Cirrus@Austlit

'Worry Warts tells the story of 11 year old Keith Shipley and his attempts to cheer up his "misery guts" parents.

'Keith paints his parents' car "hot sunflower and tropical parrot" to cheer them up. Then he discovers what's really making his parents miserable - their lack of money. So Keith decides to take matters into his own hands.

'With the help of his best friend Tracy, Keith learns that there's money to be made out in the opal fields in central Australia. Keith runs away to make a fortune for his parents. Along the way he meets a colourful cast of characters. One of them, Curly, from the General Store, strikes a deal with Keith; Curly will give him use of his opal mine for 24 hours if Keith paints Curly's store. Keith is desperate to find opals, so with Tracy following him, together they go down Curly's mine.

'In the darkened gloom of the dangerous opal mine Keith finally understands that there is only so much he can do about his parents' happiness and that sometimes change is inevitable.'

Source: Monkey Baa's website, http://monkeybaa.com.au/worry-warts.html
Sighted: 28/05/2009