Getting Started
Overview
When their statues come to life,
Matthew Flinders and his cat, Trim, remember their adventures at sea together
and apart. Matthew's father had wanted him to be a doctor but Matthew loved the
book Robinson Crusoe and wanted to have adventures on the sea
discovering new lands. He joined the navy and sailed to Botany Bay, where
he met George Bass and his boat, the Tom Thumb. They explored rivers and
Lake Illawarra, then discovered that Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania) was an
island, separated from the mainland Australia by a strait – Bass Strait.
Matthew Flinders wanted to fill in the gaps in Captain
Cook's map. He circumnavigated Australia. He was caught by the French on
his way back to England to see his wife, Ann. He was imprisoned in Mauritius and he didn't see Trim again after that. In this book, Trim tells Matthew how he
took the letter that was meant to free him all the way to France, to Napoleon. Even though Napoleon said that Matthew should be freed, he was kept prisoner
for another three years. He did finally get to sail home, see Ann and write his
book, A Voyage to Terra Australis.
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Author profile
Cassandra Golds was born in Sydney and grew up reading
Hans Christian Andersen, C.S. Lewis and Nicholas Stuart Gray over and over
again - and writing her own stories as soon as she could hold a pen. Her first
book, Michael and the Secret War, was accepted for publication when she
was nineteen years old, and she has been writing a monthly cartoon serial,
illustrated by Stephen Axelsen, for the New South Wales School Magazine for
so many years now that she has become quite good at it...
She wrote The Mostly True Story of Matthew and Trim after
seeing the bronze statue of Trim on the windowsill of the Mitchell Library in Sydney and thinking, for just a moment, that it was real.
Source: Penguin Books (used with permission)
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Illustrator profile
Stephen Axelsen was a highly decorated cub scout with
plenty of badges. One of those was for map reading and finding his way around
in the bush. He always thought he was good at this, until he got lost, map in
hand, and had to spend a cold night out with his young son. So he wonders how
Matthew Flinders found his way around with no maps at all, in leaky boats with
bad food and his teeth falling out and no mobile phone. Stephen is in awe of
Matthew Flinders' achievements and found it a privilege and a pleasure to draw
him and his remarkable cat. He enjoyed the dodo too.
Source: Penguin Books (used with permission)
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Useful websites
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Focus questions
Before reading the book
- What do you think the title means?
- Who might Matthew and Trim be?
- What might happen in this 'most exciting cartoon adventure
in history'?
- How have materials like rope been used on the cover?
- Why is the cover background red?
During and after reading the book
- What is Matthew Flinders famous for? How did he achieve
this?
- How was the coast of Australia mapped?
- Why would not wearing a bonnet on the ship stop Ann
Flinders from being allowed to sail?
- How was Matthew Flinders treated unfairly?
- How did war interrupt Flinders' return home?
- Why was the dodo part of the story?
- Which parts of the story are true? Which parts aren't
true?
- How is this book history?
- What was explored and mapped in the book? What is still to
be explored and mapped?
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Activities
Responding to text
Occupations
Individuals
Matthew Flinders' father wanted him to be a
doctor. But Matthew wanted to have adventures at sea and map new places, so he
joined the navy. What jobs would you like to do? Write down five jobs you would
like to have. Draw your favourite one.
Class
Run a class survey of the jobs people would
like. Make a class graph of what you discover. What are the most popular jobs?
Missing poster
Small groups
Matthew Flinders went missing. Where was he? Make a
missing person poster. Include a picture of Matthew Flinders (not based on a
cartoon, based on your research), a description of him, where he was last known
to be and where he might be going.
Robinson Crusoe and favourite books
Class
Matthew Flinders loved the book Robinson
Crusoe. Read some or all of this in an abridged form.
Beyond the classroom
Interview your family and people you know about
their favourite children's books. Also ask them why they are favourites and how
they changed their lives. Find out what some of these books look like (the
people may have a copy, look in the library or bookshops, or do a supervised
internet search). Select one book each. Make a one-page ad for the book and put
these into a class book.
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Responding to images
Mapping
Small groups
There are maps on the endpapers of the book.Places
are marked on these maps, but Matthew Flinders' routes are not marked. On
similar maps, mark in the routes. (The small maps throughout the book will be
helpful as well.)
Design
Small groups
Look at the frames and shapes the illustrator has used to
place the pictures on the pages. In your groups, select a page that you think
has been put together very well. Also think about how symmetry is used.
On a large piece of paper (or using Word on the computer), sketch the frames
and shapes that have been used. Don't include the pictures or writing. Tell the
other groups what your group considers to be good design about the page you
have selected. Explain using your diagrams.
Frame-breaking
Individuals
There are some places in the book where the pictures go
outside of the frames. A recurring example is at the beginning of each
chapter when Trim's telescope 'breaks the frame' by poking outside the border.
Find other examples of frame-breaking, such as the grasshopper. Why do you
think these illustrations have been selected to go outside the frames? Draw a cartoon
picture with a part of the picture breaking the frame. Firstly think about what
part of the picture gains meaning by breaking the frame.
Humour
Individuals
There is humour in the illustrations, such as the hills
hoist (washing line) on Wreck Reef. Find other examples of humour, share them,
and write slogans for several of them.
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Events of the past
Tom Thumb
Class
Look at the pictures in the book of the boat Tom Thumb
or the replica of Tom Thumb II at www.australianheritagefleet.com.au/SmlBt/RepBoat.html.
Measure the length of the boat, and draw the size of the boat using chalk in an
appropriate part of the playground. Then, using cardboard boxes, make a half-
or full-size model of the boat for the classroom or a public area in the school,
such as the library. The sail could be made of calico, a sheet or canvas.
Include barrels for water, if possible.
Explorations and discoveries
Small groups
Complete a KWL Chart about Matthew Flinders'
explorations and discoveries. Continue to complete this chart during the other
activities as well. Use the book and other sources such as the websites listed in
GETTING STARTED, including www.sl.nsw.gov.au/flinders
(the Matthew Flinders collection at the State Library of NSW - it includes
electronic archives such as 'Realia').
Lift the flap timeline
Individuals
Draw a timeline of the important events in Matthew
Flinders' life on a long strip of paper or cardboard. You will be able to find
most of the information from the book, but use at least one other reputable
source. Choose three events to turn into a 'lift the flap'. Write the date
on top of the flap and draw, as well as write, the event underneath.
Mrs Flinders' bonnet
Class
Ann Flinders, Matthew's wife, also wanted to go exploring
on the sea. She was aboard ship ready to sail with her husband and the crew.
What happened? Why do you think this happened? Would this happen now? Why or
why not? Do you agree with the Lords of the Admiralty? Put the Lords, Ann,
Matthew Flinders and Trim in the hot seat.
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Language of history
Latitude and longitude
Small groups
We mainly hear and read words like 'navigation',
'latitude' and 'longitude' in connection with explorers in history, as well as
in the subject of geography. Matthew Flinders was very interested in
mathematics, navigation and mapping. It says in the book, 'I was doing the work
I loved best – calculating latitude and longitude... and drawing my map...'
Small groups
Read about latitude and longitude at www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions/lessons/01/gk2/longlat.html.
Use the map of the world. Then play the interactive game using latitude and
longitude to crack the code and find out where the thieves are taking the loot,
at www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions/activities/01/crackcode.html.
Individuals
Use atlases, maps or other resources to find the
latitude and longitude of some of the places Matthew Flinders went to.
Changing place names
Small groups
Some of the places that Matthew
Flinders went to have had their names changed since he was there. Find some of
these, such as Terra Australis, and make a Retrieval Chart of them with
their current names. Also write why you think the names have changed.
Changing words
Small groups
Find words from the book that are not used much
now, such as 'loblolly'. What did these words mean in the past? Which words
have replaced them?
Class
Choose some of the old-fashioned words from the
book and play charades, with other small groups from the class guessing what
your words are.
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