Images of Australia: A History of Australian Children's Literature, 1941-1970

Henry Maurice Saxby

Scholastic Press, 2002 - Literary Criticism - 848 pages

'Images of Australia' examines the range of fiction being written for and offered to children in that particular period of our national development when Australia was reinventing itself after the Great Depression of the 1930s and its involvement in World War II. The fiction documents the multiple images of Australian life - the land and its people - that were being presented to young readers both at home and abroad. Many of these images arose from a developing national identity and hence helped form the outlook of a generation of Australians. In many ways, this period, 1940-1970, also laid the foundation for an Australian children's literature that has now won international acclaim.

About the author

Maurice Saxby was born on December 26, 1924 in Sydney, Australia. He received a bachelor of arts from the University of Sydney in 1954 and a master of education in 1967. He served in the Australian Imperial Forces from 1943 to 1946. He was a teacher with the New South Wales Department of Education, a lecturer with the New South Wales State Teachers' Colleges, and Professor and Head of the English Department at Kuring-gai College of Advanced Education. He was also an author and an authority on children's literature and on Australian children's writing in particular. He was the first national president of the Children's Book Council of Australia, promoted the introduction of courses in children's literature in academic institutions, and lectured on the subject in Great Britain, Germany, Canada, and the United States. He received numerous awards during his lifetime including the Pixie O'Harris award for distinguished service to children's books, the Lady Cutler Award for Distinguished Service to Children's Literature, the Nan Chauncy Award, and the Dromkeen Medal. He also received an Order of Australia. He died on November 30, 2014 at the age of 89.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Images of Australia: A History of Australian Children's Literature, 1941-1970
• Author: Henry Maurice Saxby
• Publisher: Scholastic Press, 2002
• ISBN: 1865042773, 9781865042770
• Length: 848 pages
• Subjects: Literary Criticism / Australian & Oceanian; Literary Criticism / Children's & Young Adult Literature; Literary Criticism / European / English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh; Literary Criticism / Subjects & Themes / Culture, Race & Ethnicity