Dearly loved Australian Picture books - Part One

I really love getting book recommendations from bookish sources, and homeschooling sources. I personally adore Read Aloud Revival, and scour their book recommendations, only to find that many of the books are just so hard to source in Australia. That was part of my inspiration to start this page, to be able to recommend books that you can get here in Australia, and an obvious place to start (although that is not what I started with) would be with a blog post of Australian Picture books that myself and my kids have loved over the years. For myself, some of these are books I remember as a child in school. A good book will stand the test of time. I still feel like I need to explore newer ones, be a bit more adventurous, so that will come, but for now, here is the first list of Australian picture books that we particularly adore.

Possum Magic - Mem Fox, Illustrated by Julie Vivas

“Once upon a time, but not very long ago, deep in the Australian bush, there lived two possums. Their names were Hush and Grandma Poss. Grandma Poss made bush magic…”

This is THE Australian picture book, it is the best selling picture book ever in Australia, with sales in the millions. Published in 1983, every Australian kid of my generation knows this book, and has probably read it to their kids too. It does deserve its accolades, it is just a beautiful book. It is sweet, lyrical, and pleasurable to read aloud. I had to mention Julie Vivas up the top because her illustrations just give so much magic to the story (she is one of my favourite illustrators, and her illustrations feature in quite a few of the most loved books here.) Plus it has a nice little tour of Australia as they travel around searching for the very food that which make Hush visible again. There is actually a really nice history of the book written by Mem Fox https://memfox.com/gossip-behind-mems-books/possum-magic-illustrated-by-julie-vivas/ It is worth reading to see the evolution of this phenomena of Australian children's literature.

Dirt by Sea - Michael Wagner, illustrated by Tom Jellett

This is actually a rather new book, and an Honour book for CBCA Picture Book of the Year in 2022. I only found out about it because my friend needed to make a teaching resource about it, and asked me to borrow it from the library and take a photo of the endpapers with the map on it, because she didn't want to read it herself. Well, I'm very glad she did, because my boys and myself fell in love with it. It is done in comic book style, which I am not the biggest fan of usually, but in this case, I actually love it, because it is so well done, it really brings the relationship between Daisy and her Dad to life through their conversation and the stunning depictions of Australia.

Every time I read it, I just want to get a caravan and drive around the Australia, and see some of the places they visited!

Description from Amazon:

Daisy lives in inland Australia with her dad and her grandparents, loving the red dirt land around her. But when her dad realises she's never seen the beach, they set off on a trip you won't want to miss.

A once-in-a-lifetime father-daughter trip along the Australian coast that was inspired by the first holiday Daisy's dad took with her mum. With a journey map in the endpapers, you or your young ones could even start planning your own Aussie adventure..

Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge - Mem Fox, Illustrated by Julie Vivas

"There was once a small boy called Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge and what’s more he wasn’t very old, either. His house was next door to an old people’s home and he knew all the people who lived there…”

Ok, yes, it is another Mem fox illustrated by Julie Vivas, but, what can I say, Mem Fox is an institution (not that I condone those) and this is just a beautiful, beautiful book. I cannot help but tear up when I read it, it is just so innocent, bittersweet, touching, sad, and happy all at the same time. It is an old one, like Possum Magic, published in 1984, but I really hope it still has a place of honour in school libraries.

Description from Goodreads:

Wilfred Gordon McDonald Partridge lives next door to a nursing home in which several of his good friends reside. Of course, his favorite is Miss Nancy Alison Delacourt Cooper, because she has four names just as he does. The only problem is Miss Nancy, who is 96, has "lost" her memory. Undaunted, Wilfred sets out to "find" Miss Nancy's memory for her.

The Eleventh Hour - Graeme Base

Here is another older book, published in 1988. I actually have the original book my now 44 year old brother had as a kid. I know this is looking like a nostalgia trip, and perhaps it is a bit, I'll have to get onto exploring Aussie books published in this millennium, but for now.....

This book is sumptuously illustrated, and that was the main mode of engagement for me as a child, it's gorgeous! It was only as an adult reading it to my kids that I actually read the story. As a child, I was more interested in finding the clocks on every page. Then, only this year, did my 11 year old son discover that every page also has a code to crack, which he thoroughly enjoyed. So it is a book that keeps on giving....for 30 years or more.

Description from Amazon:

When Horace the elephant turns eleven, he celebrates in style by inviting his exotic friends to a splendid costume party. But a mystery is afoot, for in the midst of the games, music, and revelry, someone has eaten the birthday feast. The rhyming text and lavish, detailed illustrations each provide clues, and it's up to the reader to piece them together and decide whodunit!"

The fun of poring over the pictures is matched by the enjoyment derived from the text.

The Dog on the Tuckerbox - Corinne Fenton

This is a newer book, 2008, but is about the pioneer days of Australia. I love history told through picture books, and Corinne Fenton is quite masterful at portraying small moments in Australian history in the picture book format. This is a lovely book, and such a heart wrenching and touching little story and moment from the past. Another one in which I tear up while reading. In the town of Gundagai in NSW, they have a statue of Lady sitting on the tuckerbox, still waiting for Bill. I was sure to visit it on one of our cross country road trips.

Description:

This quintessential Australian story tells the story of Lady and her master, Bill. It is the story of early white settlement; of Australia's pioneers; of the bullockies who worked the rough tracks to open up the land, and of one dog’s unwavering loyalty to her master.

Mr. McGee - Pamela Allen

And we're back to the 80's, but I never actually read these as a child, I just know about them from my work in a primary school library, and found them for my own kiddies. There are actually a few in the Mr. McGee series, even one that was published this year, Pamela Allen being in her 90's now, so well done to her.

If you do not know these books, indeed any of Pamela Allen's books, and you have young children, do yourself a favour and

find as many as you can. She just has a way of speaking to and engaging the very young, and they are such fun to read! Mr McGee is an especially funny character who gets himself into all sorts of impossible adventures. Probably the most fun to read would be "Mr McGee and the biting flea". It is silly, and a little bit naughty. Kids love it!

Here is a wonderful review of her:

"From Pamela Allen's first publication in 1980 it was clear that here was a creator of picture books with all the glow, gesture, din and dance to capture the attention, engage the imagination, teach, show, tickle and excite small children." Meg Sorensen, Australian book Review.

Are we there yet? - Alison Lester

Children's book council of the year, winner Picture book of the year 2005

"The year I turned eight, Mum and Dad took us on a trip around Australia. Luke, Billy and I missed school for the whole winter term."

So begins another great Aussie road trip, travelling around the country, with intimate expressions of familiar places. This book was based on Alison Lester's own family holiday, as it seems that many of her books are based upon her own experiences and memories. Once again, just like Dirt by Sea, this book will make you want to get in a car and explore this strange and beautiful land.

Description from Amazon:

Join Grace and her family on their adventurous and sometimes funny expedition. This delightful picture book takes young readers on a journey across Australia, as a family explores the outback, the bush, and the coast. Along the way, kids will learn about the geography, culture, and people of our fascinating country, all through the eyes of a lovable family.

Nobody Owns the Moon - Tohby Riddle

This book is on the list of our very very favourite books, and it rightly deserves to be on this list of best Australian books as well. It is very nearly the perfect picture book, with a story that is tender, poignant, bittersweet, as well as humorous, that subtly conveys very human and deep topics of loneliness, friendship, and transcendence. Shaun Tan, in his review, says this is a work that speaks with dignity, and I like his wording, because the characters are cute, and charming, but dignified, and complex, and it invites us, indeed, it impels us, to contemplate the deep humanity of the characters, even though the characters are a fox and a donkey. I wish everyone would read this book.

"A brilliant example of how satisfying, clever and artful the picture book form can be". The Age

Description from Amazon:

Clive Prendergast is a fox who lives successfully in the city, in a one-room apartment in a busy part of town. Humphrey is a donkey who works odd jobs and doesn’t always have a fixed address. Nobody Owns the Moon is the story of their friendship. This modern classic picture book is a perfect marriage of text and image, and timeless in its message of belonging and community.

Samsara Dog - Helen Manos

Another selection from our very very favourite picture books. I love this book. It is a very impactful book that tells the story of a dog's many lives and deaths from a Buddhist perspective of reincarnation. It is a beautiful way to touch on the themes of death and redemption, and on the transformative and ultimately saving power of love, very deep and transcendental topics for anyone. I feel that this book speaks of this process so well, so gently, and so powerfully. The accompanying illustrations by Julie Vivas are very dynamic and emotional, and a really wonderful accompaniment. I wish this book was better known in Australia, or perhaps, better appreciated.

Book Description:

"This hauntingly beautiful picture book looks at life, love and dying from a Buddhist perspective.

Samsara Dog lived many lives. Some of his lives were long. Some lasted only a few days. Dog never remembered them. He lived each life as it came until one day he learned the most important lesson of all."

So that concludes my first list of Dearly Loved Australian Picture Books. I realised while compiling this that many of the titles are from my own childhood, and that, while going through my own collection, I did not have as many Australian books as I would have perhaps liked to have. I feel the need to explore a bit more, and hopefully find some previously unknown gems. But I would be very grateful for recommendations from those who have read this blog post.

There are some more I would have liked to add to this post, but I'll pop them in a second list in the future. For now, I hope that if any of these books are new to you, you get a chance to explore them with your children.

R.