Customer Reviews

Twenty Chickens for a Saddle: The Story of an African Childhood

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

After finishing this book I was left with a rather strange feeling of nostalgia for someone else's childhood. In part I think that's a testament to the quality of the writing, as the setting of rural Botswana, and the many colourful characters encountered in the book, are rendered with a vividness and eye for detail such that you almost feel like you've been there.

The other aspect was a recognition that the type of childhood described in the book is all too rare. What kid wouldn't want to grow up in Africa being free to ride horses through the bush, keep snakes and monkeys as pets, and swim in rivers with crocodiles?

The darker side of life in southern Africa is referred to as well, with entrenched racism, the looming economic collapse in Zimbabwe and the spectre of the AIDS epidemic described in anecdotes that bring home the personal impact of these issues far more effectively than statistics and news reports can.

Overall this book serves as a great memoir of a unique childhood and a window into an Africa that many never get to see.

I read Robyn Scott's book when it first appeared in hardback and have since recommended it and given it as a gift to many. I still think about her energetic, idealistic, idiosyncratic parents and siblings and the marvelous freedom they had to follow their dreams in Botswana. Scott not only draws unforgettable characters, she also portrays the beauty and promise of one of the true democracies of Africa with great affection, humor, and insight. Her memoir has both the advantage of looking back with vivid memories from a relatively young age, and the maturity to appeal to all age readers. I think this is a magical read and plan to reread it.
By the way, there is a new mystery series set in Botswana by Michael Stanley (two books so far) that are great fun and also have a wonderful sense of place.

I loved reading this amusing book on an intersting childhood growing up in a changing Africa. Twenty Chickens for a Saddle is delightfully descriptive and a well written memoir of life in Botswana in the 1990s. I'd recommend this book to anyone who enjoys travel and cultural literature.

Robyn has a beautiful descriptive style, painting such vivid pictures that I almost feel I've been to Africa. Some parts have an almost lyrical beauty, while others are deeply depressing or thigh-slapping hysterical. Her parents, brother, sister, and grandparents -- especially the absolute character of Grandpa Ivor -- are so intriguing you want each of them to have a book of their own by the end. I absolutely recommend this book.

If you enjoy Alexander McCall Smith's books based in Botswana, you will probably enjoy this book very much. It tells of a young girl growing up in a rather eccentric family in Botswana. Her father is a doctor who works in a number of small clinics, and her mother chooses to home-school, albeit in a very unconventional fashion, her three children. Their adventures (even when they weren't looking for adventure) will keep you laughing. I look forward to the next novel by this author!

I loved this book. I am so excited to see that there is another writer on a par with Alexandra Fuller. I enjoyed Robyn's descriptions of her life growing up in Botswana - she is incredibly funny. I especially liked her horseback adventures and her description of the ticks on her horse as being the "welcoming committee" was hilarious. Each time I picked up the book, I felt transported back to my own African childhood. I really respect the way the author writes without ego or judgement. I will definitely buy this book on audio CD and wait in anticipation for her next book.

A really fascinating account of a young family's life in out-country Botswana. Things seem second nature there that would be considered hair-raising in the US. I was loaned the book, thought it would be dull, but was riveted by the excellent writing and story. So I bought my own book.

I knew that Botswana was more democratic and stable than many African countries, but this memoir gives a personal view of the difference between Botswana and South Africa. The racial and economic issues are brought up subtly. The family dynamics kept my interest, but the circumstances of the writing and the perspective of a child left the parents' interactions somewhat incomplete

None of us will ever see all of the world. Books take us to some places we'll never get to. Robyn Scott has done that in a small way for me. Her talent brings us into her family and lets us watch it develop.

Much of what we learn comes by just following our interests. Her mother encouraged that for Robyn and her sister and brother. It was a magical childhood.