McCARTNEY, Tania (text) Tina Snerling (illus.) An Aussie Year: Twelve Months in the Life of Australian Kids EK Books, 2013 unpaged $19.99 ISBN 9781921966248 SCIS 1617200
As the sub-title makes clear, this large format picture book follows the adventures of five young Australian children throughout one year. The aim is to focus on events and games with ‘traditional Australian elements’, including those of Indigenous and multicultural communities. The children are introduced, specifying their age, special interests and country of origin: Greece, China/Vietnam, Ireland, one Indigenous Australian and one Anglo Celtic Australian. There is a good mix of festivals and celebrations from Chinese and Vietnamese New Years to Easter; NAIDOC Week to Remembrance Day. Interspersed with major events are numerous old and more recent traditions such as exchanging Christmas presents and sleepovers. Ramadan receives a mention but it is a pity that none of the children is from the Middle East, from whence many of our new settlers come. Each item has its own illustration but the point would have been better made if each child were easier to identify, especially for young children. The one exception is the Indigenous boy who looks alarmingly like Little Black Sambo. There is a large map of Australia that clearly shows each state, the capital cities and a few well-known sites such as Uluru and the Gold Coast. The endpapers comprise a wonderful miscellany of miniatures of all the events and activities. Ages 3-8. ED
