Other Book Reviews

The books reviewed here have not been donated by a publisher.

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Australian history and politics

Encountering Terra Australis: The Australian Voyages of Nicolas Baudin and Matthew Flinders

Dampier’s Monkey, the South Sea Voyages of William Dampier

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, Australia’s Prime Ministers

Children’s Books

2011 CBCA Book of the Year shortlist

Dragon Dawn by Carole Wilkinson

Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson

Collecting Colour by Kylie Dunstan

This is a terrific book to use when incorporating Aboriginal Perspectives into other units of work.

It’s the story of best friends Olive and Rose, who live with their families in the Top End.  The women of their community make beautiful hand crafted bags, baskets and mats from pandanus leaves, and the book shows how they harvest the leaves, gather roots and berries to make brightly-coloured dyes, and then weave the leaves into useful household items.

The book marries the use of traditional techniques with modern technology such as cars, showing that these crafts are still thriving in the 21^st century.  It also shows friendship between indigenous and non-indigenous children and how they both learn from elders in the community.

I think it would be a useful resource for units of work about

• plants & trees and how they are used,
• paid and non-paid work,
• family and community, or
• how things are made.

Collecting Colour is shortlisted in the 2009 CBCA Book of the Year Award.

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