Children's Literature of Australia and New Zealand

Few books for children were written in Australia until the late 19th century. And there has been very little children's literature of New Zealand.

One of the best-known children's writers of Australia, Ethel Sibyl Turner, wrote Seven Little Australians (1894). K. Langloh Parker retold the folktales of the Australian aboriginals in Australian Legendary Tales (1896).

Children's services began in the Dunedin Public Library of New Zealand in 1910. That same year, Mary Grant Bruce wrote A Little Bush Maid, the first of a popular series about a family who lived in a place called Billabong. In 1915 the Public Library of South Australia opened a children's department.

May Gibbs's Gumnut Babies (1916) later appeared as a comic strip. Esther Glen, who wrote Six Little New Zealanders (1917), set the standards for children's writing in New Zealand. The author-illustrator Norman Lindsay wrote The Magic Pudding (1918), one of Australia's first fine picture books.

Dorothy Wall's Blinky Bill, the Quaint Little Australian (1933) was the first of a popular series. Whalers of the Midnight Sun (1934), by the Australian Alan John Villiers, is one of the best adventure stories of its time. Mary and Elizabeth Durack wrote The Way of the Whirlwind (1941), a fantasy. The Book of Wiremu (1944), by New Zealand's Stella M. Morice, is a story of Maori life.

The first Children's Book Week in New Zealand was held in 1944. In 1945 the first Children's Book Council was organized in Australia. The Esther Glen awards for the best children's books began in New Zealand in 1945. The following year the Australian Children's Book of the Year awards began. All these helped bring children and good books together.

Other outstanding books from Australia include Nan Chauncy's Tangara (1960) and Ivan Southall's Hills End (1962) and his dramatic To the Wild Sky (1967). Patricia Wrightson's realistic I Own the Racecourse (1968) is another excellent book.

What Makes a Good Children's Book?

A good book latches onto a child and won't let go. What a child needs is to be exposed to the pleasures of reading and to have access to a large collection of books from which to choose when the child is ready to read. What a child does not need is to be pushed into reading or to have an adult force a child to read a certain book by insisting that it is a good book.

Just the same, many adults want to know how to help children find good books or how to find good books for children. There are no sure-fire formulas. Every child is different, and every child is always changing.

However, certain traits are common to almost all good children's books. The book should be easy to hold, making the physical design of the book important. A child may find it easier to concentrate when a book can be held comfortably in the hands or lap. Type should be large enough to be easily viewed, with not too many words on a page. Children from about grade four shy away from what looks like a baby book—type that is too large—but most children of any age dislike what looks like a reading chore. A good children's book is easy to understand, with a plot that is clear and easy to follow. Children's librarians and teachers can offer suggestions of books at the appropriate reading level, especially if they know the child. Finally, a good children's book is engaging, with interesting characters, lots of action, lively writing, and good illustrations. (See also reading.)