Product Description
Classic Australian ballad with beautiful illustrations by Robert Ingpen. ... Read more

Product Description
Outback is the towering saga of the Garrity family, whose founding father was the illegitimate son of a female convict. Brought up in a Sydney orphanage, Patrick Garrity left the brawling city to make a life for himself in the vast backcountry of New South Wales. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Decent start to a series
Outback is the first of Aaron Fletcher's Austrailian saga and this first novel covers the founding of the Garrity family.Illegitimate son of a female convict from England, Patrick Garrity pulls himself up by his bootstraps to become owner of one of the largest (and richest) sheep stations in Australia.

Covering the first two (and start of the third) generation to make the Garrity's fortune, the novel focuses more on the women who made it all happen.

It's a compelling read, not one that requires a lot of thinking on your part and sometimes that's a nice break.The story was interesting enough for me to look forward to picking up the book every time I had a few quiet minutes to read.Be aware that it's not a literary masterpiece, just good saga reading.

If I had any complaints it would be a wish that Fletcher had made the relationships more passionate (not sex, there's little of that in the book, but emotional passion between characters), but that's not enough to stop me from reading the rest of the novels in the series.

outback
This is a wonderful story about an aboringal girl named Mayrah who was traded away to a white man named Patrick Garrity,how they made a life together through incredible hardship, and eventually raised a family and became land barons of the Australian Outback. It is a sad and heroic novel that will keep you turning the pages as each character unfolds and crosses paths with Mayrah and Patrick Garrity, its a love story and a very compelling look at the life and challengers of living or running a sheep station. I will definately read other books from this author and hope they are as good as this one, well done growing up in Australia and visiting a sheep station in my childhood I especially can relate to the isolation these people endured although today life is so much easier than they ever knew.

Incredible - wonderful story.
From the very first page I was hooked.You can see above what the story is about, but this is so much more than just a story.The level of detail was incredible and the friendships and hardships are painstakingly described.Immediately you are THERE.The Australian Outback is so beautifully portrayed in all it's glories and evils.Highly recommended.

Strong Women
This book is about an aborigine wormen who helps a white man, who is the son of a convict.This man was as a boy sent to an orphanage then adopted by a man to tend sheep.With the help of this woman he became the largest sheep station owner in the outback.Their children, who were half abo, were strong in their own ways but it was their daughter,Sheila, who was the strongest.She befriends a city woman Elizabeth, and between them a strong friendship is kindled fueled by the aborigine woman, Mayrah.As the original owner, Pat Garrity and his abo wife die, Sheila and Elizabeth take over the running of the station.Sheila is known to be tough, but Elizabeth gets a stronger reputation.By the end of the book, all fear the wrath of Elizabeth, who is the most fearsome sheep rancher in all the outback.In the final chapters the son of Sheila returns to the staion to find that Elizabeth is matchmaking with a relative from England who she is fashioning in her own image to be the next baroness of Wayamba Station.

Aaron Fletcher Rules!!
The Outback series of books by this author is so incredibely detailed, without overdoing it. From the 1st book to the last, I couldnt put them down. Now I have friends brrowing them and even my mother. They are all hooked. A fabulous portrayal of life in the early days of Australia. Do yourself a favor and buy the whole set of these books. You will treasure them always!
... Read more

Product Description
Col Roberts has brought together stunning images of fish, wildlife and unique environment. Col also offers tips and techniques for successful photography. A superb coffee table book that will give pleasure to all who read it. ... Read more

Product Description
Describes the art of the Australian Aborigines including rock painting and engraving as well as sand and bark painting; also discusses the symbolism found in these works. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Book
Really good book.I'm an art teacher and this fit perfectly with my lesson on Aboriginal art. ... Read more

Product Description
This sumptuously illustrated book invites children to closely observe the birds, plants, and animals that inhabit the unique environment of Kakadu, in the northern territory of Australia, by presenting the six Aboriginal seasons and their characteristics. Offering a holistic approach to the climate and life in Kakadu, it emphasizes making children feel part of the landscape. This book also explores educational themes including seasons in the tropics, stories from the land, cultural and indigenous studies, language studies, and art, with detailed teachers' notes for each. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Wonderful
If you are interested in how the traditional indigenous people of the northern territory in Australia live, then this is the book for you. A perfect book for both children and adults, Australians and also people further away. Full of daily life details in both the stories and the illustrations, this is a book that we as a family are enjoying reading over and over. ... Read more

Product Description
Describes many things that originally came from Australia, including inventions, sports and games, food, musical instruments, animals, and words. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Short on info
I thought there would be much more information in this book.It is all pretty basic.The book contains info that most people would already know. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (1)

Biography of a WWII Australian Lanc Pilot!
Bomber Command was made up of many nationalities. There have been a fair number of memoirs on former Bomber Command personnel, BATTLE ORDER 204 being the story of Australian Dave Mattingley. Mattingley flew 22 ops before being greviously wounded on a mission to Dortmund, Germany. BATTLE ORDER 204 is the simply-told yet affecting account of Mattingley's life and service career.

The 21-year old was assigned to 625 Squadron, 1 Group in September 1944. By 29 November, he had logged over 20 missions including several daylight ops. On the 29th his Lanc was hit by flak three separate times, each time resulting in further wounds to Mattingley. Through sheer grit, he piloted his badly damaged Lanc back to base, earning him an immediate DFC. After many months in the hospital, he flew several more ops before war's end and then returned to Australia.

Author Christobel Mattingley - his wife! -uses the 29 November mission as a recurring theme running throughout the book. Through it she intertwines details of Mattingley's early days, training in England and subsequent life. The simple but moving narrative brings to life the modest, considerate and courageous young warrior so typical of the Greatest Generation.

BATTLE ORDER 204 is one of the best Bomber Command memoirs I have read over the years. It comes highly recommended.

*****
The Amazon listing states the book is intended for readers 9-12 years of age. I think adult readers will enjoy it as well. ... Read more