Adventuring in Australia Through the Use of Children’s Books

Australian children’s literature is not as common as, or didn’t come about to their country as easily and early as, American children’s literature. According to “Australian Adventuring …through children’s books” by Elaine Furniss, “Early books read by children in Australia were usually didactic in nature and published in Great Britain” (Furniss, p.59). This lack of books published in a child’s own country can take away genuine elements that children should be able to connect to in books they read growing up. Instead of reading stories about kids that were living lives very similar, if not the same, as their own, they were reading about the lives of children in Great Britain. Since books have such a key importance in a child’s development and understanding of themselves and their own country, one could argue that their development was slowed and potentially inaccurate until their own self-discovery of their country and lifestyles. It wasn’t until 1841 that a book was written by a mother to her Australian children in their own country (Furniss, p. 59). After the book was published “until the end of the nineteenth century, only about fifty Australian children’s books can be traced, with only about one third of them published in Australia” (Furniss, p. 59). Not only was the history and lifestyle of the country lacking in books for those living there, but it also leads to there being a lack of books about young Australian culture in other countries as well. Books are a way to convey very vital and real information—especially children’s books. Their use of images and funky characters can help teach children harder topics at a younger age so that they have a better understanding of certain topics without being traumatized because of reality. Basically, there is a reason children’s books are made for children.

The main point that Furniss hits in her article is that children’s books are a way for students to go on an adventure through the use of a book. Her whole purpose is introducing an abundance of different Australian children’s books that can take anyone on an adventure through the life of someone or something living in Australia. In the end she says “if Australia is a country which you and your class have not yet visited, go to a children’s library and start reading some exciting Australian children’s books” (Furniss, p. 62). Over time, there has slowly been an increase in Australian children’s books, and it is writers like Elaine Furniss that will help bring awareness to the problem with the hope of increasing the number of books as well as the number of people reading the books.

Works Cited

Furniss, Elaine R. “Australian Adventuring … through Children’s Books.” Language Arts, vol. 54, no. 1, 1977, pp. 59–62. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/41404480.