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y separately published work icon My Place : The Story of Australia from Now to Then single work   picture book   children's   historical fiction  
Alternative title: My Place
Issue Details: First known date: 1987... 1987 My Place : The Story of Australia from Now to Then
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'My Place, the classic Australian picture book, is a "time machine" which takes the reader back into the past. It depicts the history of one particular piece of land in Sydney from 1788 to 1988 through the stories of the various children who have lived there. It aims to teach the reader about the history of Australia, about families, settlers, multiculturalism, and the traditional owners of the land. Each child's story covers a decade in time, showing their particular dress, customs and family life.

'The book also features maps that the successive generations of children have 'drawn' which demonstrate the things that have changed - as well as the things that have remained constant. My Place ultimately aims to show "that everyone is part of History" and that "every place has a story as old as the earth".' -- Provided by publisher (2008 ed.)

Adaptations

form y separately published work icon My Place Alice Addison , Beth Armstrong , Blake Ayshford , Nicholas Parsons , Jacquelin Perske , Leah Purcell , Tim Pye , Greg Waters , Brendan Cowell , Gina Roncoli , John Alsop , Samantha Lang , Wayne Blair , Dallas Winmar , Tony Briggs , ( dir. Shawn Seet et. al. )agent Australia : Little Leaf Pictures Matchbox Pictures ABC Television , 2009-2011 Z1649817 2009-2011 series - publisher film/TV children's historical fiction My Place, based on the award-winning book My Place by Nadia Wheatley and Donna Rawlins, is a thirteen-part drama series that tells the story of one house in South Sydney through the experiences of the children who live there over a 130-year period. My Place aims to show that everyone is part of history and that every place has a story.
form y separately published work icon My Place Series One Alice Addison , Beth Armstrong , Blake Ayshford , Nicholas Parsons , Jacquelin Perske , Leah Purcell , Tim Pye , Greg Waters , ( dir. Jessica Hobbs et. al. )agent 2009 8891658 2009 single work film/TV

'My Place, the much loved Australian children's classic, tells the story of the children who live in one place over 130 years. In Volume One, meet Laura who's struggling to own up to her actions. It's 2008 and the Prime Minister is trying to do the same with her mob. Mohammed is into cricket, when he can't join the boys' team he ends up on the girls' side and they're a force to be reckoned with. ' (Source: TROVE)

form y separately published work icon My Place : Series Two Alice Addison , John Alsop , Blake Ayshford , Nicholas Parsons , Greg Waters , Dallas Winmar , Tony Briggs , Wayne Blair , ( dir. Rachel Ward et. al. )agent 2011 8891899 2011 single work film/TV

The story of one place on earth told by the children who live there from 1878 to before white settlement. The second part of MY PLACE, the series is based on the Nadia Wheatley/ Donna Rawlins book. (Source: Screen Australia website)

Reading Australia

Reading Australia

This work has Reading Australia teaching resources.

Unit Suitable For:

AC: Years 3 and 4 (NSW Stage 2)

General Capabilities

Ethical understanding, Intercultural understanding, Literacy, Personal and social

Teaching Resources

Teaching Resources

This work has teaching resources.

Teaching resources via publisher's website.

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

    • Blackburn, Blackburn - Mitcham - Vermont area, Melbourne - East, Melbourne, Victoria,: Collins Dove , 1987 .
      image of person or book cover 4249245751633609938.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online
      Extent: 46p.
      Description: col. illus.
      Reprinted: 1988
      Note/s:
      • Simultaneously published without sub-title.
      ISBN: 0859245756
    • Toronto, Ontario,
      c
      Canada,
      c
      Americas,
      :
      Fitzhenry and Whiteside ,
      1987 .
      image of person or book cover 917874780643417691.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: 48p.
      Description: col. illus.
      Reprinted: 1992 ,
      ISBN: 0889027420
    • Melbourne, Victoria,: Collins Dove , 1989 .
      image of person or book cover 3371009763445338696.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: 45p.
      Description: col. illus.
      ISBN: 0859246094 (pbk.)
    • Brooklyn, New York (City), New York (State),
      c
      United States of America (USA),
      c
      Americas,
      :
      Kane/Miller Book Publishers ,
      1992 .
      image of person or book cover 7824752726457976483.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Alternative title: My Place
      Extent: 1 v.p.
      Edition info: 1st American edition
      Description: col. illus.
      ISBN: 0916291421
    • Newtown, Marrickville - Camperdown area, Sydney Southern Suburbs, Sydney, New South Wales,: Walker Books Australia , 2008 .
      image of person or book cover 7950068500612186116.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online
      Alternative title: My Place
      Extent: 2v.p.
      Edition info: 20th Anniversary Edition.
      Reprinted: 2011
      ISBN: 9781921150708 (hbk.), 9781921150654 (pbk.)

Other Formats

  • Braille.
  • Large print.

Works about this Work

Forever and Ever : The Fig Tree and Its Journey Through Time in Nadia Wheatley and Donna Rawlins’ My Place Sarah Mokrzycki , 2023 single work criticism
— Appears in: Storying Plants in Australian Children's and Young Adult Literature : Roots and Winged Seeds 2023; (p. 91-106)

'This chapter draws on ecocriticism and critical plant studies to argue that Nadia Wheatley and Donna Rawlins’ My Place ([1987] 2008) can—and should—be read as a plant-centred narrative. Australia’s unique landscape, with its towering ghost gums, sun-baked bushland and vast red sand, plays an intrinsic part in Australian picturebook storytelling. In My Place, this landscape is transformed—both figuratively and literally—as a bustling Sydney suburb in 1988 slowly transforms into an Aboriginal creek camp in 1788. Ultimately, only one natural element endures the centuries of change and industrial progress: a centuries-old fig tree. While it is the social and political nature of My Place that is most often critically examined, this chapter focuses on the environmental elements of the book, while examining the ethical issues of non-Indigenous authors telling First Nations stories. It argues that the fig tree acts as both a keeper of memories and a “survivor tree.” Not only does it create a shared bond between the book’s narrators across time, but it also ties all of their stories—and thus all of the history and memories held within them—together.' (Publication abstract)

Visions and Values : The Children’s Book Council of Australia’s Prizing of Picture Books in the Twenty-First Century Erica Hateley , 2016 single work criticism
— Appears in: Canon Constitution and Canon Change in Children's Literature 2016; (p. 205-221)

'The Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA) administers the oldest national prize for children’s literature in Australia. Each year, the CBCA confers “Book of the Year” awards to literature for young people in five categories: Older Readers, Younger Readers, Early Childhood, Picture Books and Information Books. In recent years the Picture Book category has emerged as a highly visible space within which the CBCA can contest discourses of cultural marginalization which construct Australian (‘colonial’) literature as inferior or adjunct to the major Anglophone literary traditions, and children’s literature as lesser than its adult counterpart. The CBCA has moved from asserting its authority by withholding judgment in the award’s early years towards asserting expertise via overtly politicized selections in the twenty-first century. Reading across the CBCA’s selections of picture books allows for insights into wider trends in Australian children’s literature and culture, and suggests a conscious engagement with social as well as literary values on the part of the CBCA in the twenty-first century.'

y separately published work icon My Place for Teachers Australian Children's Television Foundation , Education Services Australia , 2015 8891508 2015 website children's fiction

'On this website you will find rich educational material to support primary and lower-secondary teachers using the My Place TV series in the classroom. Explore background information, aligned with the My Place stories, on events and people significant to Australia's history. Download clips and stills from the TV series, as well as teaching activities and student activity sheets that relate to current themes. Go behind the scenes with production information and interviews, or chat with other teachers and share stories in the teacher's forum.' (Source: My Place website)

Welcoming Back Old Friends : Re-Discovering Favourite Picture Books Noela Allen , 2011 single work criticism
— Appears in: Magpies : Talking About Books for Children , November vol. 26 no. 5 2011; (p. 18-21)
My Place by Nadia Wheatley and Donna Rawlins : From Book to the Small Screen Rayma Turton , 2010 single work criticism
— Appears in: Magpies : Talking About Books for Children , May vol. 25 no. 2 2010; (p. 20-21)
Discusses the adaptation for the television series.
[Review] My Place Rayma Turton , 2008 single work review
— Appears in: Magpies : Talking About Books for Children , September vol. 23 no. 4 2008; (p. 32)

— Review of My Place : The Story of Australia from Now to Then Nadia Wheatley , Donna Rawlins , 1987 single work picture book
[Review] My Place Jennifer Rumsey , 2008 single work review
— Appears in: Buzz Words , 15 October no. 45 2008; (p. 36-37)

— Review of My Place : The Story of Australia from Now to Then Nadia Wheatley , Donna Rawlins , 1987 single work picture book
First-Time Storyteller Makes the Big Time Margaret Aitken , 1988 single work review
— Appears in: The Age , 20 August 1988;

— Review of So Much to Tell You John Marsden , 1987 single work novel ; Crusher is Coming! Bob Graham , 1987 single work picture book ; My Place : The Story of Australia from Now to Then Nadia Wheatley , Donna Rawlins , 1987 single work picture book ; Deezle Boy Eleanor Spence , 1987 single work novel ; The Long Red Scarf Nette Hilton , 1987 single work picture book ; Where the Forest Meets the Sea Jeannie Baker , 1987 single work picture book
Nude Boy in Cover-Up Mark Macleod , 1988 single work review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 2-3 April 1988;

— Review of Where the Forest Meets the Sea Jeannie Baker , 1987 single work picture book ; So Much to Tell You John Marsden , 1987 single work novel ; Pheasant and Kingfisher Catherine H. Berndt , 1987 single work picture book ; The Long Red Scarf Nette Hilton , 1987 single work picture book ; The Landing : A Night of Birds Katherine Scholes , 1987 single work children's fiction ; Deezle Boy Eleanor Spence , 1987 single work novel ; My Place : The Story of Australia from Now to Then Nadia Wheatley , Donna Rawlins , 1987 single work picture book ; Digging to China Donna Rawlins , 1988 single work picture book ; Obernewtyn Isobelle Carmody , 1987 single work novel ; A Paddock of Poems Max Fatchen , 1987 selected work poetry ; Looking Out For Sampson Libby Hathorn , 1987 single work children's fiction ; The Makers Victor Kelleher , 1987 single work novel ; Birk, the Berserker Robin Klein , 1987 single work children's fiction ; Tucking Mummy In Morag Loh , 1987 single work picture book
And the Winners Are! Mark Macleod , 1988 single work review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 20-21 August 1988; (p. 14)

— Review of So Much to Tell You John Marsden , 1987 single work novel ; Where the Forest Meets the Sea Jeannie Baker , 1987 single work picture book ; I Am Susannah Libby Gleeson , 1987 single work novel ; Crusher is Coming! Bob Graham , 1987 single work picture book ; The Long Red Scarf Nette Hilton , 1987 single work picture book ; Deezle Boy Eleanor Spence , 1987 single work novel ; My Place : The Story of Australia from Now to Then Nadia Wheatley , Donna Rawlins , 1987 single work picture book
Know the Author : Nadia Wheatley Toss Gascoigne , Jenni Connor , 1988 single work column
— Appears in: Magpies : Talking About Books for Children , September vol. 3 no. 4 1988; (p. 16-17)
Eating Bananas Underwater Nadia Wheatley , 1989 single work criticism
— Appears in: Magpies : Talking About Books for Children , July vol. 4 no. 3 1989; (p. 5-10)
y separately published work icon Developing a Hungry Eye : Evaluating the Visual Narrative in Australian Children's Picture Books Stephanie Owen Reeder , Bruce : 2004 Z1133200 2004 single work thesis During the period studied in this thesis, 1970-1999, picture books in Australia have become increasingly sophisticated and complex. In order to decode them readers need higher levels of visual literacy. In researching this the author has created a framework for evaluating visual narrative structure in picture books. This was then developed and tested on a total of 145 Australian picture books, with special focus given to the works of Ron Brooks, Dick Roughsey and Percy Trezise, Mem Fox, Donna Rawlins, Gary Crew and Bob Graham.
The Moral Stance in the Books of Paterson and Wheatley Veronica Brady , 1989 single work criticism
— Appears in: Magpies : Talking About Books for Children , September vol. 4 no. 4 1989; (p. 5-9)
Dr. Veronica Brady talks about the moral and ethical stance of American author Katherine Paterson and Australian author Nadia Wheatly as seen in their works.
Cultural Explorations of Time and Space : Indigenous Australian Artists-in Residence, Conventional Narratives and Children's Text Creation Margaret Zeegers , 2006 single work criticism
— Appears in: Papers : Explorations into Children's Literature , December vol. 16 no. 2 2006; (p. 138-144)
Zeegers is concerned with a project funded by the University of Ballarat (Victoria) and the current state of affairs whereby 'the land occupied by the school is owned by the state and notionally by the school community' (138). For Zeegers, the school community often has '...no sense of how relationships with the land may go well beyond concepts of ownership' and she perceives problems with acknowledging traditional land ownership by certain schools in certain environments.(p.138). At the time of writing, the article refers to a specific project (yet to be concluded) and aims to contribute to the project by looking at two Indigenous texts, My Place (Wheatley) and Who am I ? The Diary of Mary Talence (Heiss) analysing what perspectives they offer child readers as a 'means of access to other discourses of history' (p.142). Zeegers contends that 'the project enables both Indigenous and Non-indigenous Australian children to engage with non print based texts derived from a cultural tradition that is different from the Euro cultural tradition' (143).
Last amended 21 Jun 2021 17:21:29
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