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Australian poets have a wonderful way with words and their poems bring to life the iconic Aussie characters and unforgettable landscape that are part of our Australian heritage. Many of these – Mulga Bill, Clancy of the Overflow, The Ant Explorer, M’Dougal, The Shearer’s Wife and Mr Smith – are larger than life. And the poets who created them – AB Patterson, CJ Dennis, Thomas E Spencer, Louis Esson and DH Souter – have become heroic figures in our pantheon of stars.

The 60 poems in this collection appear in their original, or near original, form and are wide-ranging in their subject matter: animals, the countryside, the struggle of bush life, early transport, sport, growing old, being young and having fun with words! But whether they are humorous, serious or playful, they are simply a joy to read!

*A Peaceful Day Review

Written as a first person monthly diary of the author’s wanderings in the bush around Sydney, illustrated with black and white photographs.

*Journey and Destination Review

*A Peaceful Day Review

What has a bill like a duck’s and the body of a beaver? A platypus, probably. Engaging text follows a female platypus through her life, while sidebars offer in-depth information about this unique monotreme and her environment. Vivid, accurate illustrations capture the wonder of this amazing creature.

They didn’t look like pirates: they looked like ordinary fishermen, but with eyes as quick and glittering as their knives … Trung’s adventure begins in the dead of night. He and his father escape the soldiers with guns. But what awaits them across the dark sea? Across the Dark Sea features a fishing boat used to flee Vietnam after the war. It is based on an actual boat, the Hong Hai, which is now part of the National Museum’s collection.

The Adventures of Camoola the Young Warrior of the Wathaurongs by Eve Johns is about the arrival of the first white people in Victoria. It tells the story from the viewpoint of a young aboriginal boy and follows his encounter and friendship with William Buckley, the historically famous escaped convict. It is a descriptive and interesting tale of the Wathaurong people and the white man that had Buckley’s Chance of survival without their assistance and protection. The Wathaurongs lived in the Geelong region in Victoria for more than 25,000 years before white settlers arrived

As the Great Depression of the 1930s worsens the O’Casey family finds itself facing an uphill battle to survive. Like many fathers of that time, John O’Casey leaves his family to go in search of work. Back at home, his wife Margaret has to raise their three young children. Daniel, the eldest child, takes it on himself to try to raise money for the family. He wants to be `the man’ but that’s close to impossible for someone who’s just 12-years-old.

This is an exciting tale of the courage of 16-year-old Grace Bussell, an ordinary teenage girl who is thrust into an extraordinary situation when a steamship runs aground near her home on the south-west coast of Australia in 1876. Using eyewitness accounts and other historical documents of the time, the author brings this compelling true story alive.

On the night that the Georgette leaves Fremantle, the ship starts taking on water. With the water rising, the situation becomes desperate and some of the passengers are herded onto a lifeboat, only to be thrown into the chilly water after the Georgette, struck by a huge wave, ploughs into the little boat. What follows is a story of acts of bravery, as frantic attempts to rescue the drowning are made.

When the Bussells hear the news of a ship that has run aground on the coast near their home, Grace doesn’t hesitate and leaps on her horse, riding for an hour to get to the sinking ship. There she and Sam, the family’s stockman, gallop into the wild surf to save the remaining crew and passengers.