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AUSTRALIANA FICTION - AUSTRALIA IN THE LATE 1800s-1900s
Picture Books
Seven Little Australians – Illustrated Edition (Ethel Turner) $4 HB VGC Lovely pictures bring this endearing story alive. 8+ http://www.nannysweb.com.au/ima/book_covers_jpg/8199.jpg
Walking To School (Ethel Turner) $2 PB VGC Australian poet Turner wrote this poem--which has since become a classic --when her five-year-old son started school. A century-old story in verse that follows a young boy through a daunting trek to school. Gouldthorpe's splendid illustrations have a nostalgic turn-of-the-century look and are full of the interplay of light and shadow.4-7 YO http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/t/ethel-turner/walking-to-school.htm
Crooked Mike Of Speewah (Pat Edwards) $2 HB VGC The Speewah lies west of the sunset, where the crows fly backwards, to keep the dust out of their eyes! The author based her story on tales heard from shearers, fencers and swaggies all over Australia. Nobody knows who came up with Crooked Mick or the Speewah myths. Invented to poke fun at the incredibly harsh conditions found in the Australian outback, they are Australia’s own forgotten fairytales! 5-9 YO http://www.crookedmick.com/images/PressKit/CrookedMick_EPK.pdf
Sun On The Stubble (ABC TV) $4 PB EC A specially adapted version for younger children. Tells the story of Bruno Gunther, a 14-year-old boy from a German immigrant family growing up in a small farming community in South Australia during the 1930s. For Bruno, life on the farm creates rich opportunities fro all kinds of adventures, dilemmas and comic mishaps. Full of photographs from the series. 7-11 YO http://www.bookworm.com.au/shop/scditem.asp?ProdID=18407
Mulga Bill’s Bicycle (Banjo Paterson) $5 HBDJ VGC (Ex lib), $3 PB FC (Cover creases) Mulga Bill′s Bicycle′ was written by Banjo Paterson in 1896. It was written at a time when cycling was a relatively new and popular social activity. Cycles were ridden everywhere, including in the outback by shearers and other workers who needed to travel cheaply. It tells the hilarious story of Mulga Bill, who thinks he′s much better at cycling than he turns out to be. A resounding crash sends him back to his original mode of transport - his trusty horse. Kilmeny and Deborah Niland′s delightful illustrations catch the mood and humour of Paterson′s verse with great spirit, and this book has become an enduring classic. 5-9 YO http://www.boomerangbooks.com.au/Mulga-Bills-Bicycle/Kilmeny-Niland/book_9780207172847.htm
Chapter Books & Novels
Longtime Passing (Hesba Brinsmead) $4 HBDJ GC, $3 PB GC The Longtime series, based on the author’s own childhood in the Candlebark Country of the Blue Mountains, tells of the long, and often tragic, history of the mountains - the convict labourers, the struggles of the first settlers - and, of course, about their long Aboriginal past. Go back in time to when the Truelance family built their home in the rainforest, home schooled at the kitchen table, helped in the sawmill and with the turnip crop. Over the years, as the five children grew up, changes came to their property “Longtime.” Motor-lorries replaced bullock teams, a telephone line was put in and one by one the children went ‘down below’ to Sydney to high school. 10+ THE CHILDREN’S BOOK COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA BOOK OF THE YEAR http://cgi.ebay.com.au/HESBA-BRINSMEAD-Longtime-Passing-PB-Blue-Moutains_W0QQitemZ130239197136QQcmdZViewItem?IMSfp=TL080716091a15884
Longtime Dreaming (Hesba Brinsmead) $4 HB EC (Name label on inturn), $4 PB VGC All those readers who so enjoyed Longtime Passing will be delighted to meet their old friends again in this enchanting sequel. The story begins at Longtime at the end of the war to end wars, the end of an era, and narrates the unfolding tale of the children growing and having children of their own, only to return in trouble, or happiness, to their roots. 10+ http://cgi.ebay.com.au/HESBA-BRINSMEAD-Longtime-Dreaming-HBDJ_W0QQitemZ130238663744QQihZ003QQcategoryZ29182QQtcZphotoQQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp1742.m153.l1262
Christmas at Longtime (Hesba Brinsmead) $5 HBDJ VGC (Jacket has a small repair and fluted edges) This beautiful story is of a family Christmas at Longtime in the Blue Mountains at a time when lives were simpler. Christmas at Longtime means family time to nine year old Teddy. It means Dad always forgetting to buy Christmas presents; puddings to prepare, almonds to skin, carols to sing, and no more lessons until next year. It is truly a much loved Australian classic! 10+ http://ohpeacefulday.blogspot.com/2009/12/life-on-holidays.html
All Fall Down (Susan Geason) $4 PB EC (Ex lib) Set in 1900, this is both a gripping adventure and a fascinating glimpse of life in Sydney at the turn of the last century. Fourteen-year-old Christabel McManus is bored and lonely. Since the death of her mother, her father has thrown himself into his work, and she has only her governess and the cook for company. When a servant’s eight-year-old son is kidnapped, Christabel impetuously decided to rescue him—by dressing as a boy and heading into the squalid and crime-ridden streets of The Rocks. What begins as a game takes a terrifying turn, as Christabel discovers that the notoriously violent gangs that infest the slums are not the only threat; an outbreak of the deadly bubonic plague is imminent. And when Christabel, too, is kidnapped, the game becomes very dangerous indeed. 10+ http://www.littleharebooks.com/schoolresources/notes/all_fall_down.pdf
A Bridge of Dreams (Deidre Hill) $2 PB VGC Lydia is eight when workmen start demolishing her friends’ houses and cut down her favourite gum tree to make way for the approaches to the Sydney Harbour Bridge. No friends, no tree – Lydia thinks the price too high. Between the turning of the first sod in 1923 and the grand opening ceremony nine years later, Lydia and her three siblings grow up. A great insight into early 20th century life in Sydney. 10+ http://www.cornstalk.com.au/pix/72988.jpg
How the Finnegans Saved the Ship (Jackie French) $3 PB VGC Inspired by a true story, this tells the tale of an Irish family’s immigration to Australia in 1913 with all its trials and tribulations! Mrs Finnegan and her seven children have to leave Ireland and join Mr Finnegan in Australia. They board a ship which doesn’t look as if it can move from the harbour and the Finnegans are nervous…. it IS the year after the Titanic sank, after all! 10+ http://www.harpercollins.com/harperimages/isbn/large/9/9780207197499.jpg
Mind's Eye: A Collection of Short Stories (Jackie French) $2 PB EC (Inscription) A wonderful collection of five short stories ranging from a blind singer who sees songs in the wind, to a lonely bunyip who only wants one thing for Christmas, to the final story which is based on the author’s Grandmother's memories of the 1919 influenza epidemic, when schools and churches were closed and the adults all either ill or tending the sick. She and her brother rode around the farms on their bicycles to tend the animals, through a land deserted by people, with only the cows bawling to be milked, the lonely dogs, the hens that may not have been fed for days or weeks. The 1919 epidemic is an almost forgotten part of Australian history - so many people died, but it was overshadowed by World War 1 - and when it was over people only wanted to forget. 8+ http://www.qbd.com.au/product/9780207187742-Bluegum_Minds_Eye_by_Jackie_French.htm
Stringybark Summer (Judith O’Neill) $3 PB EC A wonderful insight into turn-of-the-century Australian bush towns as Sophie, who wanted to stay home on the farm and help her mother with the new baby over the holidays, goes to spend them in the busy little township of Stringybark Mill with her grandpa. She grows to love the town and the horse, especially old Clinker. 9+ http://www.oztion.com.au/buy/auction.aspx?itemid=9828528&d=&sort=0&pg=1&cat=4058&view=List&f1=&f2=&type2=&type3=&type4=&type5=&s=1&pcode=&dis=0&freepost=
Journey To A Dream (Thurley Fowler) $3 PB EC (Tanning on inturns) Belinda longed to be back at home in Melbourne, back at her own school, with its library of books – but they had travelled so far, with their worldly possessions loaded on a wagon, chasing her father’s dreams for a new life in the country. And what they found was so unexpected…. A story of soldier settlement after WWI in the Murrumbidgee River irrigation scheme area. 10+ http://www.amazon.co.jp/Journey-Dream-Puffin-Thurley-Fowler/dp/0140364641
The Little Larrikin (Ethel Turner) $3 HB VGC Lol, the little larrikin, and his group of friends are the terrors of their neighbourhood. Only five years old, Lol even manages to drive off one day with a fruit sellers van and enjoy the fast gallop of the horse drawing him. He is the youngest of the Carruthers family of five boys whose parents have died. They are looked after by a careless and rough mannered maid, Eliza. Lol's adventures and his good natured family are sure to appeal to fans of Ethel Turner’s Seven Little Australians books. 10+ http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Little-Larrikin-Ethel-Turner-Hb-1978-79-/140371847192?cmd=ViewItem&pt=AU_Books_Childrens_New&hash=item20aed06818
Seven Little Australians (Ethel Turner) $4 PB EC (Ex lib), $2 PB FC (Older edition) (Minor reading wear and light tanning) Without a doubt, Judy was the worst of the seven, probably because she was the cleverest. Her father, Captain Woolcot, found his vivacious, cheeky daughter impossible – but seven children were really too much for him and most of the time they ran wild at their rambling riverside home, Misrule. An Aussie child’s classic! 9+ http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/t/ethel-turner/seven-little-australians.htm
The Family at Misrule (Ethel Turner) $4 PB GC (Name on inturn & light tanning) Further Adventures of the Famous "Seven Little Australians" Five years on, the children of Misrule are growing up and when Capt and Mrs Woolcot leave for India with the children to look after themselves and the house, lots of fun and trouble ahead 9+ http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/t/ethel-turner/family-at-misrule.htm
Lillypilly Hill (Eleanor Spence) $2 HBDJ GC Harriet loves her new home in Australia, named after the two tall lillypilly trees in the garden. She has already adapted to their new way of life, but the rest of her family pine for the safe and orderly life of London. How can she help her family accept the challenge of the pioneering life they’ve embarked upon? 10+ THE CHILDREN’S BOOK COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA CHILDREN'S BOOK OF THE YEAR BOOK COMMENDED
Picnic At Hanging Rock (Joan Lindsay) $3 PB GC (Tanning) On St Valentine's day in 1900, a party of Australian schoolgirls set off with two schoolmistresses on a picnic to a place called Hanging Rock. Some were never to return. What began as a pleasant and happy day out ended in terror. Joan Lindsay's descriptions of the Australian bush and wildlife are realistic and beautiful. 11+ http://www.amazon.com/Picnic-Hanging-Rock-Joan-Lindsay/dp/0099750619 (Cover different)
The Split Creek Kids (Roger Vaughan Carr) $3 PB GC Set in a rural Australian town, Cassie and Peter tow their little brother on the rope as far as the gate of the Split Creek School. Join the fun and games of a 1940’s bush school and see what school was all really like back then! Lovely line drawings. 8+ THE CHILDREN’S BOOK COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA BOOK OF THE YEAR SHORTLISTED
The Big Horses (Ted Schurmann) $3 PB VGC Penny lives on a wheat farm where there are twenty-two big horses. Twenty-two friends. The horses work in teams, ploughing, harvesting, and dragging heavy loads. But one day Penny's dad buys a new tractor, and the horses are not needed any more... A warm, touching country story about Penny and some of her best friends - Strawberry, Queenie, Blackie, Moonlight and Snorter. 6-10 YO
Courageous Crew (Kathleen Allanby) $3 PB EC Set at the turn of the century, the four Milne children are sent from their home in Hobart to their uncle’s farm, Woodlands, near Dunalley, when their mother becomes ill. Once there, the children are dismayed by their uncle’s unfriendliness. He sees no humour in their many escapades, until a near tragedy brings understanding and a new beginning for them all. Lovely ink wash illustrations. 8-11 YO
Eleanor, Elizabeth (Libby Gleeson) $3 PB VGC Eleanor is unhappy about the family's move from their home in the cool mountain regions to the western plains. There is a new school and new friends to make and there is also the discovery of the schoolhouse. This building on the family farm is where her grandmother did her lessons, and hidden there she finds her grandmother's diary. 10+ THE AUSTRALIAN CHILDREN'S BOOK COUNCIL HIGHLY COMMENDED BOOK. WINNER ANGUS AND ROBERTSON WRITERS FOR THE YOUNG FELLOWSHIP SHORT LISTED SOUTH AUSTRALIAN LITERATURE AWARD http://www.libbygleeson.com.au/books_fiction_older_readers.html (Cover different)
The Cabby’s Daughter (David Martin) $4 HBDJ VGC, $3 HB GC (Ex lib with tape residue) Set in the Beechworth area in 1903, this is the story of Bess and her father, Jack Tillick, who live in Mayhill, a former gold town in the Aussie bush. Her father drives a cab, the horse and cart variety, and hates the new motor cars with a vengeance! This moving story shows how Bess, after the death of her mother, tries to defend her father against the world and how she fights to keep the family together. 11+
A Fortunate Life (AB Facey) $3 PB VGC (Specially adapted for younger readers) Brought up by his grandmother in the rough West Australian outback, Bert’s childhood ended when he was eight. He was forced to go out to work – clearing, ploughing, fencing and droving. By the time he was 14 he was an experienced bushman. A terrific read about a battler, ever optimistic and hopeful despite hardships and tragedy in his life. 10+ http://www.amazon.com/Fortunate-Life-B-Facey/dp/0140081674 (Cover different)
No Wider Land (Roy Bulcock) $4 HBDJ EC An enchanting glimpse into the life of a child in the early 1900s in South-East Queensland, where Jimmy grows up in the wild but thrilling loneliness of the Qld country. 10+
The Runaway (Ruth Morris) $2 HBDJ GC (Ex lib – 1st edition, 1961) 12 year old Joanne Mitchell, has lived with relations since she was five and is now sent to live on a small Queensland station. She feels unwelcome, and as friendless and forlorn as ever. This is when she decides to cut off her hair, call herself Joe Casey, and sets off to roam the station country. Her adventures, which in the end lead her to happiness, will warm the heart of every reader. 10+ http://www.cornstalk.com.au/pix/64903.jpg
Riverman (Allan Baillie) $4 HBDJ VGC, $3 PB VGC Tim has always been known as the “Shrimp” - and in the tough town of Zeehan a small kid is no use to anyone. But a mine disaster in 1912 and a perilous journey up the wild Franklin River changes that. 10+ SHORT LIST FOR UK GUARDIAN AWARD; CBCA BOOK OF YEAR; SELECTED FOR WHITE RAVENS OF IYL, MUNICH; IBBY HONOUR DIPLOMA. http://childrensbookshop.com/images/bookimages/48/48986.jpg
Larrikins (Mary Roberts) $3 PB GC The setting is 1922 and Mollie has moved to Kettering, Tasmania from England, she has started school in an old wooden schoolhouse. When she gets in a scrap after Nosey Nora says her friend has TB, Mollie finds herself facing the stern schoolmaster - again. 10+ http://www.oztion.com.au/oa/oa_previewpic.aspx?itemid=6627661&picnum=1&#pic
The Boundary Riders (Joan Phipson) $2 PB GC 11-year-old Bobby finally takes over after he and his older sister and cousin are unable to find their way back home after getting lost in a terrible storm. How he does this, and the struggles the other two have in accepting his authority, makes memorable reading. Narrated in the simple statements characteristic of all her writing, this excellent novel still reads well today. 8-12 YO http://www.librarything.com/work/514404 (Different cover)
Missus (Ruth Park) $4 PB VGC Takes us behind the lives of Hughie and Mumma, out of the gritty realism of inner city slum life and into the past of the stations, the bush and the country towns. We meet them as they were in the early 1920s, drifter Hugh Darcy, the unwilling hero who sweeps the dreamily innocent Margaret Kilker off her feet. Ruth Park richly creates the turmoil of those early days of their courtship in the dusty outback. 12+ http://www.penguin.com.au/lookinside/spotlight.cfm?SBN=9780140176018
Bette And The Queen Carnival (Jean E. Turnley) $2 PB EC It’s 1927, and when the Carlisle family bring their house to the town of Darrawarra, little do they realise what’s in store. For, like most tiny Australian country towns, Darrawarra is a mass of rivalries, jealousies and alliances – and the Carlisles don’t fit in. This particularly worries Bette, the middle child, whose ambition is to find a ‘bosom friend’, someone to whom she can confide everything. Very realistic imagery of Australian early life. 10+
All The Green Year (D.E. Charlwood) $2 HB VGC Set in the coastal town of Frankston, Victoria, that the author had known as a child in the late 1920s. Join the boy and his family’s adventures when they ride a camel to school, stage a bullfight inspired by the movies and have a terrible fight with Big Stinger. An Australian classic and a great glimpse into early 20th century life. 12+
Journey To Horseshoe Bend (TGH Strehlow) $2 PB EC (Small corner crease) The account of the last journey, in October 1922, of the author's desperately ill father, the Reverend Carl Strehlow, overland from Hermannsburg to the railhead at Oodnadatta; Horseshoe Bend was where he died and was buried. The author, who made the trip with his father, was fourteen at the time. http://heuristscholar.org/cocoon/jhsb-test/item/69994/
Sun On The Stubble $3 PB VGC A heart-warming story set in a South Australian farming district in the years between the World Wars. Colin Thiele's keen observation brings vividly to life his pictures of rural life, and his outstanding ability to combine humour with an incisive insight into the Australian character is seen here at its best. Recommended. 11+ COMMENDED BY THE CHILDREN'S BOOK COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA http://www.bookworm.com.au/shop/scditem.asp?ProdID=12133
The Valley Between (Colin Thiele – Winner of the Children’s Book Of The Year Award) $3 PB VGC Follow the adventures of Benno as he leaves school at thirteen in the little country town of Gonunda, South Australia. It is the late 1920’s and he sees the prospect of working on his father’s farm as fun. Laugh along with him at his escapades such as disgracing himself at the beach with his hand knitted togs, squirting the pastor with an enormous stream of milk from Daisy the prize milker and so on! 10+ http://thehungrybookshelf.com.au/thiele-colin-the-valley-between-sc-book-australian-2049
Uncle Gustav’s Ghosts (Colin Thiele) $4 PB VGC Ghosts are abroad in this hilarious story set in a South Australian farming community. Colin Thiele’s outstanding ability to combine humour and drama with vivid characterization is seen at its best in this diverting tale.11+ http://www.booktopia.com.au/uncle-gustav-s-ghosts/prod9781741102376.html (Cover different)
Sun On The Stubble Omnibus Edition (Colin Thiele) $7 PB EC Contains the books: ‘Sun On The Stubble’, ‘The Valley Between’, ‘Uncle Gustav’s Ghosts’ and ‘The Shadow On The Hills’. Also has a glossary of German words. 11+ Recommended! http://www.librarything.com/work/6827761
All In The Blue Unclouded Weather (Robin Klein) $2 PB EC The first in a trilogy following the fortunes of the Melling girls as they grow up in the 1940s and 1950s in a small Australian country town. Vivienne, Cathy, Heather and Grace enjoy the blue unclouded weather in the late 1940’s where everything is as it should be ….. afternoons at the Roxy theatre, patent leather shoes, dreams of Clark Gable, stockings with seams up the back. A great insight into post war Australian life. 11+ + http://www.amazon.com/Blue-Unclouded-Weather-Robin-Klein/dp/0140349820
Dresses Of Red And Gold (Robin Klein) $2 PB GC It's autumn in the tiny Australian town of Wilgawa and the Melling girls are preparing for a wedding. Vivienne longs to be a bridesmaid, Cathy hopes for a special birthday, and Heather is dreaming of an Indian prince. But autumn also brings uncertainty for the Mellings. Hard times, it seems, could be just around the corner - Dad might not find work, Grace might not come home, and their carefree world may never be the same .... But in spite of all, the Mellings are as irrepressible as ever. In this lively follow-up to All in the Blue Unclouded Weather, the story of these girls - their friendships and heartaches, their dreams and disappointments - will continue to charm and amuse readers of all ages. 11+ http://openlibrary.org/authors/OL290608A/Robin_Klein
The Sky in Silver Lace (Robin Klein) $2 PB EC (Ex lib) The last in the trilogy following the fortunes of the Melling girls as they grow up in the 1940s and 1950s in a small Australian country town. The four Melling sisters, Vivienne, Heather, Cathy, and Grace, whom readers met in All in the Blue Unclouded Weather (1992) and Dresses of Red and Gold (1993, both Viking) are back. Set in Australia during the 1940s, this novel tells of the girls' move with their mother from their small country town of Wilgawa to the city while their ne'er-do-well father looks for work. The dreary winter months are made more difficult by the scarcity of money, the need to rely on relatives, and several moves to new living quarters. 11+ http://openlibrary.org/works/OL2244223W/The_sky_in_silver_lace
Sugar And Spice (Mary Wright) $2 PB VGC Pixie and Molly aren’t on the best of terms and as different as sugar and spice, but are forced to leave home to attend high school TOGETHER. Set in the 1920s, they travel from the tiny settlement of Coolawong in the outback, to a big country town – together, and begin a new life with a new family. They finally grow up to understand one another as they join Girl Guides, discover Rudolph Valentino and fly in a bi-plane. 11+
(Last update January, 2012)
