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y separately published work icon Children of the Dark People : An Australian Story for Young Folk single work   children's fiction   children's  
Issue Details: First known date: 1936... 1936 Children of the Dark People : An Australian Story for Young Folk
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

Set 'in the days before the coming of the white man', this is the story of Jackadgery and Nimmitybelle, two children 'who wander lost in the bush and have many curious magical experiences before they come safely home again' (M. Barnard Eldershaw, Frank Dalby Davison, p. 71). They are chased by a witchdoctor named Adaminaby, and 'befriended by the good spirits of the bush: the Spirit of the Billabong, Grandfather Gumtree, the Spirit of the Mist, Mickatharra, the Brumby Boy, and others. Finally they meet Old Mr Bunyip who leads them back home' (Oxford Companion to Australian Children's Literature 93).

Notes

  • Acknowledgements state: 'What I stand or fall by - I think - in this simple tale of two aboriginal children who became lost and found their way home again, is an attempt to possess four worlds within one pair of covers, Reality and Fantasy, and the Past linked with the Present. Much of the lore of bush and blackfellow is of my own gathering, but also for much I am indebted to others. On the creative side as well as on the informative I am not without obligation. I admit making a steal in plain daylight from Sidney Long, A.R.A., and I have filched a thought from May Gibbs, too. My view is that I have taken from, and, I humbly hope, added to, the common stock. I wish especially to record my obligations to Mrs Bruce Pratt who urged me, two or three years ago, to write a story about children, who endorsed the plan I presented, who named Jackadgery and Nimmitybelle, who reminded me of the mist and the roly-polys, and who drew the decorations for the book. F. D. D.'

  • Prologue states: 'This story of two children of the dark people who once roamed the Australian bush, who were so few and who have now almost passed away, is not about any special part of the bush; it might have happened in any place where grass still grows and gum-trees stand. And, although the dark people have gone, the Spirits of the Bush are still with us; the Spirits of the Billabong, of the Mountain Gullies and of the Plains. Grandfather Gumtree is still to be found, if you look for him, by river, creek and mountain-side; and Old Mr Bunyip, who looks after the wild creatures of the bush and the beasts of the paddocks, who shows the birds their green places of hiding, and who draws the rain clouds to where the earth lies thirsty, still passes through the land on his many errands'.

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Works about this Work

y separately published work icon From Colonial to Modern: Transnational Girlhood in Canadian, Australian, and New Zealand Children's Literature, 1840-1940 Michelle J. Smith , Kristine Moruzi , Clare Bradford , Toronto : University of Toronto Press , 2018 15039944 2018 multi chapter work criticism

'Through a comparison of Canadian, Australian, and New Zealand texts published between 1840 and 1940, From Colonial to Modern develops a new history of colonial girlhoods revealing how girlhood in each of these emerging nations reflects a unique political, social, and cultural context.

'Print culture was central to the definition, and redefinition, of colonial girlhood during this period of rapid change. Models of girlhood are shared between settler colonies and contain many similar attitudes towards family, the natural world, education, employment, modernity, and race, yet, as the authors argue, these texts also reveal different attitudes that emerged out of distinct colonial experiences. Unlike the imperial model representing the British ideal, the transnational girl is an adaptation of British imperial femininity and holds, for example, a unique perception of Indigenous culture and imperialism. Drawing on fiction, girls’ magazines, and school magazine, the authors shine a light on neglected corners of the literary histories of these three nations and strengthen our knowledge of femininity in white settler colonies.'  (Publication summary)
y separately published work icon Imagining Indigenality in Romance and Fantasy Fiction for Children Brooke Collins-Gearing , St Lucia : AustLit: The Australian Literature Resource , 2009 Z1132017 2003 single work criticism This essay explores how non-Indigenous authors of children's romance and fantasy narratives have positioned themselves as authorities on Indigenous peoples and the Dreaming, often authorising their own concepts of the Dreaming and of Indigenous history to inform and 'indigenise' non-Indigenous child readers.' Collins-Gearing, 2003, p. 32
The Lost Bush Children Patricia Stone , 2001 single work criticism
— Appears in: Australian Spirit : An Anthology of Poetry and Prose Celebrating Australia in the Centenary of Federation 2001; (p. 52-54)
Aboriginal Australia : A Century of Attitudinal Change John Foster , E. J. Finnis , Maureen Nimon , 1995 single work criticism
— Appears in: Australian Children's Literature : An Exploration of Genre and Theme 1995; (p. 35-52)
The Portrayal of Aboriginal Life in Australian Children's Books 1993 single work criticism
— Appears in: Australian Children's Literature : Finding a Voice 1993; (p. 55-68)
Untitled 1936 single work review
— Appears in: The North Queensland Register , 12 December 1936; (p. 64)
— Review of Children of the Dark People : An Australian Story for Young Folk Frank Dalby Davison , 1936 single work children's fiction
New Australian Work Frederick T. Macartney , 1937 single work review
— Appears in: All About Books , 15 January vol. 9 no. 1 1937; (p. 5-7)
— Review of Come Home at Last Jack Lindsay , 1936 selected work short story ; Lucid Intervals Walter Murdoch , 1936 single work prose ; Children of the Dark People : An Australian Story for Young Folk Frank Dalby Davison , 1936 single work children's fiction ; The Test Match Murder Denzil Batchelor , 1936 single work novel ; Threepence to Marble Arch Paul McGuire , 1936 single work novel ; Australian Rhodes Review periodical (4 issues); Australian National Review 1937 periodical (31 issues) Macartney casts doubts on any continued claim Jack Lindsay may have on being regarded as an Australian writer.
Children of the Dark People 1937 single work review
— Appears in: Desiderata , 1 February no. 31 1937; (p. 13)
— Review of Children of the Dark People : An Australian Story for Young Folk Frank Dalby Davison , 1936 single work children's fiction
y separately published work icon Imagining Indigenality in Romance and Fantasy Fiction for Children Brooke Collins-Gearing , St Lucia : AustLit: The Australian Literature Resource , 2009 Z1132017 2003 single work criticism This essay explores how non-Indigenous authors of children's romance and fantasy narratives have positioned themselves as authorities on Indigenous peoples and the Dreaming, often authorising their own concepts of the Dreaming and of Indigenous history to inform and 'indigenise' non-Indigenous child readers.' Collins-Gearing, 2003, p. 32
New Serial for Children M. J. McDonald , 1938 single work column
— Appears in: The Queenslander , 13 April 1938; (p. 16) This column tells of a children's serial to be played on the radio. It includes a description of the story of Children of the Dark People and gives a biography of its author Frank Dalby Davison (spelt incorrectly as Davidson in the article). The radio play is adapted from the novel by Carey Ridge.
The Lost Bush Children Patricia Stone , 2001 single work criticism
— Appears in: Australian Spirit : An Anthology of Poetry and Prose Celebrating Australia in the Centenary of Federation 2001; (p. 52-54)
The Portrayal of Aboriginal Life in Australian Children's Books 1993 single work criticism
— Appears in: Australian Children's Literature : Finding a Voice 1993; (p. 55-68)
Frank Dalby Davison M. Barnard Eldershaw , 1938 single work criticism
— Appears in: Essays in Australian Fiction 1938; (p. 41-80)
VIEW ALL WORKS ABOUT (10)
Last amended 27 Apr 2015 11:34:17
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