WELCOME TO AUSTRALIAN USED HOMESCHOOL BOOKS!
AUSTRALIANA FICTION - AUSTRALIAN LIFESTYLE, LANDSCAPES & THE OUTBACK
Picture Books
Where The Forest Meets The Sea (Jeannie Baker) $4 PB EC A boy travels with his father to a tropical rain forest in North Queensland. Walking among the trees and vines, he imagines the forest as it might have been in the past, with now-extinct creatures and aboriginal children inhabiting it. The collage constructions have the life and intensity of photographs, from a tangle of trunks and vines to the faint outlines of an aboriginal child melting into a background of trees. An exquisitely wrought work with a simple, profound message. All ages. http://www.amazon.com/Where-Forest-Meets-Jeannie-Baker/dp/0688063632/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1200880472&sr=1-1
Summer Autumn Winter Spring – Seasons In Australia (David Voigt) $4 PB VGC The Australian seasons are captured in beautiful watercolours and simple, lyrical text. Lovely overview of Australian life. 6-11 http://cgi.ebay.pl/Summer-Autumn-Winter-Spring-Seasons-in-Australia-Voigt_W0QQitemZ110199480568QQihZ001QQcategoryZ7702QQcmdZViewItem
Pannikin & Pinta (Colin Thiele) $5 HB EC (Ex lib) The rare phenomenon of the filling of Lake Eyre from the floodwaters of the Queensland Channel Country is the setting for this poignant story of a family of pelicans. As the lake finally dries up again into saltpans, the starving birds face the long perilous flight back to the coast. Their encounters with humans are both positive and negative. The damage done by thoughtless tourists is also an issue. As with 'Storm Boy', there is a message for young people to grow on. Shortlist CBCA Book of the Year: Young Readers 2001. Gorgeous picture book for 4-8 YO http://www.amazon.com/Pannikin-Pinta-Colin-Thiele/dp/0850919886
An Adventure In Queensland (Julie Proctor) $4 PB GC A wonderfully bright and captivating picture book intended to give young readers a ‘bird’s eye view’ of coastal Queensland from the Gold Coast to Cairns. Meet Walter Wombat, Bertina the Bowerbird, Kenny Kangaroo, Erica Emu, Katie Koala, Lenny Lizard, Connie Kookaburra and Peter Platypus, animal which make up the Aussie Gang. Very informative! 5-10 YO
Sandy The Cane Train (Jean Chapman) $5 HB VGC A little gas engine saves the day when five steam locomotives are blocked on the rail to the sugar cane factory. Set in Queensland in the sugar producing areas, a lovely book illustrated by Walter Cunningham. 4-9 YO
Rosie And Mack Head Outback: An Adventure In The Kimberley (Celia Shelmerdine) $4 HB GC (Ex lib) Mack and Rosie Fairweather had been nearly everywhere! They'd been to New York, Rome, Paris, and London. They'd even been to Timbuktu! This year their holiday was going to be different. They were heading outback! They were going to the Kimberley where opportunities for adventure are endless. 4-8 YO http://www.bookworm.com.au/shop/scditem.asp?ProdID=17525
Norton’s Hut (John Marsden) $3 HB GC When a group of young hikers gets lost in a blinding snow storm, they find shelter in an abandoned hut in the Snowy Mountains. Inside the hut they find a man who ignores them and by morning he has disappeared. After they are rescued, they question whether either the man or the hut really existed. 5-9 YO http://www.amazon.com/Nortons-Hut-John-Marsden/dp/1887734643
Magpie Island (Colin Thiele) $5 PB EC Colin Thiele takes us to the the islands of offshore South Australia. Gaunt, windswept and solitary, it is a strangely perfect setting for the story of a lonely magpie, "a castaway, a Robinson Crusoe... a dot on a tree, that was a twig on a hill, that was a lump on an island, that was a barrow-load of rock." This book is much more than a story about a magpie. It is a story about loneliness and fortitude, joy and tragedy, struggle and failure; a story marked by that compassionate insight into the meaning of solitude which illuminates so much of Thiele's writing. Beautifully illustrated by Roger Haldane. Large picture book style. 8-13 YO CHILDREN’S BOOK COUNCIL AUSTRALIA COMMENDATION
Santa Visits Australia (Maryann Pfeifer) $2 PB VGC Brightly illustrated story, told in verse, of Santa's journey delivering presents to Australian children on Christmas Eve.4-8 YO http://www.javaslublu.com/Children/Children_Fiction/Picture_Books/1208W052.html
Novels
Jeedarra Country (James Preston) $4 HB VGC (Ex lib, tape residue on endpapers) When the car broke down as they were driving across the vast desert of the Nullarbor Plain, Mr and Mrs Edwards were not worried at first. It was part of the holiday adventure with their children, Greg and Janie. But while Mr Edwards was working on the car, Greg noticed that Janie had wandered into the bush. He chased after her, but she thought it was a game. She ran further and further into the wilderness, until Greg realised suddenly that they were lost. The Aborigines knew the Nullarbor Plain as ‘Jeedarra Country,’ home of a monster snake which devoured those who ventured across the desert. But the dangers which Greg and Janie faced were those of scorching heat and bitter cold; hunger, thirst, and the prowling dingoes who waited for them to weaken. It became a race against time as Greg found ways to survive, while his parents sought frantically for help in finding their children. 10+
In Queen Puffem’s Fold (George Fewtrell) $3 PB GC Georgie lives with his parents, his brother, his uncle and some local Aborigines in an isolated part of Queensland with no contact with the outside world. Georgie’s life is full and interesting, with plenty of happy, some sad experiences, all shared with his very special friend, Ding Pup. 9+
A Boy Called Tully (Lawrie Ryan) $4 HBDJ VGC (Dust jacket a little tattered at edges) Tully is a young boy who lives on a sheep station with the Gunner, a cruel and gloomy man. His life is lonely and austere until the arrival of the horse-breaker, Lew McCabe, who introduces him to a world hitherto unknown. A dramatic story suitable for children from 8 years upward. http://cgi.ebay.com/A-Boy-Called-Tully-Lawrie-Ryan-1st-ed-HC-DJ-1977_W0QQitemZ320040687298QQcmdZViewItem?_trksid=p3286.m20.l1116#ebayphotohosting
Windmill At Magpie Creek (Christobel Mattingley) $3 PB VGC The story of Tim, a boy beset by two fears: first, there are the magpies who seem always to choose him to attack; and second, there is the windmill, which Tim has climbed once and thereafter dreads. The book describes how, following an accident to his father, Tim has to confront and eventually to overcome his fears by climbing the windmill with his own anti-magpie device because, if the mill does not get proper maintenance, his incapacitated father will have to replace it with a more manageable, diesel-operated one. Tim's triumph in reaching the top is succinctly drawn out on the last page when he tells his friend Barney: 'It's a stiff climb and it's a bit scary the first time you do it. But it's worth it to get to the top.' It’s a heart-warming conclusion to a deceptively simple book which is perfectly suited to its seven- to nine-year-old readership. THE CHILDREN’S BOOK COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA HIGHLY COMMENDED BOOK http://coombs.anu.edu.au/~helen/GP/GP1June/gpchristobel.html (Cover newer)
Man-Shy (Frank Dalby Davison) $3 PB EC A four day old heifer loses her mother and cannot find anyone to answer her thin, quavering cry for help. Confused and nervous, she sets off on a life that will lead her into many battles with the tough, wiry old stockmen who think of cattle as nothing but beef-on-the-hoof, to be mustered and sold for profit. In desperation she breaks out to join the scrubbers – the wild cattle living in the high country. But her battles are not yet over…..9+
Dusty (Frank Dalby Davison) $3 PB VGC Tells the story of a dingo/kelpie cross who is employed to muster sheep but is forever at war with his wild instincts. Told with great sensitivity and insight, this novel has delighted generations of adults and children alike. Entertains, while at the same time provides a penetrating analogy to humankind. 10+
Good Luck To The Rider (Joan Phipson) $3 PB VGC (Ex lib) Twelve-year-old Barbara is the youngest of four children growing up on a remote sheep station. Fearful of what the future holds for her, Barbara finds new confidence from her friendship with an unlikely foal named Rosinante. A moving story of a girl and her horse, who together face all the challenges and uncertainties of growing up. One of the greatest horse stories ever told and a true Australian classic. WINNER OF THE CHILDREN'S BOOK COUNCIL BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD. 9+ http://www.bookworm.com.au/shop/scditem.asp?ProdID=20032
Mind’s Eye (Jackie French) $3 PB EC (Inscription) A collection of short stories including: Bunyip’s Gift, The Watchers, The Music From The Hill, The Hitchhiker and The Year Of The Potato Salad. Wonderful Australian literature for children to gain a sense of their Aussie identity. 9+
Green Christmas (Nance Donkin) $3 HB VGC It was Patsy Holden’s first camping Christmas ever; even though she had been born and bred in Australia, it was strange to be waking up in a tent, and eating cold turkey for Christmas dinner. For Lorna McDougall it was stranger still – last Christmas she had woken to English snow, and the green, summery weather made her homesick. But soon the two families got together, and there was talk of barbeques AND A TRIP TO Bunyip Falls. Would she see a real bunyip/ Lorna wondered fearfully? What she did find made it the very best Christmas she had ever had! 6-10 YO http://www.magdalenbooks.co.uk/si/ypdh23greenchdf.html
Family At The Lookout (Noreen Shelley) $3 HB GC (Ex lib) The Wetherall family move from their small flat in Melbourne to Gully Heights in the Blue Mountains. Mr. Wetherall has inherited ‘The Lookout’, a large house with 25 rooms, from his uncle. Mark and Lindy love their new home, the mysterious bush that surrounds them, and their new friends and neighbours. But the only drawback is their great-uncle’s housekeeper, Miss Hatch, whom the children are afraid of and who they think is involved in suspicious activities. But then a bushfire threatens ‘The Lookout’ and Mark takes action to expose Miss Hatch. 9+
Ash Road (Ivan Southall) $3 PB GC (Light tanning) Three city boys go camping in the bush and get caught up in a terrifying ordeal - a raging bushfire, in which they find themselves quite isolated and with a massive challenge ahead of them, to survive and they only have each other and two old men to look to for help. This is nail-biting stuff for any reader. 10+ http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/s/ivan-southall/ash-road.htm (Cover different)
The Boy Who Had Wings (Jackie French) $4 PB VGC A secret is passed from generation to generation. Who and what are these strange creatures who live in the caves? Take a dash of humour, add a touch of the environment, a flavouring of racial relationships and mix it all up with the basic family unit - an intriguing mystery.... 8-12 YO http://cgi.ebay.com.au/The-Boy-Who-Had-Wings-by-Jackie-French-PB_W0QQitemZ370072465597QQcmdZViewItem?IMSfp=TL080727095a29302
Crusoe Boys (Vincent Serventy) $3 PB EC Matt and Tom were off on the adventure of their lives! Sailing to an island of their own, exploring unknown territory, setting up house, living off the land, having adventures and, for a time, all by themselves. Wasn’t that every one’s dream? They could be Crusoe boys, with no school, no clocks, no rules….. But – the storm, illness, then the bad news…. It almost turned into a chilling nightmare. Set in Western Australia. 10+
Beryl The Rainmaker (Joan Phipson) $2 HB GC (Ex lib) The Morgans move to the country and Beryl finds that she has a lot to learn about her new surroundings. She makes friends with Tracy and begins to visit her home on a large farm. Tracy's father badly needs rain to help his crops grow. Much to her surprise, Beryl finds that she can ‘make’ it rain. Or can she? Complete with pictures, a great read for the younger child. 6-10 YO
The Search (Elizabeth Von Leven) $2 PB VGC Hung Ly is a Vietnamese refugee boy living on the Cremorne’s farm until his mother, from whom he has been separated, is found. They escaped Vietnam during the war there and desperately misses his mother. Hung decides to run away to Melbourne to find his mother, but Gemma, the Cremorne’s daughter insists on tagging along. A friendship develops between them as their trek continues and they are involved in many scrapes together. Great for developing empathy for refugees and helping children to understand that human needs and desires are universal despite race or colour. 9+