Storm Boy (novel)
1963 novel by Colin Thiele
Storm Boy is a 1964 Australian children's novel written by Colin Thiele, about a boy and his pelican. The story, set in the Coorong region of South Australia, on Ngarrindjeri country, focuses on the relationships the boy has with his father, Hide-Away Tom, one of three pelicans he raised from chicks, and an Australian Aboriginal man called Fingerbone Bill.
The story has been dramatised several times. The 1976 film adaptation Storm Boy won the Jury and Best Film prizes at the 1977 AFI Awards.
Plot summary
Storm Boy likes to wander alone along the fierce deserted coast among the dunes that face out into the Southern Ocean. After a pelican mother is shot, Storm Boy rescues three baby pelicans and nurses them back to health. He names them Mr Proud, Mr Ponder and Mr Percival. After he releases them, his favourite, Mr Percival, returns. The story then concentrates on the conflict between Storm Boy's lifestyle, the externally imposed requirement for him to attend a school, the fate of the pelican, and the relationship of the boy, and later his father, with Fingerbone Bill.
Adaptations
The 1976 film adaptation Storm Boy won both the Jury Prize and Best Film at the 1977 Australian Film Institute Awards.
The public source identifies “Storm Boy (novel)” as 1963 novel by Colin Thiele. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Storm, novel and Colin.
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Attribution, date and provenance are strongest when supported by the original work, a catalogue record and documented transmission. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 9, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7620110. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1964, 1976 and 1977.
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This entry incorporates text from “Storm Boy (novel)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.