ANZAC Day is this week, a day in which we commemorate our fallen, returned and current Service men and women, we remember their sacrifices past and present. I have been gathering picture books to assist and answer questions that are sure to arise as books are always a great gateway to discussions. Imagine my shock when I easily discovered 58 picture books for ANZAC Day!! Truth is I had to call a halt and stop looking for anymore! In this collection I have included both Australian and New Zealand authors – ANZACs; Australian New Zealand Army Corps. ANZAC Day is this week, a day in which we commemorate our fallen, returned and…

Most Australian children know the names of George Bass and Matthew Flinders, great explorers and navigators of the coastline of early Australia. Searching for children’s historical fiction books about Bass and Flinders’ explorations my interest in them has been renewed. What courage and tenacity they had! This book search has been part of my ongoing project of organising Australian history fiction for children into chronological order, a collation of both in print and out of print living books. I have been working my booklist within the framework of the time periods organised in Our Sunburnt Country, a favourite core Australian history books.  I have gathered both picture and chapter books, mainly sharing in print or…

I’m excited to share some children’s history fiction books about the Rum Rebellion with you. My passion for Australian history began in my childhood and continues today. I’ve long been collecting books in the Australian history genre and constantly seeking new titles, and let me tell you there are some fantastic new authors on the Australian history fiction scene for children. Three years ago I began organising many of these titles into chronological order, both in print and out of print living books. I have organised my booklist around a framework using the time periods covered in Our Sunburnt Country, a favourite core Australian history books.  I am seeking to share both picture and chapter books…

Last year I began a long intended project, to compile a list of Australian history living books organised in chronological order. I have organised the time periods around the chapters of Our Sunburnt Country, one of our favourite core books of Australian history and included recommendations of both picture and chapter books to accompany each chapter. This week a local friend asked for my recommendations for pre-European settlement and it was so easy to just send a link so inspired anew to pick up ‘the pen’ and continue on. Previous posts in the series are, Land of the Dreamtime and European Discovery of Australia. I’ve tried to mainly share in print or recently in print books, though some of the out of print (OOP) 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). As the consumption inclusion of living books form the basis of our learning I have collated a selection of complementary picture and chapter books to accompany each chapter of Our Sunburnt Country to broaden understanding and capture interest, on the request of one of our readers. My complementary booklist for the first chapter, Land of the Dreamtime is already available.   ‘New Visitors To An Old Land,’ the second chapter of Our Sunburnt Country, focuses on the several European contacts with Australia prior to European settlement in 1788. The majority of European discoverers…

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…