Folk-lore of the Noongahburrahs, as told to the Picaninnies, collected by Mrs. K. Langloh Parker, with an introduction by Andrew Lang
This book is one of the first collections of tales of First Australians after colonization by Europeans. The stories are generally short, but rich in story and vocabulary. There's an indispensable glossary in the back. The excellent illustrations are those of an Aboriginal artist.
A few years ago, the moderators of Mater Amabilis added folk tales to the Level 3 syllabus, where they had been conspicuously absent. We chose this book for one of the Level 3 Year 2 books (seventh grade). They are probably below reading level for most seventh graders, but the content of the stories is often violent and graphic (though such things are not unusual for real fairy and folk tales), so they are a good fit for that age. (It will also line up with most students as they near the European discovery of Australia in A Book of Discovery.)
Though these tales seem different from ones from European countries and our own American cultural heritage, it is interesting to discover similarities. It's one of the aspects of our inclusion of tales from many cultures I appreciate.
I received nothing in exchange for this post. I purchased this book directly from the publisher. Links in this post are not affiliate links.
