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[CCBC-Net] Australia (images of)
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From: DAJ <daj9999>
Date: Thu, 20 Sep 2007 18:02:49 -0700 (PDT)
--- MShuttleworth at slv.vic.gov.au wrote:
> I guess what I am asking is this: where do you see
> these books fitting in
> the American imagination, in creating an image of
> Australia ?
That's an interesting question, because the writer that *didn't* initially come to mind when I was thinking about Australian authors was Bob Graham, though his _"Let's Get a Pup" Said Kate_ is a favorite with my children's lit students (and a favorite of mine). They've no idea Graham is Australian, however, unless they've researched him for an illustrator presentation, because there's nothing that identifies setting in the book.
The flip side of that is Ormerod's _Lizzie Nonsense_. When I spotted it in the bookstore, I flipped through it, enjoyed the pictures, and was about to add it to a group of titles on 19th-century America -- until I took a closer look at the background in later pictures. The early pages (at least what I remember) are virtually interchangeable with many picture books about American frontier life, but as the story goes on, Australian markers (I think it was the kangaroo that finally made me stop and look more closely) become more prominent; it was intriguing to see a story that was simultaneously so similar to yet different from the narrative I'd expected.
DAJ
19th-Century Girls Series - http://www.readseries.com
____________________________________________________________________________________ Moody friends. Drama queens. Your life? Nope! - their life, your story. Play Sims Stories at Yahoo! Games. http://sims.yahoo.com/
Received on Thu 20 Sep 2007 08:02:49 PM CDT
Date: Thu, 20 Sep 2007 18:02:49 -0700 (PDT)
--- MShuttleworth at slv.vic.gov.au wrote:
> I guess what I am asking is this: where do you see
> these books fitting in
> the American imagination, in creating an image of
> Australia ?
That's an interesting question, because the writer that *didn't* initially come to mind when I was thinking about Australian authors was Bob Graham, though his _"Let's Get a Pup" Said Kate_ is a favorite with my children's lit students (and a favorite of mine). They've no idea Graham is Australian, however, unless they've researched him for an illustrator presentation, because there's nothing that identifies setting in the book.
The flip side of that is Ormerod's _Lizzie Nonsense_. When I spotted it in the bookstore, I flipped through it, enjoyed the pictures, and was about to add it to a group of titles on 19th-century America -- until I took a closer look at the background in later pictures. The early pages (at least what I remember) are virtually interchangeable with many picture books about American frontier life, but as the story goes on, Australian markers (I think it was the kangaroo that finally made me stop and look more closely) become more prominent; it was intriguing to see a story that was simultaneously so similar to yet different from the narrative I'd expected.
DAJ
19th-Century Girls Series - http://www.readseries.com
____________________________________________________________________________________ Moody friends. Drama queens. Your life? Nope! - their life, your story. Play Sims Stories at Yahoo! Games. http://sims.yahoo.com/
Received on Thu 20 Sep 2007 08:02:49 PM CDT
