The (True) Adventures of Mudpoo
lives in the sleepy hillside village of Bethanga on small hobby farm with his wife Narelle and daughter Isabella. They share their home with a happy cluster of farmyard animals including: horses, chickens, an alpaca, sheep, goat, cat and dog. Pete has performed as a bush poet and a musician in the Albury-Wodonga area for over thirty years. He is an award winning songwriter/poet and is currently teaching Creative Music at Belvoir Special School. Pete also visits schools as a performer where he shares his enthusiastic, creative skills with teachers, parents and students!Â
s astute observation of life in Australia  is recorded in his many detailed drawings and paintings. His unique artwork adorns buildings, homes and schools across Australia. His vast travels and life experiences often allow him to create his artwork from memory alone. He spent six months getting to know all of the Mudpoo characters and stories (whilst vine pruning with Captain Pete) and amazingly completed all  of his illustrations without seeing a word of the text!Â
For Isabella, Logan, Narelle, Sam and Todd
Pete would like to thank: Narelle for her beautiful patience and hugs;  Leon who found the enthusiasm and inspiration to draw the beautifully  detailed pictures; Sam and Todd for their natural curiosity and passion  that inspired Captain Pete; Elaine at Table Top Public School for her  encouragement; BT for his assistance; Heinz and Eleonore for their love and support; and the crew of the Princess II who introduced us to humpback whales at Hervey Bay, inspiring a day we will never forget.Â
The (true) Adventures of Mudpoo
Written by Peter Klein
Illustrated by Leon de Montignie
Published by JoJo Publishing
âYarra's Edge'
2203/80 Lorimer Street
Docklands VIC 3008
Australia
Email:
[email protected]
or visit
www.jojopublishing.com
© 2011 JoJo Publishing
No part of this printed or video publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electrical, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the publisher and copyright owner:
JoJo Publishing
National Library of Australia
Cataloguing-in-Publication data
Klein, Peter.
The (true) adventures of Mudpoo / Peter Klein ; illustrator, Â Leon deMontignie. Edited by Riima DaherÂ
  9780987410450 (ePub).
For primary school age.
W
elcome to the true adventures of Mudpoo. Every story I'm about to tell you mostly, really happened. Captain Pete and Gus the talking Kombi van are real. Mudpoo is a real person and Harry is a real dog. Liz loves whales and she is a  real person too.Â
Mudpoo and Harry grew up together in a happy home in the very sleepy hillside town of Bethanga. They loved to build cubbies and often talked about going on exciting adventures. Captain Pete told them stories about the exciting adventures he'd had.Â
One day they would all go on an adventure together.Â
Mudpoo and Harry played exciting adventure games in the trees and muddy puddles in the garden. They would pretend that they were exploring Australia in their backyard. It was great fun.Â
Sometimes Mudpoo and Harry would get into trouble, especially if they walked into the house with mud on their feet. “Mudpoo and Harry!” Captain Pete would say, “Did you leave muddy footprints on the carpet?”
They were so busy playing adventures that sometimes they forgot to wipe  their feet!Â
One day a long time ago, Captain Pete found Gus, the talking Kombi van. He was like a little house on wheels.Â
On the They packed: sleeping bags, a billy, real tea, flour (to make damper), an esky filled with food, some spare clothes, a tent, a torch and some spare batteries, a cooking pot, a gas stove, lots of cans of Irish stew and potatoes, some plates, knives, forks and spoons, lots of fruit, some towels, soap, bathers, a fishing rod, a road map of Australia and their toothbrushes.
When they left home they were so happy they sang Christmas carols (and it wasn't even Christmas!). Captain Pete decided that they could spend four weeks exploring the East Coast of Australia.
He told Mudpoo and Harry that if Gus was strong enough, they might make it all the way to Queensland and if they were really lucky, they might see a humpback whale. Mudpoo and Harry had heard that whales could sing and they were very excited. They had so many real, unexpected adventures I could tell you about . . .
Hmmm . . .
Perhaps it would be better if I let
the book tell you the stories.
Happy reading!
Signed,
T
hey were getting very close.
Mudpoo and Harry knew the best roller coaster was in Queensland. The Gold Coast was full of adventure parks. When they arrived in Queensland everyone cheered. When Gus stopped at Sea World Adventure Park, they were ready to have fun. Everyone patted Gus.
“Well done, you made it here,” they said.
Gus beamed and felt proud.
“Captain Pete and I have been on the roller coaster before,” said Harry. “It's scary; at first it goes slow, then it goes up, up, up and then, wham, down as fast as a rocket.”
Harry's face lit up as he tried to tell Mudpoo there was no need to be nervous. 