The Dragon’s Treasure (Mark Greenwood, Fremantle)

Buried treasure? Check. Old shipwrecks? Check. Mark Greenwood’s latest nonfiction book, The Dragon’s Treasure, begins his new History Hunter series and pulls together historical evidence to tell the story of the Gilt Dragon, a Dutch East India Company sailing ship that crashed onto a West Australian reef in 1656. There its secrets lay until, in 1931, holidaying children found some coins in the sand. Greenwood is no stranger to the children’s history genre, having penned many titles, including the History Mysteries series and collaborations with illustrators Frané Lessac (Our Country: Where history happened) and Terry Denton. The language is well targeted (albeit with a rich vocabulary) to readers aged 9+, and the characterisation helps bring the story to life. Changes in pace, such as when the shipwreck occurs, nicely build dramatic tension. Despite the book’s many strengths, I have to question whether young readers will pick it up in the age of Google. Its value lies in Greenwood’s first bringing this topic to a reader’s attention—and in his skilled synthesising of all the sundry historical strands into one contained and fluent narrative that is accessible and entertaining. The black-and-white images help to enliven the story, but an even greater use of images would have been useful fodder for curious imaginations. The mystery surrounding the fate of the 68 European survivors left on shore in 1656 is fascinating and broadens this title’s appeal to older (even adult) readers interested in historical mysteries.

Books+Publishing reviewer: Joanne Shiells is a Melbourne English teacher and former editor of Books+Publishing. Books+Publishing is Australia’s number-one source of pre-publication book reviews.

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