Down Under: Vanishing Cultures

Reynolds, Jan

ISBN 10: 0152241825 ISBN 13: 9780152241827

Publisher: Harcourt Childrens Books, 1992

Synopsis

Documents the daily lives and beliefs of the Tiwi--a northern Australian group of aborigines who continue to travel the same paths that their ancestors have walked for thousands of years without touching or disturbing the landscape.

About this title

About the Author

JAN REYNOLDS is an award-winning author and photographer whose work has appeared in numerous publications, including National Geographic, The New York Times, and Outside magazine. All seven books in her Vanishing Cultures series of photo-essays for children were recognized as Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People. Reynolds is also an avid skier, mountain climber, and adventurer.

From School Library Journal

Grade 3-6-- Reynolds focuses her attention and her camera on a few individuals to relate information about daily life among the Tiwi, who live off the coast of northern Australia. After an introduction that briefly examines the concepts of walkabout and Dreamtime, readers meet a young girl who asks her mother to tell her a story about their tribe. Through this story and other details, readers learn about Tiwi art, food gathering, and customs. The author concludes with a two-page addendum about her experiences living with this group. Some of the full-color photographs have postcard beauty, while others are almost surrealistic; all are outstanding. Captions are used sparingly to explain ideas introduced in the text. Down Under will be successful as curriculum support , in conjunction with Browne's An Aboriginal Family (Lerner, 1985), which looks at another Northern Territory tribe, or Cobb's This Place Is Lonely (Walker, 1991) , and as supplementary reading for children interested in learning more about Australia's native peoples. A world map on the endpapers pinpoints the Tiwis' home. --Jeanette Larson, Texas State Library, Austin
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Harcourt Childrens Books
• Publication date: 1992
• ISBN 10: 0152241825
• ISBN 13: 9780152241827
• Binding: Library Binding
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1