Time for some Aussie Childhood nostalgia...

When you were a child, who was your favourite Australian Author, or what was your favourite Australian Book? I remember SA Wakefield's "Bottersnikes & Gumbles", and later, when I was a little older, Ivan Southall's "Fly West" (I still have a copy). What about you?

I read a bit of Ivan Southall when I was younger but I also enjoyed Colin Thiele, I thought he told wonderful stories.

One that I will always remember is Snugglepot and Cuddlepie by May Gibbs

I used to (still do) love the illustrations in The Magic Pudding by Norman Lindsay. Unfortunately I can't get my kids interested in it. Unless it has magic & wizards or robots or superheros then they're just not interested.

Snugglepot and Cuddlepie was my favourite book, too. When my mother was pregnant with my little brother I wanted him to be a girl and I wanted the baby to be named Obelia.

Do any of our younger members remember Robert Ingpen's "Voyage of the Poppykettle"?

My grade 3 teacher read Seven Little Australians to us and it has remained a lifelong favourite. As an adult I've read a few more Ethel Turner works, including the first sequel to SLA, and highly enjoyed them.

I remember also loving Ivan Southall and Colin Thiele, although I don't remember details.

A lot of my childhood reading was things by Arthur Ransome and Edith Nesbitt (whose writing reminds me of that of Ethel Turner) so I ended up a fairly anglophile child.

Oh yes Vivl ... I know what you mean by anglophile child... I can remember I was given a whole lot of old hardcover "Biggles" and "Famous Five" as a child, it's all I read for years, it seems...

I should try Biggles! My dad had a collection, which is still in his old workroom. It was thanks to him that I (and my siblings) read all the Arthur Ransome books, as they were also his favourites when a youngster.

Biggles can be a lot of fun Vivl. The books themselves span a period from the Great War to the Cold War, and the language changes vastly over that time. Be aware that they can be quite racist and sexist in places, as they are a product of their times. Some of the language can also be hilariously camp! You need to read early editions, I gather the later reprints were significantly edited to deal with language later deemed politically incorrect.

I loved Snugglepot and Cuddlepie. I had nightmares abut the Big Bad Banksia Men! I also had a copy of May Gibbs' Fairy Book which had beautiful full page illustrations.

This was back in the 1950s, when there just wasn't a lot of Australian stuff to choose from. I remember being entranced by They Found a Cave, but most of my reading was English in origin. I spent a lot of my childhood in Roman Britain! My Mum tried to interest me in the Billabong series, but I never really took to them.

I was a Biggles fan too. Good fun, they were.

Ivan Southall was the man for me when I was a kid. I remember my Yr 6 teacher reading us Hill's End, which I have subsequently read to classes I have taught. I also lived in the same town as author Fae Hewston Stevens who wrote the (long forgotten) 'Koronga Lea' series - sort of Famous Five for Aussie bush kids

I am horrified that I had never heard of any, repeat ANY of the classics you MOB have mentioned above. When I was a Kid in the
mid 1950's of course I liked Biggles (he was on 3AW ?) but not Aussie. Leanord Teale was Superman! The main Aussie shows I remember from the
pre TV era are "Life with Dexter" and various other Radio Dramas more suitable for adults than us kids :-)
Eg. Address Unknown, Portia faces Life (in the mornings) and of course "Blue Hills".

I have only bought/read Snugglepot... and The Magic Pudding in the last few years.

I do remember reading the "Victorian Reader" each year, but no Australian stories stuck in my mind.

A sad critique of the Victorian Education system at the start of the "Baby Boom", although to this day
I respect my primary school Head Master, a gentleman from a different era.

Guido.

I also put up my hand for Snugglepot and Cuddlepie

Edited to say that Oooops - I have already said my piece but it is so frustrating to find a deleted post that I am leaving this one here.

>7 Vivl: For fear Arthur Ransome is dismissed as 100% Pom, Australia more than contributed to his make-up. His maternal grandfather was Edward Baker Boulton, a New South Wales sheepfarmer and water-colourist.

Mary Walker, the mother of Ransome's Swallows, came from Australia. She was brought up close to Sydney Harbour (Swallows and Amazons, ch. 2) and - confusingly - on a sheep station (ch. 18). In Swallowdale (ch. 8), she tells John how she capsized her father's dinghy in Sydney Harbour, to cheer him up after he had sunk Swallow on the Pike Rock.

ETA. That's annoying. I'd hoped to use the spoiler tags facility in that last sentence, but it doesn't want to play ball.

>15 Cynfelyn:

Late reply (sorry, this thread slipped under my radar) but thank you for the information re Ransome's grandfather! And I had forgotten about Mrs Walker's NSW connection. I'm in the process of rereading the series (and would be making more rapid progress if I could get my library out of the boxes its been relegated to while our lobby/mini-library is fixed up; tradespeople don't understand the need for the speedy restitution of my books!) and have got as far as Peter Duck. Such good fun!

By the way, the spoiler warning in your last sentence is working fine for me.

In the meanwhile, I spent some time over east over the Christmas break and my duties as aunty required reading Snugglepot and Cuddlepie to my niece and nephew. I'm ashamed that I can't recall ever having read it myself as a child and am determined to remedy that situation asap.

Another vote here for Snugglepot & Cuddlepie & also Possum Magic by Mem Fox...

Michael Salmon's books were a favourite of mine I recall he visited several primary schools when I was growing up and as a result I have many books of his signed.

Oh dear. I just found this group. I grew up in Oz (Brisbane, to be exact) in the 1950s and I remember Biggles on the radio and Leonard Teale as Superman. Also being an anglophile--the Qld education system then was so anglocentric that I was much more familiar with English (not British) history, and British animals, than the history and wildlife of my own country. I was an Argonaut too--any more here?

It's 100 years since the publication of The Magic Pudding. Feast your eyes on these illustrations.

Yes to so many of the above. Not sure I could choose a favourite so I will say some that I don't think have been mentioned yet.

>6 Bushwhacked: Loved Robert Ingpen! I am desperate to go to the National Library to see his new mural!

The Muddle-Headed Wombat. And I just read this to my boys and they were in hysterics. The classics never age!
Dot and the Kangaroo.
Pastures of the Blue Crane and others by Hesba Brinsmead
They Found A Cave
Playing Beatie Bow - this book is where I got my life-long love of time travel books.
The Rainbow Serpent - for kids my age, this book was probably their first introduction to Dreamtime
The Billabong series by Mary Grant Bruce.
And as a horse mad girl, all of Elyne Mitchell's books, The Silver Brumby series. And loved the animated series of these!

And I don't think I saw Blinky Bill mentioned. Although there are some sticky, less than PC, patches in there!

And needless to say all of the above! Particularly Colin Thiele.

All being well, I think I still have a copy of The Magic Pudding.

And a happy December solstice to all!

Anyhow, it’s mid-afternoon on a surprisingly pleasant although chilly Christmas Eve in southern England and I’m sat in our conservatory with a shot of rye and a book. Merry Christmas if you celebrate it, and have a fabulous day if you don’t.

Wishing you a Merry Christmas as the day comes to a close her in Australia. We still have the air conditioning powering away at 9pm. Hope you enjoy your day.