- Hardcover: 464 pages
- Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC; First Edition edition (6 May 2008)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0747595968
- ISBN-13: 978-0747595960
- Product Dimensions: 22 x 14.2 x 4.4 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 244,747 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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More About the Author
Product Description
The Sunday Times, May 18th, 2008
Plenty of quirky, idyllic tales of eccentric relatives and winsome innocence.
Review
'Both a wonderful memoir of an exotic childhood and a striking portrait of one of the world's most beguiling countries. A gem of a book.' Alexander McCall Smith 'Elegant, evocative, poignant ... beautifully written.' Michela Wrong Robyn Scott writes vividly about her extraordinary childhood ... I felt almost as if I'd shared her adventures - and wished I had.' Samantha Weinberg 'Captivating, candid and utterly fresh, TWENTY CHICKENS FOR A SADDLE is a story of childhood, tenderness and joy' Aminatta Forna
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
26 of 27 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Arundel Books is an Independent Bookstore in Seattle. Our staff believes that this is the BEST Non-Fiction Debut of 2008.
Robyn Scott's Twenty Chickens for a Saddle is an astonishing debut. Set in Botswana, it is her account of growing up with one of the most wonderfully mad families you are likely to meet, whether in real life or between the covers of a book.
She has a remarkable ear for language, and a descriptive prose style that brings the bush country of Botswana, with all its flora, fauna, and people, to magically madcap life. Twenty Chickens for a Saddle brings to mind such authors as James Herriot and Augusten Burroughs.
This is our pick as the best non-fiction debut for 2008. It is insightful, inspiring, and heartwarming. Her parents, grandparents, siblings, neighbors, and the countryside surrounding them, are truly brought to life. Given Miss Scott's parents decidedly non-traditional approach to child rearing, this book will offer sustenance to parents of home schoolers everywhere.
Whether you like to read about travel, foreign cultures and peoples, families, education, natural history, biographies, accounts of coming-of-age, Africa, science, Horatio Algeresque narratives, women's studies, health and medicine, flying... or just like a darned good book, Twenty Chickens for a Saddle is for you.
If this truly remarkable book is any indication, Miss Scott has an astonishing career ahead of her, and we are looking forward to her future efforts. Make no mistake, Twenty Chickens for a Saddle stands as an equal with the very best non-fiction published by any author in 2008.
Robyn Scott's Twenty Chickens for a Saddle is an astonishing debut. Set in Botswana, it is her account of growing up with one of the most wonderfully mad families you are likely to meet, whether in real life or between the covers of a book.
She has a remarkable ear for language, and a descriptive prose style that brings the bush country of Botswana, with all its flora, fauna, and people, to magically madcap life. Twenty Chickens for a Saddle brings to mind such authors as James Herriot and Augusten Burroughs.
This is our pick as the best non-fiction debut for 2008. It is insightful, inspiring, and heartwarming. Her parents, grandparents, siblings, neighbors, and the countryside surrounding them, are truly brought to life. Given Miss Scott's parents decidedly non-traditional approach to child rearing, this book will offer sustenance to parents of home schoolers everywhere.
Whether you like to read about travel, foreign cultures and peoples, families, education, natural history, biographies, accounts of coming-of-age, Africa, science, Horatio Algeresque narratives, women's studies, health and medicine, flying... or just like a darned good book, Twenty Chickens for a Saddle is for you.
If this truly remarkable book is any indication, Miss Scott has an astonishing career ahead of her, and we are looking forward to her future efforts. Make no mistake, Twenty Chickens for a Saddle stands as an equal with the very best non-fiction published by any author in 2008.
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Robyn Scott describes the members of her eccentric family so vividly, and with such warmth, that by the end of the book I felt bereft at having to say goodbye to them. Her descriptions of the Botswana landscape and her childhood adventures within it are beautifully drawn and often very funny. A fascinating picture of both modern Botswana and some fearlessly unconventional parenting. Warm-hearted and generous, a breath of fresh air in these timid times.
24 of 25 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I read a review of this in Conde Nast Traveller by Giles Foden describing it as "My Family and Other Animals - in Africa" and, having been a fan of Durrell since I was a teenager, I felt compelled to see if he was right.
So, granted, there's not so much about about animals in a pin-them-to-a-board-and-count-their-abdomens kind of way, but the way Robyn Scott brings to life the wildlife and landscapes of Botswana, where she grew up as a child, is very much in the spirit of Durrell's books. Hers is also an eccentric family - a flying doctor father, a homeschooling mother, an adrenaline-addicted brother and animal-obsessed sister, and, making regular cameo appearances throughout, her four wonderful grandparents, (in particular her grandfather Ivor who, with his crazy schemes, questionable flying skills and longstanding feuds, makes for many laugh-out-loud moments.) In the midst of it all is Robyn, the narrator, an oasis of calm who desperately wants to be a normal child from a normal family.
The book's real triumph is Robyn's ability to show us the warmer, more human side of Africa that we so seldom get the chance to read about. It's a really life-affirming and big-hearted book, like a love-letter to Botswana, it colourful inhabitants and beautiful landscapes.
So, granted, there's not so much about about animals in a pin-them-to-a-board-and-count-their-abdomens kind of way, but the way Robyn Scott brings to life the wildlife and landscapes of Botswana, where she grew up as a child, is very much in the spirit of Durrell's books. Hers is also an eccentric family - a flying doctor father, a homeschooling mother, an adrenaline-addicted brother and animal-obsessed sister, and, making regular cameo appearances throughout, her four wonderful grandparents, (in particular her grandfather Ivor who, with his crazy schemes, questionable flying skills and longstanding feuds, makes for many laugh-out-loud moments.) In the midst of it all is Robyn, the narrator, an oasis of calm who desperately wants to be a normal child from a normal family.
The book's real triumph is Robyn's ability to show us the warmer, more human side of Africa that we so seldom get the chance to read about. It's a really life-affirming and big-hearted book, like a love-letter to Botswana, it colourful inhabitants and beautiful landscapes.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
An extraordinarily memorable book!
I borrowed this book from my local Library, just on chance. The paperback version that I had was in rather tiny print, and hence difficult to read except in bright light. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Grandpère Christophe
an insiders memoirs of living in Botswana
very enjoyable tale of growing up in Botswana amongst environmentally aware parents with strong views on education and life. Read more
Published 2 months ago by annemp
All good things come to an end but the journey is great fun
This is a well written and recent memoir about growing up in Botswana. The author was born in New Zealand in 1981 and moved with her parents brother and sister to Botswana where... Read more
Published 6 months ago by Noel
An Account of Life in Botswana full of Insight and Action
I read this book prior to a visit to Botswana earlier this month and have reread it since my return. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Joan White
Nostalgic Memories
I used to live in Phikwe, earlier and partly during the time this book was written. Reading it just transported me back to the heat and orange dirt and reminded me of the... Read more
Published 10 months ago by Pinkbaglady
One of the best African 'growing up' biographies
Robyn Scott's debut book is a great start - a description of growing up 'on the fringe', with two very unconventional parents and two siblings in the midst of Botswana's... Read more
Published 12 months ago by AK
not a childrens book
I searched for childrens books that I thought my 12 yr old would enjoy, this title came up with the search but it is definately not a childrens book, very disappointing
Published 17 months ago by Y. Ballantine
Enchanting evocation of a Botswana childhood
I loved this book and have enjoyed passing it on to friends, all of whom have also enjoyed it immensely. Read more
Published 23 months ago by Karoo Karoo
A wonderful read!
The story of Robyn's eccentric and often hilariously eventful childhood in Africa weaves its way through the hot, dry landscape of Botswana, and has you wishing your family were as... Read more
Published 24 months ago by Literature Lady
Twenty Chickens for a Saddle
Gosh what a wonderful childhood. A lovely book from the first to the last page. I was sad when I had finished the book.
Published on 29 April 2010 by Ms. K. A. Howard-williams
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