Children’s novels are the most important we will ever read because they inspire our love of literature – so it is essential we can read stories about the world we live in, with Australian characters, situations, and environments. Yet it took a long time for our stories to reflect the reality of our lives. It was only after WW2 and the establishment of the Children’s Book Council of Australia, that there were enough successful writers to shape the culture permanently, so that novels dealing with significant issues could express the truth of young people’s experience – magical, mysterious, humorous, and deep.
- Context, creation, plot, themes, and legacy of these children’s authors and their novels
- 19th century: Charlotte Waring Atkinson (1841), Robert Richardson (1877), Ethel Turner (1894), Louise Mack (1897), Ethel Pedley (1899)
- 1901- 1949: Jeannie Gunn (1905), Mary Grant Bruce (1910), May Gibbs (1918), Norman Lindsay (1918), Dorothy Wall (1933)
- 1950-1959: Ivan Southall (1950), Joan Phipson (1953), Patricia Wrightson (1955), Nan Chauncy (1957), Elyne Mitchell (1958)
- 1960-1969: Eleanor Spence (1960), Colin Thiele (1961), Ruth Park (1962), Hesba Brinsmead (1964), Mavis Thorpe Clark (1966)
- 1970- 1990: Robin Klein (1984), Nadia Wheatley (1984), Paul Jennings (1985), Victor Kelleher (1986), Gillian Rubinstein (1986), Morris Gleitzman (1989)
- 1986-2000: Gary Crew (1990), Jackie French (1991), Gary Disher (1992), John Marsden (1993), Emily Rodda (1993), Andy Griffiths (1997), Marchetta, Melina.
By the end of this course, student should be able to::
- Outline the lives of these writers and name their most significant works
- Discuss themes and issues that evolved in Australian children’s literature
- Discuss the reasons that children’s novels have flourished or languished in Australia
