Popular Australian children’s author Phil Kettle has teamed with Australian Geographic to produce the Our Australia (Australian Geographic, 2010) novels, a series of advanced school reader-style novels following a young boy and his mother on a journey around Australia.
Australian Geographic Our Australia Series
The Our Australia series begins with Taha’s mother, who was born in Greece, becoming an Australian citizen on Australia Day. To celebrate her new citizenship, she decides to take Taha on a road trip around Australia so that they can both get to know their new home.
After preparing for his marathon trip, Taha says goodbye to his friend Joel and neighbour Mr Wilson. He and his mum jump aboard their campervan, nicknamed The Southern Cross, to journey around Australia. Along with all the other items they need for their trip, Taha has packed a travel journal that was a gift from his teacher and the OraclePod, a gift from Mr Wilson that can provide him with information about all the places that he visited.
As Taha and his mother travel around the country, they meet interesting people, see native Australian animals and plants, and visit some of Australia’s best known landmarks.
Information About Australian People, Places and Animals for Children
With an appealing and entertaining format, the Our Australia series is an excellent way to introduce primary-school aged readers to a range of facts about Australian geography, landmarks, communities, animals and plants.
The stories feature an entertaining combination of fact and fiction. Taha is an interesting and relatable character, presented with humour and a very authentic voice by Phil Kettle. The factual element of the stories is shared in a variety of formats with Taha’s journal entries and conversations with his mother, entries from the OraclePod, letters and emails home and interviews with Australian children Taha meets on his journey.
The books are liberally illustrated with both drawings and numerous photographs. Each book ends with a brief selection of Aussie slang, Aussie jokes and Aussie facts. Through Taha’s experiences, readers are introduced to not only Australian geography and animals, but also significant Australian events, people and services such as the Todd River Regatta, Banjo Patterson and the School of the Air.
The Our Australia series features eight titles, with the first four books to be released in June 2010. Remaining books in the series will be available in September 2010 (books #5 and #6) and November 2010 (books #7 and #8). The title of book indicates the final destination for that particular leg of Taha’s journey. The series consists of the following titles:
- Mildura
- Broken Hill
- Longreach
- Alice Springs
- Kununurra
- Kangaroo Island
- Hobart
- Byron Bay
Australian Author Phil Kettle
Phil Kettle is an award-winning Australian children’s author with more than 100 titles published. He is the author of the popular Too Cool series as well as the Boyz Rule series co-authored with Felice Arena.
Phil Kettle’s website includes a full listing of his published titles in addition to fun activities and facts for readers and teaching resources.
Fun Australian Geography Story Books for Children
Presenting information about the Australian landscape and people in a fun and engaging way, the Our Australia series is ideal as a classroom or school resource as well simply offering primary-school aged readers an interesting story about an adventurous journey. Teaching resources, including discussion topics and extension activities, are available from the Australian Geographic Education website.
The Our Australia series offers teachers an excellent resource to supplement classroom lessons about Australian geography, landmarks and culture while offering children an enjoyable story presented in a very engaging format. The series is ideal for confident readers aged 8+ years.
Review copy details:
- Our Australia #1: Mildura (ISBN: 978-0-980710330-5, 128 pages)
- Our Australia #2: Broken Hill (ISBN: 978-0-98071-331-2, 128 pages)
- Our Australia #3: Longreach (ISBN: 978-0-98071-332-9, 128 pages)
- Our Australia #4: Alice Springs (ISBN: 978-0-98071-333-6, 128 pages)
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