Australian children’s literature
About this module
The items highlighted in the module were part of the exhibition Story Time: Australian Children's Literature at the National Library of Australia from 22 August 2019 to 16 February 2020.
Copyright for teachers
You can download all collection materials in this resource for education purposes. For more information, go to copyright for teachers.
Topics in this module
Ruth Hawker & Nora Young, Us three outback, 1932, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-3589536
(1976), Every year has its special film - this year it's... [picture] : Storm Boy, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-133752089
Ethel Jackson Morris, All among the fairies, 1909, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-22387121
New South Wales. Department of Education, The Warrumbungle Mare. (1 September 1949). In The School Magazine of Literature for Our Boys and Girls, Vol. 34, no. 7 (Part 4, Class 6), nla.gov.au/nla.obj-827990456
Jeannie Baker, Hidden Forest, Endpapers, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-971313378
Module learning activities
Introductory activities
The National Library contains a beautiful collection of The School Magazine. Published by the New South Wales Department of Education continually since 1916, it claims to be ‘Australia’s most-loved and longest-running literary publication for children’.
With 1,170 editions (between February 1916 and November 1949) digitised and available online, teachers and students can explore the world of literature through the many topics covered in the stories and other presentations throughout.
To introduce a unit of work on literature, browse the collection of The School Magazine issues with students to find early to mid-20th century examples of short stories, rhyming verse, poetry and non-fiction written for young people.
New South Wales. Department of Education, The school magazine of literature for our boys and girls, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-748113553
New South Wales. Department of Education, The school magazine of literature for our boys and girls, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-748113553
Concluding activities
- Create a crossword using words from a story that the students have been reading in class or a topic that you have been learning about. Prompt their understanding of the words and themes with creative hints.
Ask students to choose one of their favourite pieces of literature and create a piece of art that captures the meaning of the text and their emotional response to it.
Develop a series of visual images for each piece using mixed media (for example, paint, crayons, ink, collage, newspaper cuttings, quotes from poems, maps and keywords)
Display the artworks in the classroom and discuss how they make the class feel.
- As a class, read a book (or continue a book the class is already reading) and then have students write a creative piece from the point of view of a character who is NOT the lead character(s) in the story. How are they affected by the narrative? What do they think of the main characters?
Curriculum links
This resource has been developed with specific reference to five content descriptions for Year 4 students in the Literature strand of the Australian Curriculum: English.
- Make connections between the ways different authors may represent similar storylines, ideas and relationships (ACELT1602)
- Discuss literary experiences with others, sharing responses and expressing a point of view (ACELT1603)
- Discuss how authors and illustrators make stories exciting, moving and absorbing and hold readers’ interest by using various techniques, for example character development and plot tension (ACELT1605)
More to learn and do
Kathy Weeden reading her book Phonobet, illustrated by Kim Drane and published by NLA Publishing, at Enlighten at the Library 2024
