# The Australia Book

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Book by Eve Pownall

The Australia Book Author Eve Pownall Language English Genre Children's non-fiction Publisher John Sands Publication date 1952 Publication place Australia Media type Print Pages 44pp Preceded by Cousins-Come-Lately : Adventures in Old Sydney Town Followed by Five Busy Merry-Makers

***The Australia Book*** (1952) is a children's information book by Australian author and historian [Eve Pownall](/source/Eve_Pownall), illustrated by [Margaret Senior](/source/Margaret_Senior). The book won the [Children's Book of the Year Award: Older Readers](/source/Children's_Book_of_the_Year_Award%3A_Older_Readers) in 1952.[1]

## Book summary

*The Australia Book* documents the history of the country from before European settlement up till the 1950s, when the book was written. It is aimed at younger children and is heavily illustrated.

## Critical reception

G.W.H. in *The Argus* was impressed with the work: "In the simplest language the story is told from the time of the early explorers to the postwar migration schemes. The pictures tell so much that even children too young to read will follow them and establish mental landmarks for use later on. And the parents, whose job will be to read it to them, will probably find that they have filled in a few yawning gaps in their knowledge too. This pictorial record is likely to become one of the juvenile classics for years to come."[2]

*The West Australian* was equally as enthusiastic: "*The Australia Book,* although designed for children, will be perused by their elders with equal interest because it sets out in simplest form the history of their country probably more vividly than ever before."[3]

## See also

- [1952 in Australian literature](/source/1952_in_Australian_literature)

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** ["Children's Book of the Year: An Australian Classic?", *The Sunday Herald*, 10 August 1952, p11](http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article18515643)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** ["History in Pictures" by G.W.H., *The Argus*, 6 September 1952, p15](http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article23199197)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** ["Our History in Pictures", *The West Australian*, 25 October 1952, p17](http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article49060172)

v t e Children's Book of the Year Award for Older Readers 1946–1949 The Story of Karrawingi the Emu by Leslie Rees (1946) Shackleton's Argonauts: A Saga of the Antarctic Icepacks by Frank Hurley (1948) 1950–1959 Whalers of the Midnight Sun by Alan Villiers (1950) Verity of Sydney Town by Ruth C. Williams (1951) The Australia Book by Eve Pownall (1952) Aircraft of Today and Tomorrow by James H. Martin & W. D. Martin (1953) Good Luck to the Rider by Joan Phipson (1953) Australian Legendary Tales by K. Langloh Parker (1954) The First Walkabout by Norman B. Tindale and Harold Arthur Lindsay (1955) The Crooked Snake by Patricia Wrightson (1956) The Boomerang Book of Legendary Tales edited by Enid Moodie Heddle (1957) Tiger in the Bush by Nan Chauncy (1958) Devil's Hill by Nan Chauncy (1959) Sea Menace by John Gunn (1959) 1960–1969 All the Proud Tribesmen by Kylie Tennant (1960) Tangara by Nan Chauncy (1961) The Racketty Street Gang by L. H. Evers (1962) Rafferty Rides a Winner by Joan Woodberry (1962) The Family Conspiracy by Joan Phipson (1963) The Green Laurel by Eleanor Spence (1964) Pastures of the Blue Crane by H. F. Brinsmead (1965) Ash Road by Ivan Southall (1966) The Min-Min by Mavis Thorpe Clark (1967) To the Wild Sky by Ivan Southall (1968) When Jays Fly to Barbmo by Margaret Balderson (1969) 1970–1979 Uhu by Annette Macarthur-Onslow (1970) Bread and Honey by Ivan Southall (1971) Longtime Passing by H. F. Brinsmead (1972) Family at the Lookout by Noreen Shelley (1973) The Nargun and the Stars by Patricia Wrightson (1974) Fly West by Ivan Southall (1976) The October Child by Eleanor Spence (1977) The Ice Is Coming by Patricia Wrightson (1978) The Plum-Rain Scroll by Ruth Manley (1979) 1980–1989 Displaced Person by Lee Harding (1980) Playing Beatie Bow by Ruth Park (1981) The Valley Between by Colin Thiele (1982) Master of the Grove by Victor Kelleher (1983) A Little Fear by Patricia Wrightson (1984) The True Story of Lilli Stubeck by James Aldridge (1985) The Green Wind by Thurley Fowler (1986) All We Know by Simon French (1987) So Much to Tell You by John Marsden (1988) Beyond the Labyrinth by Gillian Rubinstein (1989) 1990–1999 Came Back to Show You I Could Fly by Robin Klein (1990) Strange Objects by Gary Crew (1991) The House Guest by Eleanor Nilsson (1992) Looking for Alibrandi by Melina Marchetta (1993) The Gathering by Isobelle Carmody (1994) Angel's Gate by Gary Crew (1995) Foxspell by Gillian Rubinstein (1995) Pagan's Vows by Catherine Jinks (1996) A Bridge to Wiseman's Cove by James Moloney (1997) Eye to Eye by Catherine Jinks (1998) Deadly, Unna? by Phillip Gwynne (1999) 2000–2009 48 Shades of Brown by Nick Earls (2000) Wolf on the Fold by Judith Clarke (2001) Forest by Sonya Hartnett (2002) The Messenger by Markus Zusak (2003) Saving Francesca by Melina Marchetta (2004) The Running Man by Michael Gerard Bauer (2005) The Story of Tom Brennan by J. C. Burke (2006) Red Spikes by Margo Lanagan (2007) The Ghost's Child by Sonya Hartnett (2008) Tales from Outer Suburbia by Shaun Tan (2009) 2010–2019 Jarvis 24 by David Metzenthen (2010) The Midnight Zoo by Sonya Hartnett (2011) The Dead I Know by Scot Gardner (2012) Sea Hearts by Margo Lanagan (2013) Wildlife by Fiona Wood (2014) The Protected by Claire Zorn (2015) Cloudwish by Fiona Wood (2016) One Would Think The Deep by Claire Zorn (2017) Take Three Girls by Cath Crowley, Fiona Wood and Simmone Howell (2018) Between Us by Clare Atkins (2019) 2020–present This is How We Change the Ending by Vikki Wakefield (2020) The End of the World Is Bigger than Love by Davina Bell (2021) Tiger Daughter by Rebecca Lim (2022) Neverlanders by Tom Taylor (2023) Grace Notes by Karen Comer (2024) I'm Not Really Here by Gary Lonesborough (2025) Picture Book (1955–present) Early Childhood (2001–present) Younger Readers (1982–present) Eve Pownall Award for Information Books (1988–present)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [The Australia Book](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Australia_Book) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Australia_Book?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.
