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[CCBC-Net] Australian Book: My Place
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From: Ginny Moore Kruse <gmkruse>
Date: Mon, 01 Oct 2007 13:52:00 -0500
I want to underscore with enthusiasm what Bina Williams wrote on September 22 about one of my all-time favorite books "My Place," an Australian book not to be missed! Bina wrote, "A book that I wish Kane Miller would reissue in the USA is My Place by Nadia Wheatley and Donna Rawlins which traces a house lot back through time to when the land was not owned by anyone at all. The artwork has the look of a child's pictures which make this a great book for history projects in elementary schools. If only I had bought a copy back when it was in print!"
"My Place" is a memorable, stunning visual and written summary of the way one Australian neighborhood changed, decade by decade, between a century before recorded time to the late 1980s. "My Place" can be read/seen for pleasure on several levels, and it can be taught in more than one curriculum. There are multiple parallels to the settling of North America by colonists and to the multiple challenges of change in any settled environment, urban or small town. Environmental questions arise, and most certainly those related to assimilation can also be discovered.
Here's what was written in "CCBC Choices 1990" about the edition of "My Place" published by Australia in Print: "A powerful cultural history of a fictional Australian neighborhood begins in 1988. This and subsequent double-page spreads are written, designed and illustrated according to a pattern: "My name's Laura, and this is my place ... Our house is the one with the flag on the window ... This is a map of my place. We've got a McDonalds right on the corner. In the ... yard, there's this big tree
... There's a canal ... Mum said it must have been a creek once. It's too dirty to swim in ..." The visual chronology moves backward ten years at a time through 21 decades of Australian immigrations (e.g., Asian, German, Irish, English prisoners); world events (e.g., Vietnam War, World Wars, U.S. gold rush); and economic changes (e.g., land ownerships and uses, Labor movement) affecting ordinary families. Differences and effects of cultures and classes are suggested. The tree and the water represent steady points of reference and subtle change in each decade. The people indigenous to Australia claim the dramatic final double page spread showing a rural sunset before contact with the British. This stunning intellectual and political reiteration of the Aboriginal flag mentioned and seen at the beginning of this outstanding, award-winning 10 1/4" x 9 3/4" book invites already-intrigued readers into repeated experiences with the narrations and detailed images."
Be certain to cite the author and illustrator when searching for a library copy or one to purchase, because there's an adult novel with the same title. But do search for "My Place" by Nadia Wheatley and Donna Rawlins! It's a keeper.
Cordially, Ginny SLIGHTLY ALTERED E-MAIL ADDRESS: gmkruse at wisc.edu
Received on Mon 01 Oct 2007 01:52:00 PM CDT
Date: Mon, 01 Oct 2007 13:52:00 -0500
I want to underscore with enthusiasm what Bina Williams wrote on September 22 about one of my all-time favorite books "My Place," an Australian book not to be missed! Bina wrote, "A book that I wish Kane Miller would reissue in the USA is My Place by Nadia Wheatley and Donna Rawlins which traces a house lot back through time to when the land was not owned by anyone at all. The artwork has the look of a child's pictures which make this a great book for history projects in elementary schools. If only I had bought a copy back when it was in print!"
"My Place" is a memorable, stunning visual and written summary of the way one Australian neighborhood changed, decade by decade, between a century before recorded time to the late 1980s. "My Place" can be read/seen for pleasure on several levels, and it can be taught in more than one curriculum. There are multiple parallels to the settling of North America by colonists and to the multiple challenges of change in any settled environment, urban or small town. Environmental questions arise, and most certainly those related to assimilation can also be discovered.
Here's what was written in "CCBC Choices 1990" about the edition of "My Place" published by Australia in Print: "A powerful cultural history of a fictional Australian neighborhood begins in 1988. This and subsequent double-page spreads are written, designed and illustrated according to a pattern: "My name's Laura, and this is my place ... Our house is the one with the flag on the window ... This is a map of my place. We've got a McDonalds right on the corner. In the ... yard, there's this big tree
... There's a canal ... Mum said it must have been a creek once. It's too dirty to swim in ..." The visual chronology moves backward ten years at a time through 21 decades of Australian immigrations (e.g., Asian, German, Irish, English prisoners); world events (e.g., Vietnam War, World Wars, U.S. gold rush); and economic changes (e.g., land ownerships and uses, Labor movement) affecting ordinary families. Differences and effects of cultures and classes are suggested. The tree and the water represent steady points of reference and subtle change in each decade. The people indigenous to Australia claim the dramatic final double page spread showing a rural sunset before contact with the British. This stunning intellectual and political reiteration of the Aboriginal flag mentioned and seen at the beginning of this outstanding, award-winning 10 1/4" x 9 3/4" book invites already-intrigued readers into repeated experiences with the narrations and detailed images."
Be certain to cite the author and illustrator when searching for a library copy or one to purchase, because there's an adult novel with the same title. But do search for "My Place" by Nadia Wheatley and Donna Rawlins! It's a keeper.
Cordially, Ginny SLIGHTLY ALTERED E-MAIL ADDRESS: gmkruse at wisc.edu
Received on Mon 01 Oct 2007 01:52:00 PM CDT
