AustLit

'Telling it like it really was-true-blue Aussie history! Australia had changed before, but slowly. Now everything was fast! Attitudes were evolving, technology was changing every aspect of life, and people were starting to recognise the damage we were doing to our land-and the way Australia's Indigenous people had been mistreated. Our resources had made us a rich country, but how long could the good times last? Join the fireys, goths, yuppies and greenies for the final instalment of the Fair Dinkum Histories. It's history as you've never seen it!' (Publication summary)

'How do we find happiness? And once we find it, how do we hold on to it?

'“This book tells the story of an island on which a hard-working tribe lives. They rarely smiled, and never laughed, and although there was much beauty on the island, no one noticed. No one, that is, except a little blind boy.”

'“The blind boy brings happiness to the people of the island. He shows them how to laugh. But that’s not enough for them. They want to capture this happiness and keep it forever.”

'“If only they knew.”'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Charlie Burr is in trouble again! His magic trick went wrong and now Mum has a bald patch on her head. To make matters worse, Mum confiscated Charlie's box of magic tricks and now Charlie must find a way to put on a magic show for the school bully without any of his gear. Charlie has one week to get back in Mum's good books, or find some new tricks to perform. Will he find a way?' (Publication summary)

'World War II was over, and it was a good time to be Australian. Rock 'n' roll, television and the Olympics had come down under. But underneath it all was the menace of the Cold War, and then came the horrors of Korea and Vietnam. Why couldn't we all just get along? Covers a pivotal time in Australia's history, as ideologies clashed and a new national identity was evolving.'  (Publication summary)

'The Australian colonies had come a long way since they were a dump for grim crims and convicts. Life was comfortable, at least for some. But soon drought would send swaggies waltzing their matildas along the roads, and bad times would make politicians dream of uniting the country into one nation. And then a far off war would create a different kind of digger. What they brought back home would make greater changes to Australia than gold ever did. Meet the scabs and the swaggies, battling politicians, doddering generals, sheep stealers and heroic diggers who finally turned us into a nation in the latest instalment of the Fair Dinkum Histories. It is history as you have never seen it!'  (Publication summary)

'1920-1945, an iconic period in Australian history: QANTAS founded, the Sydney Harbour Bridge built, Phar Lap wins the Melbourne Cup and dies in the US, Don Bradman wows the world at the wicket and becomes the main target in the Bodyline series. The Depression hits. 

'Australia enters WW II. Aborigines lobby for full citizenship. German ships lay mines off the Australian coast and the Japanese attack Australia. History comes to life!' (Publication summary)

'For 60,000 years the rest of the world had pretty much left Australia and its Aboriginal nations alone. Then it became a home for Britain's criminals and poor. Now a con man had found gold and suddenly everyone was heading to Australia: adventurers, revolutionaries, camels . . . Australia would never be the same.'  (Publication summary)

'There were two tiny colonies at the end of the world-one in New South Wales and one in Van Diemen's Land-perched on the edge of a vast and mostly unmapped continent. There were four main towns-Sydney and Parramatta in New South Wales, and Hobart and Launceston in Van Diemen's Land. Radiating out from around these towns were a growing number of smaller villages.'  (Publication summary)

'The Indigenous people of Australia have lived here for tens of thousands of years. They survived the ice age and ancient global warming. They saw oceans sink and oceans rise. They watched the mega-beasts disappear and dingoes arrive. Theirs is the oldest civilization in the world. Then along came the Dutch. And the Portuguese. And the British. Things would never be the same again.' (Publication summary)

'On a beautiful island lives a tribe of people who don’t smile or laugh much. Only a small blind urchin notices the wonderful things on the seashore. He tries to share them with the tribe, but they don’t notice. One day a sea creature comes to the shore. Together, the boy and the sea creature play in the water. The people of the tribe warn the boy that it is a monster, but they change their minds when they hear him laughing. They join in. However, afraid that the sea creature will leave and they will lose the happiness they have found, the tribe capture it and put it in a small pool. The sea creature soon begins to fade and die. The boy rescues it and the people of the tribe are left behind, wondering if they will ever be happy again.' (Publication summary)

'It was the craziest, wildest and most daring expedition the world had ever seen. Eleven ships with nearly 15,000 people travelled 25,000 kilometers to the other side of the world. But what did they find when they arrived?' (Publication summary)

'We might not be invited to birthday parties.
Balloons are just not for dinosaurs. We might not be allowed to play in the park. Or sunbathe on the beach. But I guess I could take her to the library. Dinosaurs are not book-eaters, after all.

'If the stairs are too steep, the bus too slow and the dog next door too big, then what you need is a dinosaur! This comprehensive wish-list of why one six-year-old boy thought a dinosaur would make his life easier covers everything in a child’s day- from getting out the door in the morning, to falling asleep at night.'(Publication summary)