Fearless sons & daughter
By Colin Thompson Illustrated by
Sarah Davis
Book Summary:
Everyone's favourite scaredy-cat bulldog
returns in a brand-new adventure!
When we last saw Fearless, he had fallen
head over paws for the beautiful Primrose.
Now, they've got puppies to care for, and
Fearless must figure out what it means to be a
father.
Fearless warns his children about the
dangers lurking around every corner - things
like vacuum cleaners and handbags - but
when Primrose is in trouble, will Fearless put
aside his fears or will it be brave pup Eric to
the rescue?
ISBN: 9780733330872
E-ISBN: 9781743099445
Another charming and hilarious tale about
Fearless the bulldog, from award-winning
duo Colin Thompson and Sarah Davis
Notes by Rebekah Stanton
Curriculum Areas and Key Learning
Outcomes:
English, Visual Arts, Music, Science and
Technology, HSIE
Appropriate Ages: 2+
These notes may be reproduced free of charge for use and study within schools but they may not be
reproduced (either in whole or in part) and offered for commercial sale.
Page 1
Contents

Introduction

About the author/illustrator

Study notes on themes and curriculum areas
1. Themes and key discussion points
a) English
b) Visual Arts
c) Music
d) Science and Technology
e) HSIE
2. Curriculum areas and key learning outcomes
ACELT1575 (EN1-7B), ACELT1580 (VAS1.1), ACELT1579 (MUS1.1),
ACELY1664 (STI-5WT), ACELA1444 (CCS1.2)

Bibliography

About the author of the notes
Introduction
Everyone's favourite scaredy-cat bulldog returns in a brand-new adventure!
When we last saw Fearless, he had fallen head over paws for the beautiful
Primrose. Now, they've got puppies to care for, and Fearless must figure out
what it means to be a father.
Fearless warns his children about the dangers lurking around every corner -things like vacuum cleaners and handbags -- but when Primrose is in trouble,
will Fearless put aside his fears or will it be brave pup Eric to the rescue?
Another charming and hilarious tale about Fearless the bulldog, from awardwinning duo Colin Thompson and Sarah Davis.
These notes may be reproduced free of charge for use and study within schools but they may not be
reproduced (either in whole or in part) and offered for commercial sale.
Page 2
About the author/illustrator
Colin Thompson is an internationally renowned author and illustrator who has won
many awards for his words and pictures. In 2007, his book Dust was awarded Honour
Book in the Children's Book Council Awards, and his 2009 picture book Fearless was a
CBCA shortlisted title and a kids’ choice award winner.
Sarah Davis is an award-winning illustrator. In 2009 she won the CBC Crichton
Award for new illustrators, and has gone on to create illustrations for a range of
award-winning books. Sarah lives in Sydney
Author/illustrator inspiration
Colin Thompson: ‘I have owned all sorts of dogs, including several sheep dogs,
whippets, scruffy mongrels and a bull terrier, but the best dog I ever had was my
bulldog, Wallace. He came to live with us when I still lived in England, when he was eight
weeks old, and lived until he was twelve. He had the most wonderful personality and
nature and loved everyone, especially small children. One particular very small boy that
Wallace adored had to sit in a big cardboard box when he came to visit us, so Wallace
couldn’t bother him. Wallace would rest his chin on the box, and if he could have spoken,
he would have been saying, ‘I love you, Matthew.’
Author/illustrator inspiration
Colin Thompson: ‘I have owned all sorts of dogs, including several sheep dogs,
whippets, scruffy mongrels and a bull terrier, but the best dog I ever had was my
bulldog, Wallace. He came to live with us when I still lived in England, when he was eight
weeks old, and lived until he was twelve. He had the most wonderful personality and
nature and loved everyone, especially small children. One particular very small boy that
Wallace adored had to sit in a big cardboard box when he came to visit us, so Wallace
couldn’t bother him. Wallace would rest his chin on the box, and if he could have spoken,
he would have been saying, ‘I love you, Matthew.’
‘As far as I can remember, Wallace was only frightened of two things — large black
handbags and shiny black crash helmets. If he came into the room and either of them
was lying on the floor, he would back away, growling. If the handbag or crash helmet
made a move towards him, as they can do sometimes, he would turn and run.
‘He used to sleep on a big cushion beside our bed and, contrary to popular belief, did not
snore at all. He knew he wasn’t allowed to get up on the bed, so he would just put his
front legs on the doona and then fall asleep with his back feet on the floor.
‘I would love another bulldog, but I think it’s too hot where I live, so I’ve got a whippet
and a hyperactive kelpie-cross puppy, who was dumped at the local rubbish tip.’
These notes may be reproduced free of charge for use and study within schools but they may not be
reproduced (either in whole or in part) and offered for commercial sale.
Page 3
Sarah Davis: ‘Fearless’s personality is what drives the story, so I felt like I had to get to
know him in all his dogginess. I always think it’s a good idea to go to the real world for
inspiration before I start drawing, and I used two main sources for cobbling together my
ideas for the character of Fearless. I relied on memories of the dog I had when I was a
kid, who was very like Fearless in some ways. I also tracked down seven real-life
bulldogs!
‘I took photos of all seven dogs, but didn’t just copy the photos when I was drawing
Fearless. Instead, I used them to get a feel for how bulldogs moved and behaved, and
how their bodies were built. For Fearless’s expressions, I basically imagined what a
human face would look like when it was confused, scared or happy, and then tried to
draw a bulldog face with that human expression, without losing any of its dogginess —
not easy!
‘The pictures needed to be realistic enough for Fearless to feel like a real dog. I didn’t
want him to look like one of those b lld
ar
li hes, with bow legs and big fangs.
But I wanted the illustrations to be a little bit cartoony and not too serious, because
Fearless is such a great character, and the situations he gets into are really funny. So I
drew all the characters from my imagination, to give them that unreal, slightly wacky
look, and occasionally looked at a live model or a photograph to see how a pose should
look.
‘F r the final paintings, I used nice, thick watercolor paper, sketched lightly in pencil
first, then used washes of ink and acrylic paint, and finished it off with Prismacolor
pencils.’
Study notes on themes and curriculum topics:
English
EN1-7B
Identifies how language use in their own writing differs according to their purpose,
audience and subject matter.
Activity
Before you read the book to your students, flip through the pages and ask students to
look at the illustrations and decide what they think the book is about. Ask them to share
their ideas with the person sitting next to them. Do you think this is going to be a book
you will enjoy?
These notes may be reproduced free of charge for use and study within schools but they may not be
reproduced (either in whole or in part) and offered for commercial sale.
Page 4
Show the students the illustrations up close. Ask them to guess how they think they
were made.
Read through the book together.
Discuss how some of the language sounds a bit unusual. Read through it again and ask
students to raise their hands if Fearless or Primrose use tenses and words that are
unusual. Discuss the effect this has on the students' understanding of characters in the
book.
Group Activity
Group the students into pairs. One student pretends to be Fearless or Primrose. Their
partner then interviews them. Challenge your students to be as much like their chosen
character as possible.
Ask students to create their own character and using their imagination, decide how that
character would talk. What words do they use? How do they walk? Students write a
paragraph in the voice of their character.
Visual Arts
VAS1.1
Makes artworks in a particular way about experiences of real and imaginary things.
BOOK WEEK ACTIVITY
‘As people grow up they become sensible.’ What does it mean to become sensible? Do
you think it is a good thing to be sensible? What is the opposite of being sensible? Ask
for ideas from your students. In this instance, what would it mean for Fearless to be
insensible?
Activity
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reproduced (either in whole or in part) and offered for commercial sale.
Page 5
Discuss what each student would like to be when they grow up.
Have students draw a big picture of themselves as a grown-up. Then fold it in half long
ways so that the drawing is facing outwards. On the left-hand side, students colour it in
using oil crayon. On the right side students add embellishments to represent the
opposite of being sensible, using a white candle. Paint the whole page with a wash of ink
and watch the waxed sections show through. These make for a great display.
Music
MUS1.1
Sings, plays and moves to a range of music, demonstrating an awareness of musical
concepts.
Activity
Ask your students to find their heartbeat. What happens to our heartbeats when we
become scared? In the book, Fearless becomes scared of the pond. Ask students to use
their hands to create the sound of a heart beat either by clapping or patting their knees
or stomping their feet. Read the book to the class and as Fearless becomes scared,
students change the pace of the heartbeat to show what fearless is feeling. Using just the
noises they create with their hands, students compose a rhythmic story in groups. They
then perform their composition to the class who describe what they are hearing.
Science and Technology
STI-5WT
Uses a structured design process, everyday tools, materials, equipment and techniques
to produce solutions that respond to identified needs and wants.
Activity
In groups, design and make a pond fence to go around a pond using recycled materials.
Guide students through the designing process. Have them sketch it on paper, plan and
source resources, experiment with glue/tape and after having built the fence, reflect on
its strengths and weaknesses.
These notes may be reproduced free of charge for use and study within schools but they may not be
reproduced (either in whole or in part) and offered for commercial sale.
Page 6
HSIE
CCS1.2
Identifies changes and continuities in their own life and in the local community.
Activity
Discuss how life used to be for Fearless and compare it to how it is now. What are the
similarities? What are the differences? What things stay the same? Now talk about
changes that have happened in your students' lives. Maybe they have a new sibling or
have moved house. Perhaps they have moved bedrooms or schools. Ask them to identify
one big change and draw a picture of what it was like before the change and now after
the change.
Bibliography
Australian and NSW Curriculum
About the Author of these notes
Rebekah Stanton (Bachelor of Education – Primary) is a teacher, an author/illustrator, a
passionate reader and a believer that books are the gateway to growing the imagination.
She is the Creative Director of mybabymoments.com.au and also runs her own book
club. Rebekah is a firm believer that no one is ever too old to be read to. She is married
to Matt and they have a wonderful daughter, Bonnie. Together they have created This is
a Ball, which is the first in the Books that Drive Kids Crazy series.
These notes may be reproduced free of charge for use and study within schools but they may not be
reproduced (either in whole or in part) and offered for commercial sale.
Page 7