February 29, 2024

LETTER 433

Celebrating Classic Australian Picture Books

A woman wearing a red shirt and a scarf pages through a book at a bookstore. All the titles seem to be children's books.

Browsing at a bookstore for children in Melbourne. Asanka Brendon Ratnayake for The New York Times

The Australia Letter is a weekly newsletter from our Australia bureau. This week's issue is written by Natasha Frost, a reporter based in Melbourne.

Last weekend, I hosted a baby shower for a friend whose little boy is due sometime in April. She and her husband are South African migrants, and I have joked for months that they like Australians so much that they have made one to come and live with them.

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The baby, who will be an Australian citizen from birth, will start his cultural education early: Among the gifts, which included a platypus-patterned onesie and an electric nail trimmer, were three children's books that are classics of an Australian childhood. (He will have to make his own way to "Bluey.")

To be sure, Australian children read many of the same picture books that are treasured elsewhere in the world, like Eric Carle's "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" or "Guess How Much I Love You" by Sam McBratney.

But there are many homegrown titles, often with an Australian theme and setting, that continue to be adored by generations of Australian children — including many who are the first Australians in their family.

Some of these books feature the country's distinctive wildlife: In "Possum Magic," by Mem Fox and Julie Vivas, a young possum named Hush is suddenly struck by bush magic — and rendered invisible. "Koala Lou," also by Ms. Fox, tells the story of a young koala wrestling with the arrival of a new sibling. And in "Edmund the Emu," by Courtney Mace, an emu who has tired of the zoo tries on life as a seal, a lion and a snake.

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Wombats also make appearances in a plethora of titles, including "Wombat Stew," by Marcia K. Vaughan, in which no wombats are hurt, as well as "Diary of a Wombat," by Jackie French. (It is, as you'd expect, a day-by-day telling of life as a wombat.)

Others recount Aboriginal stories, sometimes with illustrations inspired by Indigenous Australian art. "The Rainbow Serpent," by Dick Roughsey and Percy Trezise, tells a dreamtime story of a powerful snake that emerges from beneath the ground, creating ridges of earth, mountains and gorges across Australia.

"The Bunyip of Berkeley's Creek," a 1973 work by Jenny Wagner and Ron Brooks, is many young Australians' introduction to the swamp-dwelling creature from Aboriginal folklore. (The bunyip is immortalized as a statue outside the state library in Melbourne.)

And many popular works are simply snapshots of an idyllic Australian childhood. One friend recalled spending hours poring over "Magic Beach," by Alison Lester, and repeatedly pointing out two little girls by the seaside who she thought particularly resembled her and her sister.

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You don't need to be Australian, or even in Australia, to love these books. Better yet: If you're overseas and would like to test them out before shipping them elsewhere in the world, YouTube has an array of dramatic readings to try before you buy. This rendition of "Where Is the Green Sheep?" by Mem Fox has particularly fun sound effects.

I'd love to hear about other examples of Australian children's books that you love or that make particularly good gifts. Get in touch at NYTAustralia@nytimes.com.

Here are the week's stories.

Australia and New Zealand

Two bearded men with brown hair and button-down shirts smiling.

Luke Davies, left, and Jesse Baird in an image from Mr. Baird's Instagram account. Jesse Baird

Police Officer Charged With Murdering Two Men in Australia. The officer, Beaumont Lamarre-Condon, was charged with killing Jesse Baird, 26, and Luke Davies, 29, who had been missing for more than a week.

Gas Pumps Didn't Work in New Zealand. Blame the Leap Year. Dozens of unattended fuel stations across the country stopped working on Thursday for hours because of a software issue.

Around The Times

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Flaco was freed from the Central Park Zoo by a vandal in February 2023, and his subsequent sightings captivated New York City. Jeenah Moon for The New York Times

Flaco, Escaped Central Park Zoo Owl and Defier of Doubts, Is Dead. Let loose by an act of vandalism, the Eurasian eagle-owl died after apparently striking a building in New York, according to the zoo.
A Marketplace of Girl Influencers Managed by Moms and Stalked by Men. Seeking social media stardom for their underage daughters, mothers post images of them on Instagram. The accounts draw men sexually attracted to children, and they sometimes pay to see more.
Those $399 Gold Trump Sneakers Are About a Lot More Than Shoes. What is Donald Trump really selling when he is selling footwear?

Are you enjoying our Australia bureau dispatches? Tell us what you think at NYTAustralia@nytimes.com.

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