A Winner of The Children's Book Council Of Australia: Short-listed book & Notable Australian Children's Book
The nineteenth century saw great social and cultural change in Australia. White settlement rapidly spread as the British government progressively claimed land across the continent, dispossessing the original owners. Although no one can dispute the overwhelming injustice done to the aboriginal people during this time, it is a mistake to see all white people as brutal and all Aboriginal people as victims.
Alan Tucker's carefully researched text and detailed artwork record fourteen stories of individual people to show the diversity of race relations in Australia during the colonial ear. Although cruelty and misguided philanthropy were widespread, there was also glimmerings of a social conscience - enough to show that the potential for racial harmony has always been present in Australian society.
