Aboriginal Culture in Children's Books

Paper Summary:

The paper examines aboriginal stories for children that include fantasy, history, dream-time legends and picture books with a strong ethnographic, anthropological basis. The books discussed in this paper included the following: "The Rabbits" by J. Marsden and S. Tan, "Nana's Land" by D. Sarago -Kendrick, "The Two Wallabies" by C. Nicholls and H. Jakamarra, "Journey of the Great Lake" by P. Trezise, "Papunya School Book of Country and History" by N. Wheatley, "Sand Swimmers" by N. Narelle Oliver, "When I Was Little Like You" by M. Mary Malbunka and "The Burnt Stick" by A. Hill.

From the Paper:

"From the time of colonial settlement, aboriginal culture has been represented in various ways within Australian society. Stories of the dreaming that were originally shared vocally, as well as in paintings on rocks and on the land, by aboriginal people are retold today in the written form. Children's books play a vital role in shaping young people's views of the world. Understanding Australian culture and its past; helps shape the relationships between white and aboriginal children in today's society. Focusing on children's books published from 1985 to the present day, representations of aboriginal culture are brought to life in different ways according to the identity of the authors who tell these stories. According to Collins (2002), representations of aboriginality in Western literature, change the cultural reality of the story from the aboriginal perspective into western truths."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Marsden, J. and Tan, S. (1998) The Rabbits. Sydney NSW: Lothiam Books.
• Sarago -Kendrick, D. (2004) Nana's Land. Broome, Western Australia: Magabala Books.
• Nicholls, C and Jakamarra, H. (2002) The Two Wallabies: A dreaming Narrative. Kingswood South Australia: Working Title Press.
• Trezise, P. (1996). Journey of the Great Lake: Home of the Kadimakara People. Australia: Harper Collins.
• Wheatley, N. (2001) Papunya School Book of Country and History. Crows Nest NSW: Allen & Unwin.

More papers on Aboriginal Culture in Children's Books:

• Essay # 86020 : "The Inaccuracy of Multiculturalism in Children's Literature"
• Term Paper # 133829 : "Aboriginal Myth in Arnhem Land"
• Book Review # 102893 : "The Native Girl Syndrome"

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