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y separately published work icon Dancing the Boom-Cha-Cha Boogie single work   picture book   children's  
Issue Details: First known date: 2005... 2005 Dancing the Boom-Cha-Cha Boogie
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'An appealing fantasy adventure that is also an allegory about identity and being foreign. It is an ideal book to introduce young children to the complex subject of the treatment of refugees.' (Libraries Australia record).

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Teacher's notes from publisher's website.

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

    • Norwood, Norwood, Payneham & St Peters area, Adelaide - North / North East, Adelaide, South Australia,: Omnibus Books , 2005 .
      image of person or book cover 7250021011838698589.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: 30p.
      ISBN: 1862915911 (pbk)

Other Formats

Works about this Work

The Politics of Picture Books : Stories of Displaced Children in Twenty-first-century Australia Mary Tomsic , 2018 single work criticism
— Appears in: History Australia , vol. 15 no. 2 2018; (p. 339-356)

'This article uses cultural representations to write refugee history. It examines twenty-first-century picture books about displaced children, alongside published responses to them, to explore how refugee experiences and histories are constructed, both for and about children, in an Australian context. The visual literary form of picture books as political texts is examined as a space for discussion and dialogue. Published responses to them, however, more commonly reveal rigid interpretations of imagined readers, invoking binary divisions between displaced and non-displaced children. Through these sources, questions of humanisation and (de)politicisations in refugee history are considered.'  (Publication abstract)

y separately published work icon Developing Intercultural Understanding through Asian-Australian Children's Literature Kerry Mallan , Deborah Henderson , Amy Cross , Cherie Allan , Marrickville : Primary English Teaching Association Australia , 2014 7259502 2014 single work criticism This PETAA paper discusses how the cross-curriculum priority concerned with developing Asia literacy, namely 'Asia and Australia's engagement with Asia', can be significantly advanced through the study of children's literature. The discussion proceeds from a brief overview of the historical development of Asia literacy to its current place with the Australian Curriculum. It then considers the potential of literature for assisting students and teachers in realising this priority through the Asian-Australian Children's Literature and Publishing dataset, a research project on AustLit. Finally, it discusses a small selection of texts - two picture books and a novel - with suggestions of prompts for raising students' intercultural understanding.
Australian Children's Literature Clare Bradford , 2009 single work criticism
— Appears in: The Cambridge History of Australian Literature 2009; (p. 282-302)
Discusses themes, trends and developments in Australian children's literature between 1841 and 2006.
The Art of Narelle Oliver Joy Lawn (interviewer), 2009 single work interview
— Appears in: Magpies: Talking About Books for Children , September vol. 24 no. 4 2009; (p. 4-6)
In response to Lawn's questions regarding her artistic vision, innovative techniques and interest in natural Australian history, Oliver says her work is created through the 'intriguing relationship between words and pictures' and how 'they work either together or against each other as different points of view in a narrative' (4). Lawn asks Oliver about her 'vision and vocation' which, through her strong artistic style and celebratory designs of Australian indigenous animals, produces texts that are a 'melding of non-fiction and fiction' (5). Oliver says she has been fascinated by indigenous adaptations of Australian native animals since early childhood and this interest developed further when she studied biology. With her first picture book, Leaf Tail she wanted to introduce young readers to 'some of the less-well-known Australian creatures' but 'did not want to write a straight information book' (5). Instead, she wanted to explore the creative potential of the adaptive features to be found among many creatures - design, shape, texture and pattern - in terms of storytelling and 'problem-solution scenarios' (5). Oliver has also produced picture books about imaginary and mythological creatures, for example, Mermaids Most Amazing, The Very Blue Thingamajig, and Dancing the Boom-cha-cha Boogie, however, it is mainly through her natural history picture books that she aims to capture the diversity of Australia's natural landscapes and 'instil postive feelings about these places in young Australian readers' (6). In this sense, her work is driven by the belief that 'a personal feeling and knowledge of the landscape is critical to developing a desire to preserve that landscape' (6).
The Arrival of the Rainbow Bird : The Migration Experience in Picture Books Virginia Lowe , 2008 single work essay
— Appears in: Viewpoint : On Books for Young Adults , Autumn vol. 16 no. 1 2008; (p. 4-5)
Discusses the importance of recent Australian picture books that deal with the topic of refugees and immigrants, and those who ended up in detention centres.
Untitled H. M. Saxby , 2005 single work review
— Appears in: Magpies : Talking about Books for Children , September vol. 20 no. 4 2005; (p. 6)

— Review of Dancing the Boom-Cha-Cha Boogie Narelle Oliver , 2005 single work picture book
Untitled Marilyn Murray , 2005 single work review
— Appears in: Reading Time : The Journal of the Children's Book Council of Australia , November vol. 49 no. 4 2005; (p. 25-26)

— Review of Dancing the Boom-Cha-Cha Boogie Narelle Oliver , 2005 single work picture book
Of Murmels and Snigs : Detention-Centre Narratives in Australian Literature for Children and Young Adults Debra Dudek , 2006 single work review
— Appears in: Overland , Summer no. 185 2006; (p. 38-42)

— Review of From Nothing to Zero : Letters from Refugees in Australia's Detention Centres Janet Austin , 2003 anthology correspondence ; Walk in My Shoes Alwyn Evans , 2004 single work novel ; Dark Dreams : Australian Refugee Stories 2004 anthology autobiography biography essay poetry ; Alyzon Whitestarr Isobelle Carmody , 2006 single work novel ; No Place Like Home : Australian Stories by Young Writers Aged 8-21 Years 2005 anthology biography short story autobiography essay ; Number 8 Anna Fienberg , 2006 single work novel ; Boy Overboard Morris Gleitzman , 2002 single work children's fiction ; Girl Underground Morris Gleitzman , 2004 single work children's fiction ; Soraya the Storyteller Rosanne Hawke , 2004 single work children's fiction ; Ali the Bold Heart Jane Jolly , 2006 single work picture book ; Another Country 2004 anthology poetry autobiography prose diary correspondence ; Refugees David Miller , 2003 single work picture book ; The Slightly Bruised Glory of Cedar B. Hartley (Who Can't Help Flying High and Falling in Deep) Martine Murray , 2005 single work children's fiction ; Dancing the Boom-Cha-Cha Boogie Narelle Oliver , 2005 single work picture book ; Dreaming Australia Steve Tolbert , 2004 single work novel
Untitled Jean Yates , 2006 single work review
— Appears in: Books from Our Backyard : Must-Read Books from Queensland 2006; (p. 9)

— Review of Dancing the Boom-Cha-Cha Boogie Narelle Oliver , 2005 single work picture book
Exclusions and Inclusions : Multiculturalism in Contemporary Taiwanese and Australian Picturebooks Clare Bradford , Hui-Ling Huang , 2007 single work criticism
— Appears in: Bookbird , vol. 45 no. 3 2007; (p. 5-12)
Australia and Taiwan have in common a history of colonisation and ethnic diversity and troubled ideas about national and cultural identity. Bradford suggests that many of the picture books discussed in this article express allegorical rather than realistic treatments of cross-cultural relations.
The Arrival of the Rainbow Bird : The Migration Experience in Picture Books Virginia Lowe , 2008 single work essay
— Appears in: Viewpoint : On Books for Young Adults , Autumn vol. 16 no. 1 2008; (p. 4-5)
Discusses the importance of recent Australian picture books that deal with the topic of refugees and immigrants, and those who ended up in detention centres.
The Art of Narelle Oliver Joy Lawn (interviewer), 2009 single work interview
— Appears in: Magpies: Talking About Books for Children , September vol. 24 no. 4 2009; (p. 4-6)
In response to Lawn's questions regarding her artistic vision, innovative techniques and interest in natural Australian history, Oliver says her work is created through the 'intriguing relationship between words and pictures' and how 'they work either together or against each other as different points of view in a narrative' (4). Lawn asks Oliver about her 'vision and vocation' which, through her strong artistic style and celebratory designs of Australian indigenous animals, produces texts that are a 'melding of non-fiction and fiction' (5). Oliver says she has been fascinated by indigenous adaptations of Australian native animals since early childhood and this interest developed further when she studied biology. With her first picture book, Leaf Tail she wanted to introduce young readers to 'some of the less-well-known Australian creatures' but 'did not want to write a straight information book' (5). Instead, she wanted to explore the creative potential of the adaptive features to be found among many creatures - design, shape, texture and pattern - in terms of storytelling and 'problem-solution scenarios' (5). Oliver has also produced picture books about imaginary and mythological creatures, for example, Mermaids Most Amazing, The Very Blue Thingamajig, and Dancing the Boom-cha-cha Boogie, however, it is mainly through her natural history picture books that she aims to capture the diversity of Australia's natural landscapes and 'instil postive feelings about these places in young Australian readers' (6). In this sense, her work is driven by the belief that 'a personal feeling and knowledge of the landscape is critical to developing a desire to preserve that landscape' (6).
Australian Children's Literature Clare Bradford , 2009 single work criticism
— Appears in: The Cambridge History of Australian Literature 2009; (p. 282-302)
Discusses themes, trends and developments in Australian children's literature between 1841 and 2006.
y separately published work icon Developing Intercultural Understanding through Asian-Australian Children's Literature Kerry Mallan , Deborah Henderson , Amy Cross , Cherie Allan , Marrickville : Primary English Teaching Association Australia , 2014 7259502 2014 single work criticism This PETAA paper discusses how the cross-curriculum priority concerned with developing Asia literacy, namely 'Asia and Australia's engagement with Asia', can be significantly advanced through the study of children's literature. The discussion proceeds from a brief overview of the historical development of Asia literacy to its current place with the Australian Curriculum. It then considers the potential of literature for assisting students and teachers in realising this priority through the Asian-Australian Children's Literature and Publishing dataset, a research project on AustLit. Finally, it discusses a small selection of texts - two picture books and a novel - with suggestions of prompts for raising students' intercultural understanding.
Last amended 4 Aug 2017 11:07:51
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