Did you know there is a database for Australian Picture Books for Older Readers?
It was collated by the National Centre for Australian Children’s literature (NCACL), out of the University of Canberra.
The rationale for the database is outlined below:
Picture books can be read on several levels and interpreted differently depending on the audience. They can be suitable for more than one audience simultaneously and assist students in becoming competent in image analysis and identifying storytelling devices. Books selected for this database are often more sophisticated with different levels of meaning. Such books may:
• provide alternatives to text-only books
• offer books for image analysis
• assist in developing multi-literacy and visual literacy
• analyse different types of literature including
post-modernism
• introduce methods for decoding the integration
of words and pictures
• analyse artistic techniques and styles as well as
book design and layout
• study literary devices and intertextual references
aimed at older readers
• examine multiple narratives
• attract reluctant readers, EAL/D students and
those with language difficulties
• offer non-traditional plot structure and
metafictional devices
• examine sensitive topics including death, war,
violence and societal issues
• attract readers who find picture books suit their
needs and interests
• provide useful tools for introducing thematic
units of work
My annotations
I was delighted to be involved in a small way, by annotating five of the entries (please click on links to read the annotations):
THE CURIOSITIES by Zana Fraillon and Phil Lesnie (Lothia (Hachette), 2021) – neurodiversity
REQUIEM FOR A BEAST by Matt Ottley (Hachette Live Australia, 2007) – Stolen Generations, trauma
THE TREE OF ECSTASY AND UNBEARABLE SADNESS by Matt Ottley (Dirt Lane Press, 2021) – bipolar affective disorder
THE RED TREE by Shaun Tan (Lothian Books (Hachette), 2001) – mental health, hope
JENNY ANGEL by Margaret Wild and Anne Spudvilas (Penguin, 2002) – sibling death, grief
Themes
I have included a subject tag for each, but each book is multi-layered and explores many more themes and subjects, which are also listed on the database.
Delving deep into these books and finding associated teacher resources was a real privilege. Thank you to Dr Belle Alderman for inviting me to participate, and to the NCACL for initiating this project, as well as the Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Resource and the Cultural Diversity Database.