# The Ice Is Coming > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/The_Ice_Is_Coming > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/The_Ice_Is_Coming.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ice_Is_Coming > Source revision: 1333179654 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) 1977 novel by Patricia Wrightson The Ice is Coming Author Patricia Wrightson Language English Series The Book of Wirrun Genre Children's fiction Publisher Hutchinson Publication date 1977 Publication place Australia Media type Print Pages 222 pp ISBN 009129150X Preceded by - Followed by The Dark Bright Water ***The Ice is Coming*** (1977) is a novel for children by Australian author [Patricia Wrightson](/source/Patricia_Wrightson).[1] It was originally published in Australia by Hutchinson. This novel is the first in the author's *The Book of Wirrun* series for young readers.[2] It was followed by *The Dark Bright Water* (1978) and *Behind the Wind* (1981). It won the [Children's Book of the Year Award: Older Readers](/source/Children's_Book_of_the_Year_Award%3A_Older_Readers) in 1978.[3] ## Plot outline A city-bred Aboriginal boy, Wirrun, comes to the conclusion that the Ninya, central Australian ice-spirits, are sweeping across northern Australia. It appears their aim is to cover the whole of the Australian continent, defeating the oldest Nargun, and initiating another ice-age. Accompanied by Mimi, and aided by a talisman of the Aboriginal people, Wirrun sets off to defeat the Ninya. ## Critical reception In *The Canberra Times* reviewer Malcolm Pettigrove commented that "In moving from the simpler to the more complex creatures, and in multiplying their number as she does in this book, Mrs Wrightson strengthens her mythology so as to make it virtually unassailable."[4] Writing about Wrightson's books for children, critic Walter McVitty noted that the book can "be read as an adventure story, in the high-fantasy tradition, about a hero's race to thwart the malevolent forces."[5] Ernest Hogan reviewed *The Ice Is Coming* for *[Different Worlds](/source/Different_Worlds)* magazine and stated that "Patricia Wrightson has opened up a different world for us. Her books are a valuable introduction to the mythology of Aboriginal Australia."[6] ## See also - [1977 in Australian literature](/source/1977_in_Australian_literature) ## References 1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** ["*The Ice is Coming* by Patricia Wrightson"](https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/2225962). National Library of Australia. Retrieved 16 December 2024. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** ["*The Book of Wirrun* series by Patricia Wrightson"](https://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/C376061). Austlit. Retrieved 16 December 2024. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-cbca1978_3-0)** [""CBCA Awards Judges' Report 1978""](https://cbca.blob.core.windows.net/media/Default/Documents/Book%20of%20the%20Year/1978/CBCA_JudgesReport_1978.pdf) (PDF). CBCA. Retrieved 20 April 2024. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** [""An Unassailable Mythology""](http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article110895876). *Canberra Times*. The Canberra Times, 8 July 1978, p13. 8 July 1978. Retrieved 16 December 2024. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** *Innocence & Experience: Essays on Contemporary Australian Children's Writers* by Walter McVitty, Nelson, 1981, p121 1. **[^](#cite_ref-dw20_6-0)** Hogan, Ernest (March 1982). "Books & Role-Playing". *[Different Worlds](/source/Different_Worlds)* (20): 41. v t e Children's Book of the Year Award for Older Readers 1946–1949 The Story of Karrawingi the Emu by Leslie Rees (1946) Shackleton's Argonauts: A Saga of the Antarctic Icepacks by Frank Hurley (1948) 1950–1959 Whalers of the Midnight Sun by Alan Villiers (1950) Verity of Sydney Town by Ruth C. Williams (1951) The Australia Book by Eve Pownall (1952) Aircraft of Today and Tomorrow by James H. Martin & W. D. Martin (1953) Good Luck to the Rider by Joan Phipson (1953) Australian Legendary Tales by K. Langloh Parker (1954) The First Walkabout by Norman B. Tindale and Harold Arthur Lindsay (1955) The Crooked Snake by Patricia Wrightson (1956) The Boomerang Book of Legendary Tales edited by Enid Moodie Heddle (1957) Tiger in the Bush by Nan Chauncy (1958) Devil's Hill by Nan Chauncy (1959) Sea Menace by John Gunn (1959) 1960–1969 All the Proud Tribesmen by Kylie Tennant (1960) Tangara by Nan Chauncy (1961) The Racketty Street Gang by L. H. Evers (1962) Rafferty Rides a Winner by Joan Woodberry (1962) The Family Conspiracy by Joan Phipson (1963) The Green Laurel by Eleanor Spence (1964) Pastures of the Blue Crane by H. F. Brinsmead (1965) Ash Road by Ivan Southall (1966) The Min-Min by Mavis Thorpe Clark (1967) To the Wild Sky by Ivan Southall (1968) When Jays Fly to Barbmo by Margaret Balderson (1969) 1970–1979 Uhu by Annette Macarthur-Onslow (1970) Bread and Honey by Ivan Southall (1971) Longtime Passing by H. F. Brinsmead (1972) Family at the Lookout by Noreen Shelley (1973) The Nargun and the Stars by Patricia Wrightson (1974) Fly West by Ivan Southall (1976) The October Child by Eleanor Spence (1977) The Ice Is Coming by Patricia Wrightson (1978) The Plum-Rain Scroll by Ruth Manley (1979) 1980–1989 Displaced Person by Lee Harding (1980) Playing Beatie Bow by Ruth Park (1981) The Valley Between by Colin Thiele (1982) Master of the Grove by Victor Kelleher (1983) A Little Fear by Patricia Wrightson (1984) The True Story of Lilli Stubeck by James Aldridge (1985) The Green Wind by Thurley Fowler (1986) All We Know by Simon French (1987) So Much to Tell You by John Marsden (1988) Beyond the Labyrinth by Gillian Rubinstein (1989) 1990–1999 Came Back to Show You I Could Fly by Robin Klein (1990) Strange Objects by Gary Crew (1991) The House Guest by Eleanor Nilsson (1992) Looking for Alibrandi by Melina Marchetta (1993) The Gathering by Isobelle Carmody (1994) Angel's Gate by Gary Crew (1995) Foxspell by Gillian Rubinstein (1995) Pagan's Vows by Catherine Jinks (1996) A Bridge to Wiseman's Cove by James Moloney (1997) Eye to Eye by Catherine Jinks (1998) Deadly, Unna? by Phillip Gwynne (1999) 2000–2009 48 Shades of Brown by Nick Earls (2000) Wolf on the Fold by Judith Clarke (2001) Forest by Sonya Hartnett (2002) The Messenger by Markus Zusak (2003) Saving Francesca by Melina Marchetta (2004) The Running Man by Michael Gerard Bauer (2005) The Story of Tom Brennan by J. C. Burke (2006) Red Spikes by Margo Lanagan (2007) The Ghost's Child by Sonya Hartnett (2008) Tales from Outer Suburbia by Shaun Tan (2009) 2010–2019 Jarvis 24 by David Metzenthen (2010) The Midnight Zoo by Sonya Hartnett (2011) The Dead I Know by Scot Gardner (2012) Sea Hearts by Margo Lanagan (2013) Wildlife by Fiona Wood (2014) The Protected by Claire Zorn (2015) Cloudwish by Fiona Wood (2016) One Would Think The Deep by Claire Zorn (2017) Take Three Girls by Cath Crowley, Fiona Wood and Simmone Howell (2018) Between Us by Clare Atkins (2019) 2020–present This is How We Change the Ending by Vikki Wakefield (2020) The End of the World Is Bigger than Love by Davina Bell (2021) Tiger Daughter by Rebecca Lim (2022) Neverlanders by Tom Taylor (2023) Grace Notes by Karen Comer (2024) I'm Not Really Here by Gary Lonesborough (2025) Picture Book (1955–present) Early Childhood (2001–present) Younger Readers (1982–present) Eve Pownall Award for Information Books (1988–present) --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [The Ice Is Coming](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ice_Is_Coming) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ice_Is_Coming?action=history)). 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