Australia Books

I am a collector of Children's Illustrated Books. After having reached
around 2,000 in my collection I became somewhat fussier about what I
bought. Many books that are very good themselves are still very much like
other books that I already have. And so I purposefully search for books
with a different slant, often informational books or books with a foreign
location in the story.

The first thing that caught my eye was the marvelous, colorful, exotic
illustrations. I have a couple of other books illustrated by Ms. Lessac.
she is very talented. Then I discovered that I was familiar with the
story which made it even more appealing. I am a stamp collector and I
have a stamp from Australia on Simpson and his Donkey. I did a little
research on the topic because I had never heard of it before. I assume
that most people in the U.S. have not.

Bravo to Candlewick Press for so often publishing books that may not end
up to be on the best seller list, but are nevertheless among the "best"
books there are. I happened to buy Stone Age Boy on the same day.
Another great book by the same publisher

This book series is really entertaining. I would highly recommend to children of all ages.

This is an excellent picture book about Aboriginal life in modern day Australia. Actually this follows the Tiwi tribe of Aboriginal peoples who live on a small island off the coast of Australia. High quality photographs accompany the text.

The format is "a day in the life of a child", and we follow a tribe who is doing their walkabout. The Tiwi tribe is nomadic and they take journeys called walkabouts, the same journey on foot that their ancestors walked. We see photos of, and text explains, such things as a mother telling a story to her daughter before bedtime near the fire, hunting for snakes and bandicoot. We see how children are equally responsible for hunting and gathering as their parents and grandparents. As the book progresses we learn of certain animals and reptiles that live in the area. We share in a ceremony to honor the dead and see the adults playing with the children at the beach.

The author learned this information by personally traveling with this tribe on their walkabout. The introduction and an afterward explain more details about that to the adults who are reading this book.

This is a wonderful book and it rounded out our studies of Australia. It is not easy to find great books Aboriginal people for this age range-this is a great one! This is one of a series of books about "vanishing cultures" by this author.

This beautifully produced book captures the vivid impressions and sharp visual statements about life in Australia in the mid-nineteenth century, by the artist and adventurer S.T.Gill. It reproduces the original watercolour sketchbook in the State Library of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia. Limited to an edition of one hundred, the text is printed by letterpress in the facsimile of a 1798 type face, on acid free rag paper with each of the forty-five watercolours printed in fine screen color lithography, and is quarter-bound by hand in goatskin. This book is a fine tribute to the frontiersmen of the nineteenth century.

Jillian Lawler has taken what sometimes can be an overwhelming and confusing system and made it easy and fun. Even though it is so simple to use, you still feel like your queries are being answered and you are being helped onto the right path of decision making. The yellow tabs are great and there is even an extra set if you lose one or the dog eats them (actual experience of mine!!).

I have always found the I-Ching intimidating to approach on my own, but this is novice friendly.

This is a unique perspective by a rare, intelligent, and courageous person on Paris of the '20s--the same scene (and many of the same people) as Hemingway's "The Sun Also Rises." And Bowen sees with a painter's eye--as well as writing with great skill. The book is a gem!

This book should be in every library collection. It is also a handsome volume for the enthusiast or interested person.It is comprehensive, and contemporary.

Gorgeous colour plates, fully annotated.

I loved this book. There was so much information that I immediately headed to the wardrobe and cleaned it out to start over. And now I know what to buy everytime I leave home. Can't rave enough!! :-)

This is by far the best I have read regarding the lives and hardships faced by early settlers of the Cooper's Creek region in the 1800's. John Conrick - a most remarkable man and a leader of his time. This book has made it possible to appreciate what life was like in the early years of inland exploration and settlement of Australia. A book obviously written after much research. Relates to the life of John Conrick who was brave enough to venture into the heart of Australia before white settlement. A must read.

What an engaging story! I love novels that can capture the geography and culture of a particular place in time, and this one does that in parallel. As the main character traces the steps of his fathers demise, we move between history and contemporary - between comedy and tragedy. I've always wanted to visit the Western Australian coast, and I feel like I have been there after reading this book. A beautiful and well written first novel by Peter Burke. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it.