries. It's a wonderful choice for those who appreciate a mix of adventure and poignant storytelling.

Book Hero thinking about your next read

The game is called Beatie Bow and the children play it for the thrill of scaring themselves. But when Abigail is drawn in, the game is quickly transformed into an extraordinary, sometimes horrifying, adventure as she finds herself transported to a place that is foreign yet strangely familiar...

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

The game is called Beatie Bow, and the children play it for the thrill of scaring themselves. But when Abigail is drawn in, the game is quickly transformed into an extraordinary, sometimes horrifying, adventure as she finds herself transported to a place that is foreign yet strangely familiar...

Playing Beatie Bow by Ruth Park offers a mesmerising journey that combines elements of mystery and time-travel, challenging Abigail to navigate a world that tests her courage and resilience.

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

Playing Beatie Bow: Popular Penguins by Ruth Park is praised for its engaging narrative and vivid characters. Readers admire the evocative depiction of time travel and historical Sydney, highlighting the blend of whimsy and depth in the story. The book resonates with both children and adults, appreciated for its nostalgic charm and captivating plot.

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780143204879

Publisher: Penguin Random House Australia

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 28 June 2010

Country: Australia

Imprint: Penguin Random House Australia

Audience: Children

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 13.0mm

Width: 113.0mm

Height: 181.0mm

Weight: 120g

Pages: 208

Collections

Best Sellers at Book Hero Children's Books Children’s, Teenage and Educational Classic Fiction In Stock Books In stock Children's Books In Stock Kid's Books Penguin Books Popular Penguins Ruth Park

About the Author

Ruth Park has written over fifty books, including Swords and Crowns and Rings (winner of the Miles Franklin Award) and A Fence Around the Cuckoo.

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  • A Fence Around the Cuckoo
    This first volume of Ruth Park’s autobiography is an account of her isolated childhood in the rainforests of New Zealand, her convent education which encouraged her love of words and writing, and the bitter years of the Depression. She then entered the rough-and-tumble world of journalism and began a reluctant correspondence with a young Australian writer. In 1942, Park moved...
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  • Fishing in the Styx: Text Classics
    Following on from A Fence around the Cuckoo, this is the second volume of autobiography by one of Australia's best storytellers, Ruth Park, author of The Harp in the South and the Miles Franklin-winning Swords and Crowns and Rings. Born in New Zealand, Ruth Park came to Australia to continue her work as a journalist, newly married to D'Arcy Niland....
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  • Playing Beatie Bow
    A thrilling adventure story for children and young adults by Ruth Park, Playing Beatie Bow follows Abigail as she suddenly finds herself in the Sydney of a hundred years ago as the result of a scary game.
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  • The Harp in the South Trilogy PMC
    The gritty realism of family life lived in the poverty-stricken slum of inner Sydney's Surry Hills during the 1940s. Also includes Missus and Poor Man's Orange.
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  • The Muddleheaded Wombat
    The Muddleheaded Wombat combines, in one edition, four of Ruth Park's much-loved classics: The Muddleheaded Wombat (1962), The Muddleheaded Wombat on Holiday (1964), The Muddleheaded Wombat in the Treetops (1965) and The Muddleheaded Wombat at School (1966). Featuring one of Australia's most adored children's book characters of all time, these stories have never been out of print. This paperback edition...
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  • Swords and Crowns and Rings
    Growing up in an Australian country town before World War I, Jackie Hanna and Cushie Moy are carefree and innocent in their love for each other. But Jackie is a dwarf, and his devotion to the beautiful Cushie is condemned by her parents. This is the story of their lifelong odyssey, and of the triumph of a special kind of...
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  • The Harp in the South: Popular Penguins
    Hugh and Margaret Darcy are raising their family in Sydney amid the brothels, grog shops, and rundown boarding houses of Surry Hills, where money is scarce and life is not easy. Filled with beautifully drawn characters that will make you laugh as much as cry, this Australian classic will take you straight back to the colourful slums of Sydney with...
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  • When the Wind Changed
    A fresh new edition of a timeless classicAges: 4+ Josh is a little boy who likes to make faces. He practises his scary faces every day. If only Josh had listened when his father told him what would happen when the wind changed!Ages 4+
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  • Playing Beatie Bow
    Pre-order
    Playing Beatie Bow
    The captivating tale of time travel and adventure as a beautiful clothbound hardback, part of the Penguin Modern Australian Classics series. It's Beatie Bow - risen from the dead! The game is called Beatie Bow and the children play it for the thrill of scaring themselves. But when Abigail is drawn in, the game is quickly transformed into an extraordinary,...
    By Ruth Park
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    Out 8 Sep 2026

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