Books - Australia
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Our Sunburnt Country – Land Of The Dreamtime
One of the pleasures of blog writing is ‘meeting’ people I would otherwise have never ‘met’. I particularly love when readers email me and we end up striking up a friendship as Sherelle, a regular commenter and emailer from Queensland and I have. When Sherelle emailed me with a request for “ideas for complementary activities/worksheets to go with Our Sunburnt Country – Arthur Baillie,” I was keen to assist and offered to organise a booklist of complementary picture/chapter books. Our Sunburnt Country is one of our favourite core books of Australian history, it covers Australian History from pre-European contact through till the end of World War 2(see pg 7). I have chosen a selection of recommended picture and chapter…
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Books Read Aloud – June & July, 2016
I’ve only a few read aloud books to share for the past two months, partly because we took a break from reading over the school holidays and partly our list is incomplete due to patchy record keeping. As always we have a two/three books being simultaneously read due to our children’s wide age spread, though there were a few ‘cross over’ of different children sharing in with siblings read alouds the past couple of months. Sharing not only the books we enjoyed but the ones we abandoned as I know I find it useful to hear the ‘full story’ myself. Youngest: 5, 7 & 10 Years Folk of the Faraway…
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ABC’s of Aboriginal Picture Book Authors
It’s no secret that I’m passionate about books, in particular Australian picture and chapter books. Sharing today an ABC list of Aboriginal Picture Book Authors. Most of the authors are Indigenous, though some aren’t. We are familiar with some of the authors here, enjoying their books in the past. Our personal favourite is Percy Trezise. Most excited that as I gathered names for this list I discovered many new authors for us to learn from:) There are about 500 nations in Australia each have their own stories and customs. Each author’s writing is mostly of her/his own clan, consequently whilst there are several books for some nations, for others there…
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14 Amazing Anzac Day Books
Last week was Anzac Day(Australian New Zealand Army Corp) a day in which we, as a nation remember our fellow Australians who have served and died in wars. One way in which to help children understand about War and the sacrifices our service men and women have made is through reading and discussing. I’ve recently discovered several new books to add to our collection, sharing 14 amazing Anzac Day books and be sure to check out previously shared titles. Picture Books Let the Celebrations Begin – Margaret Wild Memorial – Gary Crew Photographs in the Mud – Dianne Wolfer One Boy’s War – Lynn Huggins Cooper My Grandad Marches on Anzac…
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8 Australian Picture Bird Books
Sharing some recent and not so recent Australian Picture Bird Books. Where’s my Mum – Susan Hall A lift the flap book, that takes the reader on a search as the baby bird looks for his mum. We meet several Australian birds on the way. Surprisingly informative, lovely illustrations. Recommended. The Best Nest – Penny Olsen Before the robins begin to build their nest they visit all their friends to see which is the best design. Each bird feels their nest is the best, but the robins don’t feel any are right for them. Informative with lovely illustrations. Recommended. The Bush Concert – Helga Visser The countryside is…
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12 Favourite Australian Bird Books
Many months ago I promised Katydid a post on our favourite Australian bird books. Katydid this post is dedicated to you, though alas as all our favourites are out of print I’m not sure how successful you will be in finding these in America. Also be sure to check out Jeanne’s list including one in print! Michelle’s Homeschooling Downunder’s Bird List also includes yet more titles. Leslie Rees We’re huge fans of all nature books written by Leslie Rees, they are short chapter books with detailed illustrations. Rees has written a number of Australian Bird Books as well. The Story of Kurri Kurri the Kookaburra – Leslie Rees The story opens with the…
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‘Cream of the Crop’
As many of my readers would have deduced Australian History is my passion, and Australian History for children makes my heart go pit-a-pat. The ‘cream of the crop’ I’ve thus far discovered are the ‘John’ trilogy by Doris Chadwick. Alas as with many quality books they are out of print:( it is the very lucky person to find one as they are hideously expensive (@$200!) *This post is dedicated to Jenn who asked for more details. The series is based on actual events that occurred during the beginning of the English occupation of Australia. Following the adventures of a young boy, John and his sister Sue. We learn early Australian history effortlessly, the sign of…
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Books for World War 1
We wrapped up our WW1 studies weeks ago. I found it rather a challenge at first to find books for World War 1. Many of the chapter books listed we didn’t manage to read so I would recommend to pre-read. Online Database of Australian Books Be sure to head on over to our Online Database of Australian Books to find more books about our War Years. Picture Books for World War 1 Simpson and His Donkey – Mark Greenwood Two boys grow up in London together. One boy, Jack, sails to Australia seeking adventure. Jack lands in Gallipoli as a stretcher-bearer. He enlists a donkeys help to tirelessly carry…
