Aussie Authors

Australian Children's Literature 1930-1950

2005-08-22T12:16:00.000+09:30

Australian Children's Literature
1930 - 1950

This list of books, published in or about Australia,
has been compiled with the help of the work of
Saxby, McVitty and Muir - see Thanks.
Dates and titles are as accurate as possible
First editions only have been included.

1931
Bourne, Gwen, Wonder World Fairy Tale Book, Cecil Palmer, London, UK.
Bruce, Mary Grant, Bill of Billabong, Ward Lock, London, UK. (Tenth Billabong Book).
Davison, Frank Dalby, Man-Shy, Australian Author's Publishing Co., Sydney, NSW.
- Published in London by Eyre and Spottiswoode, 1934. Second British Edition released in 1949 under the title Red Heifer.
Idriess, Ion, Lasseter's Last Ride, Angus & Robertson, Sydney, NSW.
Malin, Lyn, Stories of Faeryland, Hassell Press, Adelaide, S. A.

1932
Bruce, Mary Grant, Road to Adventure, Ward Lock, London, UK.
Cohn, Ola, The Fairies' Tree, Tatlock Miller, Geelong, Vic.
Cohn, Ola, More About Fairies' Tree, Tatlock Miller, Geelong, Vic.

1933
Bone, Walter, Hoppity: Being the Adventures of an Albino Kangaroo, Walter H. Bone, Sydney, NSW.
Bruce, Mary Grant, Billabong’s Luck, Ward Lock, London, UK. (Eleventh Billabong Book).
Mack, Louise, Teens Triumphant, Stephenson, Sydney, NSW. Dorothy Wall's Blinky Bill
Nicholls, Brooke, Jacko the broadcasting Kookaburra, Angus & Robertson, Sydney, NSW. (illus. by Dorothy Wall).
Souter, D. H, Bush Babs, (A book of verse illus. by the author), Endeavour Press, Sydney, NSW.
Wall, Dorothy, Blinky Bill: The Quaint Little Australian, Angus & Robertson, Sydney, NSW.
Outhwaite, Ida Rentoul, A Bunch of Wildflowers, Angus & Robertson, Sydney, NSW.

1934
Bruce, Mary Grant, Seahawk, Ward Lock, London, UK.
Cooper, Nelle Grant, Australians All: Bush Folk in Rhyme, Angus & Robertson, Sydney, NSW. (illus. by Dorothy Wall).
Nicholls, Brooke, The Amazing Adventures of Billy Penguin, Angus & Robertson, Sydney, NSW. (illus. by Dorothy Wall).
Quin, Tarella, The Other Side of Nowhere, Robertson & Mullens, Melbourne, Vic.
Ryan, E. L, Five Little Bush Girls, (illus. by Betty Paterson), Lothian, Melbourne, Vic.
Villiers, Alan, Whalers of the Midnight Sun, Bles, London, UK.
Wall, Dorothy, Blinky Bill Grows Up, Angus & Robertson, Sydney, NSW.
Wall, Dorothy, The Tale of Bridget and the Bees, Methuen, London, UK.
- Printed by the Artists and Writers Guild Inc., Poughkeepsie, New York, NY, 1935.

1935
Bruce, Mary Grant, Wings Above Billabong, Ward Lock, London, UK. (Twelveth Billabong Book).
Downie, James, Warrigal: The Story of a Wild Horse, Hutchinson, London, UK.
Durack, Mary, All-About: The Story of a Black Community on Argyle Station, Kimberly, The Bulletin, Sydney, NSW.
Hawkins, Sheila, Eena-Meena-Mina-Mo and Benjamin, Warne, London, UK.
O'Harris, Pixie, Pearl Pinkie and Sea Greenie, Angus & Robertson, Sydney, NSW.
Outhwaite, Ida Rentoul, Sixpence to Spend, Angus & Robertson, Sydney, NSW.
Shead, Isobel Ann, Sandy, Hutchinson, London, UK.
Wall, Dorothy, Brownie; The Story of a Naughty Little Rabbit, Angus & Robertson, Sydney, NSW.

1936
Bruce, Mary Grant, Circus Ring, Ward Lock, London, UK.
Cohn, Ola, Castles in the Air, Tatlock Miller, Melbourne, Vic.
Cottrell, Dorothy, Wilderness Orphan: The Life and Adventures of Chut the Kangaroo, Angus & Robertson, Sydney, NSW.
Davison, Frank Dalby, Children of the Dark People, Angus & Robertson, Sydney, NSW. (illus. by Pixie O'Harris).
Downie, John, Galloping Hoofs; A Story of Australian Men and Horses, Nelson, London, UK.
Durack, Mary, Chunuma, The Bulletin, Sydney, NSW.
Goode, Arthur Russell, (pseud. Arthur Russell), The Caves of Barrakee, B.O.P., London, UK.
Lawson, Will, When Cobb & Co. Were King, Angus & Robertson, Sydney, NSW.
Rentoul, Annie, Bush Songs of Australia for Young and Old, George Robertson, Melbourne, Vic.
Wall, Dorothy, Stout Fellows: Chum, Angelina Wallaby, Um-pig and Flip, Angus & Robertson, Sydney, NSW.

1937
Bruce, Mary Grant, Billabong Gold, Ward Lock, London, UK. (Thirteenth Billabong Book).
Mass, Nuri, Australian Wild-flower Fairies, Shakespeare Head, Sydney, NSW.
Shead, Isobel Ann, Clancy, Hutchinson, London, UK.
Villiers, Alan, Stormalong, (illus. by James Fuller), Scribner, New York, NY. (and Routledge, London, UK, 1938).
Wall, Dorothy, Blinky Bill and Nutsy: Two Little Australians, Angus & Robertson, Sydney, NSW.
Wall, Dorothy, The Rainy Day, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Sydney, NSW.

1938
Bruce, Mary Grant, Told by Peter, Ward Lock, London, UK.
Hatfield, William, Buffalo Jim, Open University Press, London, UK.
Lister, Gladys, The Little Round Garden, Angus & Robertson, Sydney, NSW. (illus. by Pixie O'Harris).

1939
Bruce, Mary Grant, Son of Billabong, Ward Lock, London, UK. (Fourteenth Billabong Book).
Davison, Fred, Duck Williams and His Cobbers, Angus & Robertson, Sydney, NSW. Hawkins, Sheila, Little Grey Colo, Hamish Hamilton, London, UK.
Hawkins, Sheila, The Panda and the Piccaninny, Hamish Hamilton, London, UK.
Lindsay, Norman, The Flyaway Highway, Angus & Robertson, Sydney, NSW.
Lister, Gladys, The Little Round House, Angus & Robertson, Sydney, NSW. (illus. by Pixie O'Harris).
Mellor, Dorothy, (Date Uncertain) Mickles and Muckles, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Sydney, NSW. (illus. by Dorothy Wall).
Villiers, Alan, Joey Goes To Sea, (illus. by Victor Dowling), Scribner, New York, NY.

1940
Bruce, Mary Grant, Peter and Co., Ward Lock, London, UK. (The sequel to Told by Peter).
Durack, Mary, Piccaninnies, Offset Printing, Sydney, NSW. (illus. by Elizabeth Durack).
Durack, Mary, Son of Djaro, Samson, Perth, WA.
Gibbs, May, Gumnuts, Angus & Robertson, Sydney, NSW.
Lister, Gladys, The House That Beckons, New Century Press, Sydney, NSW. (illus. by Pixie O'Harris).
O'Harris, Pixie, The Pixie O'Harris Story Book, Angus & Robertson, Sydney, NSW.
Wall, Dorothy, Blinky Bill Joins the Army, Angus & Robertson, Sydney, NSW.
Weigal-Chase, Cedric and Sylvia, Hookum's Gang; or The Story of Jimmie and His Elephant, New Century, Sydney, NSW.

1941
Barrett, Charles & Shead, Isobel, Kooborr the Koala, Oxford, London, UK.
Bruce, Mary Grant, Karalta, Angus & Robertson, Sydney, NSW.
Cheyne, Irene Annette of River Bend, Angus & Robertson, Sydney, NSW.
Durack, Mary, The Way of the Whirlwind, Consolidated Press, Sydney, NSW. (illus. by Elizabeth Durack).
Gibbs, May, Scotty in Gumnut Land, Angus & Robertson, Sydney, NSW.
Lister, Gladys, Jennifer Stands By, Angus & Robertson, Sydney, NSW.
Lister, Gladys, The Song Goes On, New Century Press, Sydney, NSW. (illus. by R. M. Thompson and the author).
MacIntyre, Elisabeth, Ambrose Kangaroo: A story that never ends, Consolidated Press, Sydney, NSW. (Printed in New York by Scribner, 1942).
O'Harris, Pixie, The Babes in the Wood, Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood (3 Vols.), New Century Press, Sydney, NSW.
O'Harris, Pixie, The Fortunes of Poppy Treloar, Angus & Robertson, Sydney, NSW.
Shead, Isobel Ann, The Flying Kangaroo, Hutchinson, London, UK.

1942 'Three large H's in varying stages of collapse' from 'The Little Grammar People'. ''Urrah!, 'urrah!, 'urrah! he shouted... 'Young man would you have the goodness to pick up all those H's you've just dropped?'
Bruce, Mary Grant, Billabong Riders, Ward Lock, London, UK. (Fifteenth Billabong Book).
Lister, Gladys, Dawn Mother, Angus & Robertson, Sydney, NSW. (illus. by J. Abbott, P. O'Harris and others).
Lister, Gladys, Grandpuff and Leafy, Marchant, Sydney, NSW.
- Original Dedication 'To her Excellency The Lady Gowrie and to every child with a soldier daddy'. (illus. by Joyce Abbott and Gladys Lister).
Mass, Nuri, The Little Grammar People, Angus and Robertson, Sydney, NSW.
O'Harris, Pixie, Marmaduke the Possum, Angus and Robertson, Sydney, NSW.
Wall, Dorothy, Blinky Bill's Dress-Up Book, Offset Printing Co., Sydney, NSW.

1943
Gibbs, May, Mr. & Mrs. Bear and Friends, Angus & Robertson, Sydney, NSW.
Mass, Nuri, Magic Australia, Angus and Robertson, Sydney, NSW.
O'Harris, Pixie, Rondel the Fair, Currawong, Sydney, NSW.
O'Harris, Pixie, Goolara, Currawong, Sydney, NSW.

1944
Lister, Gladys, Leafy and Prince Brumby, Dawfox Productions, Sydney, NSW. (illus. by Joyce Abbott).
MacIntyre, Elisabeth, The Handsome Duckling, Dawfox, Sydney, NSW.
MacIntyre, Elisabeth, The Black Lamb, Dawfox, Sydney, NSW.
MacIntyre, Elisabeth, The Forgetful Elephant, Dawfox, Sydney, NSW.
MacIntyre, Elisabeth, The Willing Donkey, Dawfox, Sydney, NSW.
MacIntyre, Elisabeth, Ambrose Kangaroo Has a Busy Day, Angus & Robertson, Sydney, NSW.
O'Harris, Pixie, Rocks of Han, Currawong, Sydney, NSW.
O'Harris, Pixie, Poppy and the Gems, Currawong, Sydney, NSW.
Pirani, Julie, Everybody's Babies, (illus. by Betty Paterson), Victory Publicity, Melbourne, Vic.

1945
Charles, H, Australian Nursery Rhymes, (illus. by Esther & Betty Paterson), Stevens, Melbourne, Vic.
Deans, Leslie, The Imp and the Fairy, (illus. by Esther & Betty Paterson), Victory Publicity, Melbourne, Vic.
O'Harris, Pixie, Pixie O'Harris Songs for Children, Davis, Sydney, NSW.

1946
Davison, Frank Dalby, Dusty, Angus & Robertson, Sydney, NSW. (also published by Angus & Robertson, London and Coward McCann, New York, in the same year).
Durack, Mary, The Magic Trumpet, Cassell, Melbourne, Vic. (illus. by Elizabeth Durack).
Lister, Gladys, Little Round Stairway, New Century Press, Sydney, NSW.
MacIntyre, Elisabeth, Katherine, Consolidated Press, Sydney, NSW.
- Previously released as Susan, Who Lives in Australia by Scribner, New York in 1944. Released in Australia and Britain in 1946 and rep. in 1958.
O'Harris, Pixie, Princess of China, Currawong, Sydney, NSW.

1947
O'Harris, Pixie, Poppy Faces the World, Angus & Robertson, Sydney, NSW.
Wall, Dorothy, Blinky Bill's ABC Book, Offset Printing Co., Sydney, NSW.
Wall, Dorothy. (194?), A Tiny Story of Blinky Bill, Offset Printing Co., Sydney, NSW.

1948
Gibbs, May, The Complete Adventures of Snugglepot and Cuddlepie, Angus & Robertson, Sydney, NSW.
Lister, Gladys, I Wouldn't If I Were You, Angus & Robertson, Sydney, NSW.
Lister, Gladys, Leafy's Seventh Wave, Angus & Robertson, Sydney, NSW.
(illus. by Joyce Abbott)
- Part of the 'Leafy Series' Leafy and the Play Kittens and Leafy on the Mistletoe Swing (copies of which have not been found)
Lister, Gladys, Whither Jennifer?, Angus & Robertson, Sydney, NSW.
Outhwaite, Ida Rentoul, Nursery Rhymes, Murfett, Melbourne, Vic.
O'Harris, Pixie. (Date Unknown), Marmaduke the Possum In the Cave of the Gnomes, Angus & Robertson, Sydney, NSW.

1949
Lister, Gladys, Tubby the Little Round Bear, Angus & Robertson, Sydney, NSW.

Villiers, Alan

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Alan Villiers
1903 - 1982

Alan John Villiers spent the majority of his life on the ocean and his love and respect of the sea shines through in all his works. Born in Melbourne in 1903, Villiers left school at the age of fifteen to 'go to sea' and made numerous journeys to ports all over the world. His travels took him to nearly every ocean on earth and many times around the notorious Cape of Good Hope and the treacherous Cape Horn. Alan spent a brief soujourn as a journalist in Hobart, but the sea was soon to lure him back again, when in 1923 he set sail with the first Norwegian whalers to the Antarctic. These adventures of course became the basis for his hugely successful Whalers of the Midnight Sun, but this was not published until 1934. This was the first of his works for children and over the years, Villiers continued to write for both children and adults publishing a total of 38 volumes, eight of which were for children.

Villiers' main inspiration for his stories came from from his own life, which from his books, must have been a fascinating one, he also wrote of historic events and great sailors before him. His experiences racing from Australia to England in 1927 in the Herzogin Cecilie against the Beatrice formed the basis of Falmouth for Orders: The story of a sailing race around Cape Horn and his love of history and battles at sea inspired such works as The Battle of Trafalgar. Falmouth for Orders (1929), is the story of the clipper grain race from Australia to England between the four masted barques - Herzegin Cecilie and the Beatrice in 1928. Alan boarded the Herzegin Cecilie in Port Lincoln, South Australia and they reached Falmouth in England, 114 days later. He was later to record the journey of the four masted grain barque, the Parma along the same route in 1932. Grain Race tells this tale as a day by day account of the Parma carrying 5000 tonnes of wheat from Australia to Falmouth, arriving in just 103 days.

The square-rigged sailing ships of old were a great love of Villiers' life and he spent many years sailing around the world and becoming an expert in their handling. So much so that his skills were often called upon by movie makers, for example, in the re-enactment of the Pilgrims journey to America on the Mayflower. The New Mayflower (1959), describes this voyage and brings a sense of what the journey must have been like all those years before. Give Me A Ship To Sail also tells the story of The Mayflower journey, and describes Villiers' adventures sailing the Pequod replica for John Huston's film Moby Dick. Way of a Ship (1953), also tells the story of these great sailing ships of the past, 'Being some account of the ultimate development of the ocean going square-rigged sailing vessel and the manner of her handling, her voyage making, her personnel, her economics, her performance, and her end'.

Sadly, Alan's ambition of captaining the replica of the Endeavour and retracing the voyages of Captain Cook were never realised, for Villiers died in 1982, in Oxford, having lived in England for many years. His respect for Cook as a sailor however was expressed through his book Captain James Cook (1967?), this was a biographical account of his life and travels, illustrated by numerous maps and black and white drawings. Villiers also collaborated with other great nautical writers and sailors to produce certain volumes, including Henri Picard, to write of the great bounty ships of France. These tell the story of the great sailing ships of the French merchant marine which sailed between 1870 and 1920. Subsidised by the French people and its parliament as a national asset, The Bounty Ships of France: The Story of the French Cape Horn Sailing Ships tells the story of these three, four and five masted ships.

Captain Alan Villiers

Famous Captains of the Coral Sea

Captain William Dampier

Captain William Bligh

Commodore Byron

Villiers' travels took him to virtually every ocean on earth, which inspired him to produce his Oceans of the World Series. This included Wild Ocean - the story of the Atlantic Ocean and the men who sailed it - a geographical and historical account of the voyages and adventures on the Atlantic ocean, beginning with Christopher Columbus. It contains photographs and drawings and information about the men and women who explored the Atlantic, the pirates, the whalers, the shipwrecks and the two world wars. The Coral Sea is a 'history of explorations, outlaws, desperados, runaway whalemen, beachcombers, treacherous wooders, blackbirders and missionaries'. It contains maps drawn by Stephen J. Voorhies and numerous historic photographs, accompanying those of the author. The Western Oceans is also a geographical and historic account of such master seamen as the Phoenicians, the Vikings and Christopher Columbus. It contains stories of the Spanish Main, the Roanoke mystery, the Jamestown story, the Mayflowers' travels, of privateers, pirates, slavers, whalemen, fishermen, the packet ships, the Mary Celeste and the two world wars. Monsoon Seas (1952) is the story of the Indian Ocean with maps and photographs and tells of 'exploration, battles, shipwrecks and a history of the Indian Ocean as the great spice seaway between Australia, South/East Asia, India and Africa'.

Author blurb from The Coral Sea:
Born at Melbourne, Australia in 1903, Alan Villiers went to sea when he was fifteen years of age as a cadet in the halfdeck of the barque Rothesay Bay, in the Tasman Sea trade. He was before the mast in the barque James Craig, four-masted barques Belland, Lawhill, Herzegin Cecilie, full-rigged ship Grace Harwar, and the schooner Hawk. He saw service with the Australian Commonwealth Government Line; was a member of a pioneer modern whaling voyage to the Antarctic; ran the four-masted barque Parma in the Australian grain trade from 1931 to 1934; sailed the Joseph Conrad around the world in 1934-36; sailed with the Arabs in deep-sea and coastal dhows, 1938-39; joined the British Navy early in 1940 and saw war service in the Mediterranean, the Normandy landings, in Burma, Java, and Indo-China; and was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross (DSC).

Villiers was a man with a great love of life and living, having travelled all over the world. As the above blurb indicates Alan was awarded the DSC for bravery and excellence and travelled in a wide variety of vessels including Arab dhows, square riggers, World War II landing craft and in the nuclear ship Savannah. Sons of Sinbad: The great tradition of Arab seamanship in the Indian Ocean is an account of Villiers travels with the Arabs in the Red Sea around the coast of Africa and Arabia to Zanzibar and Tanganyika. It is the story of the great pearl fishers of the Persian Gulf, the life of the ship masters, and of mariners and merchants of Kuwait. His 1930 publication By Way of Cape Horn tells the story of the voyage of the Grace Harwar, to make a motion picture record of life aboard one of the last full rigged deep sea sailing ships. It includes photographs by Villiers and also Ronald Gregory Walker who was killed during the voyage. The book is dedicated 'To the memory of Roland Walker' and contains the following words, 'written about two years before he was buried from the poop of the Finnish full-rigged ship Grace Harwar, on the road to Cape Horn'.

The Grace Harwar

Roland Walker who was killed tragically on board and buried at sea

Could I but lie in the ocean deep,

'Neath the slumbering surges ever to sleep,
Where waves eternal stir the sands
And move the seaweeds' sodden strands;
Buried for aye in the Sea's deep bed,
Dead to the world: to myself not dead;
Listening there to the breakers' boom,
Watching the sunlight's filtered gloom
Till the Sea shall cast up her dead.

Villiers also had a great love of youth and of sharing his adventures with them, not only through his books but also his life. In 1934, Villiers bought the sqaure-rigged training ship the George Stage, he eventually renamed it the Joseph Conrad and spent the following years sailing around the world with school boys as his crew. The Cruise of the Conrad (1955), describes some of these adventures, which were no doubt truly memorable for all those involved. The Joseph Conrad, a ship of 212 tons, spent 3 years cruising the world from 1934 to 1936, visiting such places as the East Indies, the South Seas, and becoming the last of the full rigged sailing ships to travel around Cape Horn. The Cruise of the Conrad includes numerous photographs, a glossary, a list of crew members, extracts from the log book, charts and plans. Stormalong: The story of a boys voyage around the world in a full-rigged ship is another children's book telling the adventures of the boys on board the Joseph Conrad. It is illustrated by James Fuller with photographs by Villiers and is the story of two of the cadets, nicknamed Stormalong and Hardcase. Making of a Sailor (1938) is also the story of both the George Stage and the Joseph Conrad in photographs. It includes 200 photographs of the 'methods employed on board in the making of youthful sailors'!

Cover design to Whalers of the Midnight Sun

Whalers of the Midnight Sun is highly praised as one of the greatest adventure stories produced by an Australian, featuring the unconquerable ocean in a leading role. Although first published in 1934, it wasn't until its re-release in Australia in 1949 that it won the Children's Book Council award for the Best Australian Children's Book of the Year. It is the story of three teenagers gaining work on the first ever whaling expedition to the Antarctic. A younger brother of one stows away and therefore also joins in the adventures. This is an extraordinary book of survival against the bleakest odds, with nature at her most powerful and cruel. For me, who just cannot get enough clothes on in winter! - The thought of walking the ice in Antarctica or plunging into the ocean, or standing in such icey winds, is beyond all belief that anyone even thinks of doing such things - let alone survives! It is a powerful book, one that modern day thoughts of saving the whale must be set aside for, as it is gruesome and shocking.

Whalers of the Midnight Sun is the children's version of the 1925 Whalers in the Frozen South, which also tells the story of the 1923/24 Norwegian whaling expedition to the Antarctic, featuring Alan's own photographs as illustrations. Whalers of the Midnight Sun is also unique in that the illustrations by Charles Pont are woodcuts. Even in the 1930's this was a dying art and is almost unheard of today. Illustrations of the different whales and the equipment are to scale and pictures of the landscape and the ships are detailed and accurate. The dark nature of the woodcuts, in their eerie black and white add to the atmosphere of the story, to the overall mood, the harsh conditions, and the men's discontentment. Saxby (1969, p. 173) comments, 'The reader turns from this powerful story with the conviction that it is not the leaving of life that matters, but its living - and here at last is a theme worth presenting to children.'

'The ice bridge was above them'
Whalers of the Midnight Sun - woodcut by Charles Pont

'On the grounds'
Whalers of the Midnight Sun - woodcut by Charles Pont

'Pol V was sinking'
Whalers of the Midnight Sun - woodcut by Charles Pont

List of Works for Children
1934, Whalers of the Midnight Sun, (illus. by Charles Pont), Bles, London, UK. (and Scribner, New York, NY). First published in Australia in 1949 by Angus & Robertson and reprinted in 1964 (illus. by James Fuller).
1937, Stormalong,Scribner, New York, NY. (and Routledge, London, UK, 1938).
1937, The Cruise of the 'Conrad', University of London Press, London, UK.
1939, Joey Goes To Sea, Scribner, New York, NY (illus. by Victor Dowling),
1953, Pilot Pete, Scribner, New York, NY. (and Museum Press, London, UK) (illus. by H. T. Caldwell)
1953, And Not to Yield, Hodder & Stoughton, London, UK (illustrated by Jean Main and David Cobb)
1959, The New Mayflower, Scribner, New York, NY. (and Brockhampton, Leicester, UK).
1963, The Battle of Trafalgar, Macmillan, New York, NY.

Further Reading
1929, Falmouth for Orders
1930, By Way of Cape Horn, (First published in the US in 1952 by Scribners of New York)
1931, Sea Dogs of Today
1931, Vanished Fleets
Sea stories of ships and men of old Van Diemans' land'. The history of Hobart and Tasmanian ships at sea - the forward gives thanks to all those involved in Villiers' year long search for information. (Reprinted in 1974 and 1975).
c.1934, The Last of the Wind Ships
c.1934, The Sea in Ships: The story of a sailing ships voyage round Cape Horn
- told through Alan's photographs and featuring a plan of a four masted Barque
c.1938, Grain Race
1940, The Sons of Sinbad: The great tradition of Arab seamanship in the Indian Ocean, (First US edition produced in 1969 by Scribners in New York).
1949, The Coral Sea
c.1949, The Set of the Sails
- featuring photographs by the author, telling the stories of wind ship vayages on the Rothesay Bay and Bellands. Included in the book are tales of the Sir J C Ross, Garce Harwar and the Joseph Conrad
c.1951, The Quest of the Schooner 'Argus': A voyage to the Banks and Greenland
- the story of the Portuguese dory fisherman off the Greenland coast
1952, The Monsoon Seas: The Indian Ocean
1953, The Way of a Ship
1953, The Cutty Sark: Last of a Glorious Era
- Contains an introduction by HRH The Duke of Edinburgh
c.1956, Posted Missing: The story of ships lost without trace in recent times, (Revised edition published in 1974).
c.1957, The Western Ocean - the story of the North Atlantic
c.1957, Wild Ocean
c.1958, The Story of Louis de Rochemont's Windjammer
'The story of the Norwegian windjammer Christian Radich, its crew of young cadets and the film it inspired'. (Includes School of the Sea and Sailing a Square-Rigger)
c.1959, Give me a Ship to Sail
c. 1962, Of Ships and Men
c.1967, Captain James Cook
c.1971, The War with Cape Horn
- featuring maps and illustrations by Adrian Small. This is 'the complete account of the voyages of the great spare-riggers fighting to round the Horn', bringing one hundred years of sailing and trading up to date
c.1972, The Bounty Ships of France (with Henri Picard)
(Date unknown) A Voyage to the South Seas - illustrated by Geoffrey C. Ingleton
(Date unknown) Ocean: Man's Conquest of the Sea
- Which features black and white photographs, maps and illustrations of sea going journeys from ancient to modern times
(Date unknown) The Navigators
(Date unknown) The Last Grain Race
(Date unknown) A Seaman's Selection of Great Sea Stories
(Date unknown) Great Sea Stories

See Also
http://www.nmm.ac.uk/server/show/nav.00500100400e
http://www.aandc.org/collections/alan_villiers_text.html

Barton, Charlotte

2005-08-20T10:42:00.000+09:30

Charlotte Barton
1797 - 1867

Although this portrait may indicate otherwise(!) Charlotte Barton, was described by her daughter as 'particularly handsome and brilliant in appearance, having full black eyes, black hair which curled naturally, and fine features' (cited in McVitty 1989, p. 24). Charlotte was born in London, in 1797 but left at the age of 29, to begin work as a governess to the MacCarthur family in New South Wales. This appointment was short lived however, for while on board ship she met and became engaged to James Atkinson land owner in Sutton Forest, New South Wales.

James and Charlotte were married in 1827 and went on to have four children - Charlotte, Emily, James and Louisa - who were no doubt the models of the four children in A Mother's Offering to Her Children, namely - Clara, Emma, Julius and Lucy. James it seems was also an author, having written An Account of the State of Agriculture in New South Wales, which is still considered today to be a valuable source of information. The Sydney Gazette described him as 'a gentleman of considerable literary attainments, and as a practical agriculturalist... second to none in the Colony' (cited in Muir, 1980, p. 24). Tragically however, James died in 1834 from drinking impure water and Charlotte's happiness in marriage came to an end.

Two years later she married again this time to George Barton, who unfortunately turned out to be insane. Charlotte fled with her children to another of Atkinson's stations before moving to Sydney. She was later to return to Oldbury, Atkinson's property at Sutton Forest, where she died in 1867.

Charlotte Barton, after many years, has finally been accredited as being the author of the first Australian children's book ever produced - A Mother's Offering to Her Children. Until the late 1970's, it was believed that Lady Gordon Bremer was the author, since the book is written anonymously, with the title page merely stating that the book was written by 'A Lady Long Resident in New South Wales'. Marcie Muir, after extensive investigations of the writings and memoirs of Charlotte's daughter, Louisa Atkinson and the discovery that Lady Bremer had not actually been to Australia, realised Charlotte Barton was instead the author.

Cover to the 1979 facsimile edition

McVitty (1969, p. 24), describes A Mother's Offering to Her Children as 'a collection of instructive family fireside talks, in the Catechism style favoured by didactic English writers of the period'. The book takes the form of conversations between the four children and their mother, on a large variety of subjects. These include Australian birds and animals etc, the customs of the Aborigines and various other interesting and unusual topics. Charlotte it seems was very intelligent and well educated, said to have been reading by the age of two! Thus she used her book as a means of teaching and guiding all of her children. Of course the style and language are very old fashioned and dated with the children speaking in a very formal manner, on the most extraordinary subjects!

Saxby, in his book, A History of Australian Children's Literature, discusses the book in detail and provides many examples of the style in which it was written. The title page (Saxby, 1969, p. 20), sets the scene - 'Every creature and everything affords me an opportunity to raise my thoughts to the Creator; and excites me to bless the goodness of him, who has given to all earthly things, the power to please and cheer my soul...'. This however, did not extend to the 'wretched blacks', it seems!! Stories of their savage, uncivilised antics abound, with murder, slaughter, cannibalism and the chopping off of heads!

Clara - Were they cannibals, Mamma?
Mrs. S - Yes, my dear. They ate the eyes and cheeks of the shipwrecked people. This they do with the idea that it increases their desire for the blood of the white people.
Clara - What dreadful sanguinary creatures. It makes one shudder even to hear of it!

What happy, cosy little bedtime tales!

Originals, of A Mother's Offering to her Children, it seems, can only be found in the Mitchell Library, Sydney and the Australian National Library, Canberra, although the 1979 version, is occasionally seen. The limited, signed editions of Marcie Muir's Charlotte Barton, Australia's First Children's Author, provide further insight into this remarkable woman.

Louisa Atkinson
The first Australian born female author

Interestingly, Louisa Atkinson, Charlotte's daughter, also went on to become an author and is considered the first Australian born female author, having produced six novels including Gertude the Emigrant (1857) and Cowanda, or The Veteran's Grant (1859). Louisa was also a regular contributor to both the Sydney Morning Herald and the Sydney Mail. Writing under the pseudonym, A Voice from the Country, Louisa displayed her vast knowledge and love of botany and natural history. She continued her articles throughout the 1860's until her tragic death in 1872, just 18 days after giving birth to her first child.

Publication Dates
1841, A Mother's Offering to her Children: By a Lady Long Resident of New South Wales, Sydney Gazette, Sydney, NSW.
1979, A Mother's Offering to her Children: By a Lady Long Resident of New South Wales, (facsimile edition), Jacaranda Press, Brisbane, Qld.

Further Reading
Muir, Marcie. 1980, Charlotte Barton, Australia's First Children's Author, Wentworth Books, Sydney, NSW.

Australian Children's Literature 1830-1936

2005-08-16T20:25:00.000+09:30

This list of books, published in or about Australia,

has been compiled with the help of the work of
Saxby, McVitty and Muir - see Thanks
Dates and titles are as accurate as possible

First editions only have been included

1830
Porter, Sarah, Alfred Dudley, anon. publisher, London, UK.
- Is considered the first story set entirely in Australia, but contains eight very un-Australian copper plate engravings by an unknown artist.

1831
Prattle, Peter, (pseud.), The Happy Grandmother and Her Grandchildren Who Went to Australia in Amusing and Instructive Tales, T.H.Munday, London, UK.

1840
Goodrich, Samuel Griswold, (pseud. Parley, Peter), Peter Parley's Tales about the World, Containing Europe, Asia, Africa, America and Australia, Darton, London.
- Goodrich began creating the Peter Parley tales in 1827, with Peter Parley's Tales About America. Peter Parley's Tales About the Sea and the Islands in the South Pacific was produced in 1837, with reprints occurring for the next 30 years. The Peter Parley Magazine was begun in 1839 with colour plates introduced in the 1840's. Each year a Christmas Annual edition was released and continued to be well into the 1890's and in 1855 there appeared the Australian Christmas scene - 'Christmas Day at the Diggings'.

1841
Barton, Charlotte, A Mother's Offering to her Children: By a Lady Long Resident of New South Wales, G. W. Evans, Sydney, NSW.
- Until the 1970s it was thought that this book was written by Lady Gordon Bremer, but after extensive research by Marcie Muir, Barton has finally been credited with writing the first Australian book for children.

1851
Lee, Mrs. Sarah, Adventures in Australia; or The Wanderings of Captain Spencer in the Bush and the Wilds; containing accurate descriptions of the habits of the natives and the natural productions and features of the country, Grant & Griffith, London.
- Mrs. Lee it seems has unfortunately never been to Australia, as this story is apparently based on her travels in Africa! The story itself is the unbelievable journey of the hero straight across the continent, from Perth to Sydney. Thankfully the book is partly saved by the illustrations, which were created by J. S. Prout, who had spent some time here.

1854
Howitt, William, A Boy's Adventures in the Wilds of Australia, or Herbert's Notebook, A. Hall, London, UK.
- This was an extremely popular book at the time, with seven reprints occurring in England, three in the USA and one German edition released as well. The story is based on Howitt's trip to Australia in 1852 when he and his son joined the digs in the Australian goldfields. The illustrations are by William Harvey, but are not very Australian since Harvey had never been here, unlike the story which is a first hand account.

1858
Bowman, Anne, The Kangaroo Hunters; or Adventures in the Bush, Routledge, London, UK.
Rowe, Richard, Peter Possum's Portfolio, Publisher Unknown.

1859
Atkinson, Louisa, Cowanda, the Veteran's Grant, J.R Clarke, Sydney (?).
- Louisa is considered the first Australian born children's author and is the daughter of Charlotte Barton, author of A Mother's Offering to her Children.

1860
Meredith, Louisa Anne, Some of my Bush Friends in Tasmania, native flowers, berries and insects drawn from life, Day and Sons, London, UK.
- Illustrated by the author, this is considered Australia's first book of verse, though is equally a lesson in nature studies. It contains detailed paintings of Tasmanian native insects and plants, beautifully presented with botanical detail.
Meredith, Louisa Anne, Loved and Lost! The True Story of a Short Life, Day and Sons, London, UK.
- Written for her son Owen, about the life of their pet parakeet they found in the bush.

1867
Timins, O. F., (pseud. O.F.T.), Station Dangerous and Other Tales for the Young, Nisbet, London, UK.

1869
Franc, Maude Jean, Golden Gifts: An Australian Tale, Scandrett & Elliot, Adelaide, SA.
Rowe, Richard, (pseud. Edward Howe), The Boy in the Bush; A Tale of Australian Life, Bell & Daldy, London, UK.

1870
Cawthorne, W.A. (Date uncertain), Who Killed Cockatoo?, J. M. Lewis, Port Adelaide, SA.
- This was an Australian version of Who Killed Cock Robin? and was illustrated by the author who moved from England to South Australia at the age of sixteen in 1841.

Grundy, F. H, The Demon McGuire, Sydney, publisher unknown.
- A humorous fantasy created and illustrated by Grundy.
Roland, Sarah Anne Charlotte (pseud. Gumsucker), Rosalie's Reward; or The Fairy Treasure, Wreford, Ballarat, Vic.

1871
Desda (pseud.), The Rival Fairies, Turner, Sydney, NSW.
Lockeyear, J. R, Mr. Bunyip; or Mary Somerville's Ramble: An Australian Story for Children, Henry S. Dawson, Melbourne, Vic.
Mason, Cyrus, The Australian Christmas Story Book, Robertson, Melbourne, Vic. (Second edition released in 1872).

1873
Eden, C. H, The Fortunes of the Fletchers: A Story of Life in Canada and Australia, S.P.C.K, London, UK.

1874
Bertie and the Bullfrogs: An Australian Story for Big and Little Children, Printed for private collection, The Adelaide Observer, Adelaide, SA.

1877
Richardson, Robert, Black Harry; or Lost in the Bush, Oliphant, Edinburgh, UK.

1878
Meredith, Louisa Anne, Grandmamma's Verse-Book for Young Australia, Published privately possibly in Hobart, Tas. (Later released as Waratah Rhymes for Young Australia).

1879
Cole, E. W, Cole's Funny Picture Book, Cole, Melbourne, Vic.
Stephens, J. Brunton, Marsupial Bill, publisher unknown.
- Humorous verse with illustrations by J. A. Clarke

1880
Meredith, Louisa Anne, Tasmanian Friends and Foes; Feathered, Furred and Finned: A family chronicle of country life, natural history and veritable adventure, Walch, Hobart, Tas. (& Marcus Ward, London, UK.).
Rowe, Richard, (pseud. Edward Howe), Roughing it in Van Diemen's Land, Bell & Daldy, London, UK.

1881
Kingston, W.H.G., Twice Lost: A Story of Shipwreck and Adventure in the Wilds of Australia, Nelson, London, UK.

1882
Kingston, W.H.G., The Young Barringtons, Cassell, London, UK.

1884
Kingston, W.H.G., Adventures in Australia, Routledge, London, UK.

1886
Farjeon, B. L, The Golden Land; or Links from Shore to Shore, Ward Lock, London, UK.
Henty, G.A, A Final Reckoning; Tale of bush Life in Australia, Blackie, London, UK.

1888
Hodgetts, Prof. J.H, Tom's Nugget: A Story of the Australian Goldfields, Sunday School Union, London, UK.
Stables, William Gordon, From Squire to Squatter; A Tale of the Old Land and the New, John F. Shaw, London, UK.

1889
Fitzgerald, Mary Anne, Australian Furs and Feathers, Edwards Dunlop, Sydney.
Kennedy, B.B, Blacks and Bushrangers: Adventures in Queensland, Sampson Low, London, UK.
Timperly, W. H, Harry Treverton, His Tramps and Troubles, Publisher Unknown
- Edited by Lady Broome, wife of the then Governor of Western of Australia

1890
Cleland, E. Davenport, The White Kangaroo: A Tale of Colonial Life Founded on Fact, Wells Gardner, London, UK.
Stedder, Eleanor, Archie's Find: A Story of Australian Life, Nelson, London, UK.

1891
Fitzgerald, Mary Anne, King Bungaree's Pyalla and Stories Illustrative of Manners and Customs that Prevailed Among Australian Aborigines, Edwards Dunlop, Sydney, NSW.
Meredith, Louisa Anne, Waratah Rhymes for Young Australians, Brooks Day & Son, London.
- Illustrated by A. Andre, the author herself and Emma Minnie Boyd, wife of the famous artist Arthur Boyd, both exceptional artists in their day. This book was a new version of Meredith's previously released Grandmamma's Verse-Book for Young Australia.
Meredith, Louisa Anne, Bush Friends in Tasmania; native flowers, fruits and insects drawn from nature, Macmillan, London, UK.
Robertson, Andrew, The Kidnapped Squatter, and Other Australian Tales, Longmans Green, London, UK.

1892
Fenn, George Manville, The Dingo Boys; or The Squatters of Wallaby Range, Chambers, London, UK.
Hughes, Mrs. F, My Childhood in Australia: A Story for My Children, Digby, London, UK.
Timperly, W. H, Bush Luck: An Australian Story, (illustrated by W. S. Stacey), Religious Tract Society, London, UK.
Campbell, Ellen, An Australian Childhood, Blackie, London, UK.

1894
Turner, Ethel, Seven Little Australians, Ward Lock, London, UK.

1895
Favenc, Ernest (Date Uncertain), Tales of Young Australia, Publishing details not known
- A collection of stories from Josephine Fotheringhame's children's paper Young Australia , illustrated by Percy Spence, an Australian artist living in London
Turner, Ethel, The Family at Misrule, Ward Lock, London, UK.
- Sequel to Seven Little Australians.
Turner, Ethel, The Story of a Baby, Ward Lock, London, UK.
Various Authors, Australian Boys and Girls, Publishing details not known
- A collection of stories, presented in an annual, with works by Ethel Tuner, Louise Mack, Louis Becke and Ernest Favenc. Illustrators included Arthur Collingridge, Bert A. Levy and Walter H. Bone

1896
Chaffey, Ella, The Youngsters of Murray Home, Ward Lock, London, UK.
- The story of the Olsen family, based on Chaffeys own pioneering life with her six children at Renmark on the Murray River. Chaffey comments 'In the beginning I could see no beauty in the landscape spread around us...how soon we came to see our surroundings with different eyes! The glamour of the Murray got us, and we saw beauty everywhere' (cited in McVitty, 1989, pp. 38 - 39). Chaffey returned to Canada and continued to write children's books, but unfortunately this was her only Australian novel.
Favenc, Ernest, The Secret of the Australian Desert, (Illus. by Percy Spence), Blackie, London, UK.
Ferres, Arthur (pseud. for J.W. Kevin), His Cousin the Wallaby and Three Other Australian Stories, George Robertson, Melbourne, Vic.
Favenc, Ernest, Marooned in Australia; The Narrative by Diedrich Buys of his Discoveries and Exploits in Terra Australis Incognita About the Year 1630, (Illus. by Percy Spence), Blackie, London, UK.
Kevin, J.W, (pseud. Arthur Ferres), His First Kangaroo; An Australian Story for Boys, (Illus. by Percy Spence), Blackie, London, UK.
Parker, Kate L, Australian Legendary Tales; Folk-lore of the Noongahburrahs, as told to the Piccaninnies, Melville, Mullen & Slade, Melbourne, Vic.
Turner, Ethel, The Little Larrikin, Ward Lock, London, UK.
Turner, Ethel, The Little Duchess, Ward Lock, London, UK.
- short stories

1897
Kevin, J.W (pseud. Arthur Ferres), His Cousin the Wallaby, Robertson, Melbourne, Vic.
Mack, Louise, Teens; A Story of Australian Schoolgirls, Angus & Robertson, Sydney, NSW. (illus. by Frank Mahony).
Turner, Ethel, Miss Bobbie, Ward Lock, London, UK.
Westbury, F. Atha, Australian Fairy Tales, Ward Lock, London, UK.

1898
Brammall, Bertha, Dusky Dell, BS Adams, Launceston, Tas.
Mack, Louise, Girls Together, Angus and Robertson, Sydney, NSW. (illus. by George W. Lambert).
Turner, Ethel, The Camp at Wandinong, Ward Lock, London, UK.
Whitfield, Jessie Mary, The Spirit of the Bushfire and Other Australian Fairy Tales, (illus. by George Lambert), Angus and Robertson, Sydney, NSW.
Walker, William, S, When the Mopoke Calls, John Long, London, UK.
- Tales of the Australian bush in a beautifully presented book with a coloured cloth cover and over twenty black and white sketches by Simon H. Vedder

1899
A.A.B. and Helumac (pseud.), Australian Wonderland: A Fairy Chain, Ward Lock, London, UK.
Irvine, R. F, Bubbles, His Book, Wiliam Brooks, Sydney, NSW.
- Illustrated by the famous D. H. Souter, who was a prolific illustrator at that time, having worked for The Bulletin for many years, illustrated Ethel Turner's Gum Leaves and for William Brooks' The Children's Newspaper, where the story of Bubbles first appeared.
Pedley, Ethel, Dot and the Kangaroo, Angus and Robertson, Sydney, NSW.
- Considered the first Australian animal fantasy.

1900
MacDonald, Donald, 'At the End of the Moonpath', in Childhood in Bud and Blossom, Children's Hospital Bazaar, Atlas Press, Melbourne, Vic.
McMillan, R, The Voyage of the Monsoon, William Brooks, Sydney.
- A boys adventure story with illustrations by D. H. Souter
Turner, Ethel, Gum Leaves, William Brooks, Sydney, NSW.
Turner, Ethel, Three Little Maids, Ward Lock, London, UK.
- Partly autobiographical, based on the lives of Ethel and her sisters.
Whitfield, Adeline, The Twilight Hour, Examiner Office, Launceston, Tas.

1901
Fulton, Mary, No Time Land, Examiner Office, Launceston, Tas.
Turner, Ethel, The Wonder-Child: An Australian Story, Ward Lock, London, UK.

1902
Turner, Ethel, Little Mother Meg, Ward Lock, London, UK. (The third book in the Seven Little Australians Series).

1903
Turner, Ethel, Betty & Co., Ward Lock, London, UK.
Turner, Lilian, An Australian Lassie, Ward Lock, London, UK.

1904
Campbell, Frances, Two Queenslanders and Their Friends, Alexander Moring, London, UK.
Ernst, Olga, Fairy Tales From The Land of the Wattle, McCarron, Bird, Melbourne, Vic.
Rentoul, Annie, Mollie's Bunyip, Robert Jolley, Melbourne, Vic.
Various Authors, The Coo-ee Reciter, Ward Lock, London, UK.
- By Australian, British and American Authors. Described on the title page as being 'Humorous, pathetic, dramatic, dialect, recitations and readings'!! Authors include; Ethel Turner, Henry Lawson and A.B. Paterson.

1905
Cole, E. W, (Date Unknown) Cole's Funny Picture Book No.1, Cole, Melbourne, Vic.
Cole, E. W, Cole's Funny Picture Book No.2, Cole, Melbourne, Vic.
Gunn, Mrs. Aeneas, The Little Black Princess: A True Story of Life in the Never-Never Land, Alexander Moring Ltd., London, UK. (Melville and Mullen, Melbourne, 1905).
Turner, Ethel, A White Roof-Tree, Ward Lock, London, UK.

1906
Cole, E. W, (Date Unknown) Cole's Childland, Cole, Melbourne, Vic.
Rentoul, Annie, Mollie's Staircase, M. L. Hutchinson, Melbourne, Vic.
Turner, Lilian, Betty the Scribe, Ward Lock, London, UK.
Turner, Ethel, In the Mist of the Mountains, Ward Lock, London, UK.

1907
Bowes, Joseph, The Young Settler: The Story of a New Chum in Queensland, Epworth, London, UK.
Quin, Tarella, Gum-Tree Brownie, George Robertson, Melbourne, Vic.
Rentoul, Annie, Australian Songs for Young and Old, George Robertson, Melbourne, Vic.
Turner, Ethel, The Stolen Voyage, Ward Lock, London, UK.

1908
Cole, E. W, Cole's Kindergarten - 1st Book for Little Australians, Cole, Melbourne.
Gunn, Mrs. Aeneas, We of the Never-Never, Hutchinson, London, UK.
- From the Prelude - 'Land of the Never-Never; that elusive land with an elusive name - a land of dangers and hardships and privations yet loved as few lands are loved - a land that bewitches her people with strange spells and mysteries, until they call her sweet bitter, and bitter sweet'.
Rentoul, Annie, The Lady of the Blue Beads, George Robertson, Melbourne, Vic.
Rowan, Mrs. Ellis, Bill Baillie: His Life and Adventures, Whitcombe & Tombs, Melbourne, Vic.
Turner, Ethel, That Girl, Ward Lock, London, UK.
Turner, Ethel, Happy Hearts : A Picture Book for Boys and Girls, Ward Lock, London, UK.

1909
Emerson, E. S, Santa Claus and a Sun-Dial, George Robertson, Melbourne, Vic.
Mack, Amy Eleanor, A Bush Calender, Angus & Robertson, Sydney.
- A diary and nature study in one, featuring forty-two black and white photographs of flowers and birds, for each month of the year.
Turner, Ethel, Fugitives of Fortune, Ward Lock, London, UK.
The Ethel Turner Birthday Book, Ward Lock, London, UK. (Compiled by Ethel's sister Lilian Turner Thompson)
Turner, Lilian, The Perry Girls, Ward Lock, London, UK.

1910
Bruce, Mary Grant, A Little Bush Maid, Ward Lock, London, UK. (First Billabong Book).
Elias, Edith, In the great Colonial Bush, Methuen, London, UK.
Mack, Amy Eleanor, Bushland Stories For Children, Angus & Robertson, Sydney, NSW. (Vol. 1).
Mack, Amy Eleanor, Birdland Stories, Angus & Robertson, Sydney, NSW. (Vol. 2).
Mack, Amy Eleanor, Waterside Stories, Angus & Robertson, Sydney, NSW. (Vol. 3).
Quin, Tarella, Gum Tree Brownie and Other Faerie Folk of the Never Never, George Robertson, Melbourne, Vic.
Quin, Tarella, Freckles, Alexander Moring, London, UK.
Rentoul, Annie, Coo-ee: An Australian Fairy Story, in Australia Today, (Publisher Unknown).
Turner, Ethel, Fair Ines, Hodder & Stoughton, London, UK.
Turner, Ethel, A Raft in the Bush, Ward Lock, London, UK (Short Stories)
Turner, Lilian, Three New Chum Girls, Ward Lock, London, UK.

1911
Bruce, Mary Grant, Mates at Billabong, Ward Lock, London, UK (Second Billabong Book).
Quin, Tarella, Before the Lamps are Lit, George Robertson, Melbourne, Vic (illustrated by Ida Rentoul Outhwaite)
Sister Agnes, Fairy Tales Told in the Bush, Elliot Stock, London, UK.
Turner, Ethel, The Tiny House and Other Verses, Ward Lock, London, UK.
Turner, Ethel, An Ogre Up-To-Date, Ward Lock, London, UK Short Stories and Verses
Turner, Ethel, Fifteen and Fair, Hodder & Stoughton, London, UK. Verses
Turner, Ethel, The Apple of Happiness, Hodder & Stoughton, London, UK.
Whitfield, Jessie Mary, Tom Who Was Called Rachel, (illus. by N. Tenison), Hodder & Stoughton, London, UK.

1912
Bruce, Mary Grant, Timothy in Bushland, Ward Lock, London, UK.
Bruce, Mary Grant, Glen Eyre, Ward Lock, London, UK.
Turner, Ethel, Ports and Happy Havens, Ward Lock, London, UK.
Whitfield, Jessie Mary, The Colters; An Australian Story for Girls, (illus. by George Soper), Hodder & Stoughton, London, UK.

1913
Bruce, Mary Grant, Norah of Billabong, Ward Lock, London, UK. (Third Billabong Book).
Cole, E. W, Cole's Merry Go Round Story Book, Cole, Melbourne, Vic.
Cole, E. W, Cole's Empire Picture Annual, Cole, Melbourne, Vic.
Cole, E. W, Cole's Chummy Book for Little Australians, Cole, Melbourne, Vic.
Graham, Edith, A Little Bush Poppy, Angus & Robertson, Sydney, NSW.
Mack, Amy Eleanor, Scribbling Sue and Other Stories, Angus & Robertson, Sydney, NSW (featuring illustrations by May Gibbs).
Turner, Ethel, The Secret of the Sea, Hodder & Stoughton, London, UK.
Turner, Lilian, Stairway to the Stars, Ward Lock, London, UK.

1914
Bruce, Mary Grant, Gray's Hollow, Ward Lock, London, UK.
Mack, Amy Eleanor, The Tom-Tit's Nest, Angus & Robertson, Sydney.
Mackness, Constance, Gem of the Flat, Angus & Robertson, Sydney, NSW (illustrated by May Gibbs)
Turner, Ethel, The Flower o' the Pine, Ward Lock, London, UK.
Turner, Ethel, Oh, Boys in Brown, (publisher unknown) Verses
Whitfield, Jessie Mary, Gladys and Jack, (illus. by N. Tenison), Hodder & Stoughton, London, UK.

1915
Bruce, Mary Grant, From Billabong to London, Ward Lock, London, UK. (Fourth Billabong Book).
Littlejohn, Agnes, The Silver Road, Kingston Press, Sydney, NSW. Short Stories and Poems
Peacocke, Isabel Maude, My Friend Phil, Ward Lock, London, UK.
- Peacocke was actually a New Zealand writer and did not write about Australia at all, but her novels were distributed widely throughout Australia at this time and so are included here.
Turner, Ethel, The Cub, Ward Lock, London, UK.

1916
Bruce, Mary Grant, Jim and Wally, Ward Lock, London, UK (Fifth Billabong Book).
Gibbs, May, Gum Blossom Babies, Angus & Robertson, Sydney, NSW.
Gibbs, May, Gumnut Babies, Angus & Robertson, Sydney, NSW.
Rentoul, Annie, Elves and Fairies, Lothian Books Publishing Co., Melbourne, Vic.
- Released as a limited edition of only 800 copies
Peacocke, Isabel Maude, Dickie Knight Errant, Ward Lock, London, UK.
Pyke, Lillian, Max the Sport, Ward Lock, London, UK.
Turner, Ethel, John of Daunt, Ward Lock, London, UK.

1917
Bruce, Mary Grant, Possum, Ward Lock, London, UK.
Cole, E. W, (Date Unknown) Cole's Jingle Jungle Book, Cole, Melbourne, Vic.
Cole, E. W, (Date Unknown) Cole's Jolly Book for Little Australians, Cole, Melbourne, Vic.
Cole, E. W, (Date Unknown) Cole's Jolly Workers Book for Little Australians, Cole, Melbourne, Vic.
Gibbs, May, Boronia Babies, Angus & Robertson, Sydney, NSW.
Gibbs, May, Flannel Flowers and Other Bush Babies, Angus & Robertson, Sydney, NSW.
Pyke, Lillian, Jack of St. Virgils, Ward Lock, London, UK.
Turner, Ethel, Captain Cub, Ward Lock, London, UK.

1918
Bruce, Mary Grant, Dick, Ward Lock, London, UK.
Gaze, Harold, The Wicked Winkapong, Gordon & Gotch, Melbourne
Gaze, Harold, The Mite Merry Series, (Publisher Unknown).
- Includes the story The Simple Jaggajay with a watercolour by the author on the cover and his fantasy tales inside
Gibbs, May, Wattle Babies, Angus & Robertson, Sydney, NSW.
Gibbs, May, Snugglepot and Cuddlepie, Angus & Robertson, Sydney, NSW.
Lindsay, Norman, The Magic Pudding: Being the Adventures of Bunyip Bluegum and His Friends, Bill Barnacle and Sam Sawnoff, Angus & Robertson, Sydney.
Littlejohn, Agnes Star Dust and Sea Spray, Edwards, Dunlop, Sydney, NSW.
Pyke, Lillian, Phil of the Camp, Ward Lock, London, UK.
Turner, Ethel, Australian Soldiers' Gift Book, Voluntary Workers Assoc., Sydney.
Turner, Ethel, St. Tom and the Dragon, Ward Lock, London, UK.

1919
Boylan, Rev. Eustace, The Heart of the School: An Australian School Story, J. R. Stevens, Melbourne, Vic.
Bruce, Mary Grant, Captain Jim, Ward Lock, London, UK (Sixth Billabong Book).
Gaze, Harold, Coppertop: The Queer Adventures of a Quaint Child, Publishing Co., Melbourne, Vic.
Littlejohn, Agnes, Rainbow Dreams, Edwards, Dunlop, Sydney, NSW Short Stories and Poems
Paterson, Esther, Aussie Girls, Melbourne Publishing Co., Melbourne, Vic.
Peacocke, Isabel Maude, The Misdoings of Micky and Mac, Ward Lock, London.
Pornett, Muriel, Mia Mia Mites, Melville & Mullen, Melbourne, Vic.
Pyke, Lillian, Camp Kiddies: A Story of Life on Railway Construction, Specialty Press, Melbourne, Vic.
Pyke, Lillian, A Prince at School, Ward Lock, London, UK.
Rowe, Minnie, Gully Folk, Publishing Co., Melbourne, Vic.
Turner, Ethel, Brigid and the Cub, Ward Lock, London, UK.

1920
Barnard, Marjorie, The Ivory Gate, H. H. Champion, Australiasian Authors Agency, Melbounre, Vic.
Bruce, Mary Grant, Dick lester of Kurrajong, Ward Lock, London, UK.
Bruce, Mary Grant, Rossiter's Farm, Whitcomb and Tombs, Melbourne, Vic.
- Part of the Whitcomb Story Books series for schools and illustrated by Esther Paterson (sister of Betty Paterson)
Cole, E. W, A Railway Book for Little Australians, Cole, Melbourne, Vic.
Cole, E. W, Cole's Happy Time Picture and Nursery Rhyme Book, Cole, Melbourne, Vic.
Gibbs, May, Little Ragged Blossom, Angus & Robertson, Sydney, NSW.
Gaze, Harold, Coppertop Cruises: The Wonderful Voyage of the Good Ship Queercraft, Publishing Co., Melbourne, Vic.
Gaze, Harold, War in Fairyland, Whitcomb and Tombs, Aukland, NZ.
Hall, J. J, Winks: Winks Tells Australian Children What He Saw in the Australian Bush, George Robertson, Melbourne, Vic.
Paterson, Betty (and G. Herman Gill), The Enchanted Evening, Osboldstone, Melbourne, Vic.
Paterson, Esther, Me: A page from my diary, McCubbin Melbourne, Vic.
Pyke, Lillian, Bruce at Boonderong Camp, Ward Lock, London, UK.
Turner, Ethel, Laughing Water, Ward Lock, London, UK.
Wall, Dorothy, Tommy Bear and the Zookies, Triumph Press, Sydney, NSW.

1921
Brain, Paula, Nobody's Fairy, Vardon, Adelaide, S.A.
Bruce, Mary Grant, Back to Billabong, Ward Lock, London, UK. (Seventh Billabong Book).
Cole, E. W, (Date Unknown) Cole's Happy Time Picture and Nursery Rhyme Book No. 2, Cole, Melbourne, Vic.
Cole, E. W, (Date Unknown) Cole's Little Book of Riddles and Jokes, Cole, Melbourne, Vic.
Cole, E. W, Cole's Merry Bird and Animal Picture Book, Cole, Melbourne, Vic.
Curlewis, Jean, The Ship That Never Set Sail, (illustrated by J. M. MacFarlane), Ward Lock, London, UK.
Dennis, C. J, A Book for Kids, Angus & Robertson, Sydney, NSW.
Gaze, Harold, China Cat, Whitcomb and Tombs, Aukland, NZ.
Gaze, Harold, The Enchanted Fish, Whitcomb and Tombs, Aukland, NZ.
Gibbs, May, Little Obelia, Angus & Robertson, Sydney, NSW.
Hall, J. J, The Crystal Bowl, Whitcomb and Tombs, Melbourne, Vic. (illus. by Dorothy Wall).
Outhwaite, Ida Rentoul, The Enchanted Forest, Black, London, UK.
Pyke, Lillian, The Best School of All, Ward Lock, London, UK.
Pyke, Lillian, (Date Unknown), The Harp of Life, Ward Lock, London, UK.
Pyke, Lillian, (Date Unknown), Nursery Rhymes, Ward Lock, London, UK.
Pyke, Lillian, (Date Unknown), Camp Sketches, Ward Lock, London, UK.
Turner, Ethel, King Anne, Ward Lock, London, UK.

1922
Barrett, Charles, (Ed), (pseud. 'Donald Barr'), The Fernland Story Book, (illus. by Betty & Esther Paterson, and others), Whitcomb and Tombs, Melbourne, Vic.
Bruce, Mary Grant, The Cousin From Town, Whitcomb and Tombs, Melbourne.
- Part of the Whitcomb Story Books series for schools and illustrated by Esther Paterson (sister of Betty Paterson).
Bruce, Mary Grant, The Stone Axe of Burkamukk, (Aboriginal Legends), Ward Lock, London, UK.
Cole, E. W, (Date Unknown) Cole's ABC and Other Joys for Little Australian Girls and Boys, Cole, Melbourne, Vic.
Cole, E. W, (Date Unknown) Cole's Animal Picture Book, Cole, Melbourne, Vic.
Cole, E. W, (Date Unknown) Cole's Nursery Rhyme Stories, Cole, Melbourne, Vic.
Cole, E. W, (Date Unknown) Cole's Great Book for Boys, Cole, Melbourne, Vic.
Cole, E. W, Cole's Little Book of Riddles and Jokes, Cole, Melbourne, Vic.
Curlewis, Jean, The Drowning Maze, Ward Lock, London, UK.
Mack, Amy Eleanor, The Wilderness, Angus & Robertson, Sydney, NSW.
Pyke, Lillian, Sheila at Happy Hills, Ward Lock, London, UK.
Rentoul, Annie, The Little Green Road to Fairyland, Black, London, UK.
Turner, Ethel, Jennifer J, Ward Lock, London, UK.

1923
Bruce, Mary Grant, The Twins of Emu Plains, (Aboriginal Legends), Ward Lock, Melbourne, Vic.
Cole, E. W, (Date Unknown) Cole's Funny ABC Book, Cole, Melbourne, Vic.
Cole, E. W, (Date Unknown) Cole's Noisy Picture Book, Cole, Melbourne, Vic.
Cole, E. W, (Date Unknown) Cole's Great Book for Boys No. 2, Cole, Melbourne.
Cole, E. W, (Date Unknown) Cole's Great Girls Book, Cole, Melbourne, Vic.
Cole, E. W, (Date Unknown) Cole's Funny Drawing Book, Cole, Melbourne, Vic.
Correll, Valeria, Gay Gambols: A Nonsense Story, Edward A. Vidler, Melbourne.
Curlewis, Jean, Beach Beyond, Ward Lock, London, UK.
Durack, Mary, Little Poems of Sunshine by an Australian Child, Samson, Perth, WA.
Fleming, William Montgomery, The Bunyip Says So: A Tale of the Australian Bush, Edward A. Vidler, Melbourne, Vic.
Gibbs, May, Nuttybub and Nittersing, Osboldstone, Melbourne, Vic.
Outhwaite, Ida Rentoul, The Little Fairy Sister, Black, London, UK.
Pyke, Lillian, Sheila The Prefect, Ward Lock, London, UK.
Pyke, Lillian, Saturday Island Cassell, Ward Lock, London, UK.
Turner, Ethel & Curlewis, Jean, The Sunshine Family: A Book of Nonsense for Girls and Boys, Ward Lock, London, UK.

1924
Bruce, Mary Grant, Billabong's Daughter, Ward Lock, London, UK. (Eighth Billabong Book).
Curlewis, Jean, The Dawn Man, Ward Lock, London, UK.
Gibbs, May, Chucklebud and Wunkydoo, Osboldstone, Melbourne, Vic.
Littlejohn, Agnes, The Lost Emeralds and Other Stories, Edwards Dunlop, Sydney.
Mackness, Constance, Miss Pickle: The Story of an Australian Boarding School, Open University Press, London, UK.
Pyke, Lillian, Brothers of the Fleet, Ward Lock, London, UK.
Pyke, Lillian, (Date Unknown) Squirmy and Bubbles, Whitcomb & Tombs, Melbourne, Vic.
Turner, Ethel, Nicola Silver, Ward Lock, London, UK.

1925
Bruce, Mary Grant, The Houses of the Eagle, Ward Lock, Melbourne, Vic.
Bruce, Mary Grant, Hugh Stanford's Luck, Cornstalk, Sydney, NSW.
Clark, Mrs. Henry, The Bushranger's Secret, Blackie, London, UK.
Gibbs, May, Bib and Bub; Their Adventures, Cornstalk, Sydney, NSW.
Littlejohn, Agnes, (Date Unknown) The Sleeping Sea Nymph, Edwards Dunlop, Sydney, NSW Short Stories
O'Harris, Pixie, The Pixie O'Harris Fairy Book, Rigby, Adelaide, SA.
Pyke, Lillian, The Lone Guide of Merfield, Ward Lock, London, UK.
Turner, Ethel, The Ungardeners, Ward Lock, London, UK.

1926
Bruce, Mary Grant, Robin, Cornstalk, Sydney, NSW.
Bruce, Mary Grant, The Tower Rooms, Ward Lock, London, UK.
Henstock, Ethel Emily (pseud. E. E. English), Australian Fairy Tales, George A. Jones, Sydney, NSW.
O'Neil, W. J, Budgeree Bill: An Australian Story for Little Australians, Cornstalk, Sydney, NSW.
Outhwaite, Ida Rentoul, The Fairyland of Ida Rentoul Outhwaite, Ramsey, Melbourne, Vic.
- Released as a limited edition of 1000 copies. Featuring verses by Annie Rentoul and prose by Ida's husband Grenbry
Peacocke, Isabel Maude, His Kid Brother, Ward Lock, London, UK.
Pyke, Lillian, The Batcheler Girls, Ward Lock, London, UK.
Turner, Ethel, Funny, Ward Lock, London, UK.

1927
Bruce, Mary Grant, Billabong Adventurers, Ward Lock, London, UK. (Ninth Billabong Book).
Bruce, Mary Grant, Anderson's Jo, Cornstalk, Sydney, NSW.
Fleming, William Montgomery, The Hunted Piccaninnies, Dent, London, UK.
Gibbs, May, The Further Adventures of Bib and Bub, Cornstalk, Sydney, NSW.
Idriess, Ion (Jack), Madman's Island, Cornstalk, Sydney, NSW.
Peacocke, Isabel Maude, Brenda and the Babes, Ward Lock, London, UK.
Pyke, Lillian, The Secret of Wallaby Rock, Ward Lock, London, UK.
Thompson, D. Lindsay, Blue Brander, Ward Lock, London, UK.
- Written by the son of Lilian Turner, this and his later novel The Gang on Wheels were some of the few school stories written for boys.

1928
Bruce, Mary Grant, Golden Fiddles, Ward Lock, London, UK.
Cole, E. W, (Date Unknown) Cole's Intellect Sharpener, Cole, Melbourne, Vic.
Cole, E. W, (Date Unknown) Cole's Fun Doctor, Cole, Melbourne, Vic.
Gibbs, May, More Funny Stories About Old Friends Bib and Bub, Cornstalk, Sydney, NSW.
Lee, Leslie, The Road to Widgewong, Cornstalk, Sydney, NSW.
Mack, Amy Eleanor, The Fantail's House, Cornstalk, Sydney, NSW (Vol. 1).
Mack, Amy Eleanor, The Gum Leaf That Flew, Cornstalk, Sydney, NSW (Vol. 2).
Mack, Amy Eleanor, Why the Spinebill's Beak is Long, Cornstalk, Sydney, NSW (Vol. 3).
Outhwaite, Ida Rentoul, Blossom, Black, London, UK.
Turner, Ethel, Judy and Punch, Ward Lock, London, UK.

1929
Bruce, Mary Grant, The Happy Traveller, Ward Lock, London, UK.
Cole, E. W, Cole's Holiday Book, Cole, Melbourne, Vic.
Gibbs, May, Bib and Bub in Gumnut Town, Halstead Printing Co., Sydney, NSW.
Hawker, Ruth, Us Three, (Publisher Unknown), Adelaide, SA.
Mackness, Constance, Di-Double-Di, Cornstalk, Sydney, NSW.

1930
Methley, Alice, Bushranger's Gold, Black, London, UK.
Outhwaite, Ida Rentoul, Bunny and Brownie, Black, London, UK.
Stow, Catherine, Woggheeguy, F. W. Preece & Sons, Adelaide, SA.
- A book of Aboriginal legends written for children, but in a collector's edition style book of excellent quality. The black and white drawings are by Nora Heysen, daughter of the famous Hans Heysen.
Thompson, D. L, The Gang on Wheels, Ward Lock, London, UK.

Thanks

2005-08-16T20:01:00.000+09:30

I would just like to thank everyone who helped me create this site, in particular the following...