For Primary School Kids: You're History Mate
A Light-hearted Look at Australian History by Paul Stafford
Aug 10, 2008
In only 200+ years since white settlement, Australian history has nevertheless managed to accumulate an impressive number of eccentric characters, ill-conceived ideas and inept leaders. With stories ranging from early British settlement in the late 1700’s through to personalities from the mid 1900’s, You’re History, Mate (Random House, 2008) offers tales to entertain, amuse and bemuse young readers.
A Casual Approach to History
With an alliterated subtitle excluding only drongos, You’re History Mate promises a collection of stories about dingbats, dropkicks, dills, duds and disasters from Australian history. The very colloquial, casual tone is established with these words and the relaxed, conversational tone will be best appreciated by reluctant readers who are looking information conveyed with a high level of entertainment.
The language style is very casual and is set out in a very approachable layout that includes regular bolding of significant phrases, note-like insets with significant facts and cartoon-like illustrations by Shane Nagle. The regular use of Australian colloquialisms firmly targets young Australian readers.
An Amusing Collection of Eccentric Characters
Stafford has included both familiar and less known personalities from Australian history, divided into five categories:
- Convicts, Crims and Con-Artists
- Bushrangers and Rebels
- Politicians and Lawmakers
- Prospectors and Settlers
- Eccentrics and Oddballs
There are several familiar names included in Stafford’s collection, such as Francis de Groot. De Groot upstaged the New South Wales Premier Jack Lang at the opening of the Sydney Harbour Bridge in 1932 by riding his horse through the crowd and cutting the ceremonial ribbon with his sword.
The disastrous expedition of Burke and Wills through the Australian outback and desert in 1860 is included, as are tales of the notorious bushranger Ned Kelly and the mysterious disappearance of 1960s Australian Prime Minister Harold Holt.
Women are not overlooked with stories about characters such as Mary Ann Bugg, the fiercely loyal wife of bushranger Captain Thunderbolt and Eliza Donnithorne, who is linked through local folklore as inspiration for Miss Havisham, Dickens’ distraught spinster abandoned at the altar in Great Expectations.
An Entertaining Glimpse into Colourful Characters from Australian History
You’re History, Mate offers a sketchy overview of the past 200 years of Australian history at best and readers looking for detailed and systematic historical information will be disappointed. The book never professes to be a comprehensive historical text, however, and does achieve its aim of sharing a series of light-hearted profiles of some infamous and/or eccentric personalities who have made their mark in a variety of ways.
While the language and style may discourage serious readers, it certainly makes reading about history far more appealing for less enthusiastic readers who might otherwise avoid a book on the subject.
