Summary (from Australian Geographic Education website)

Jump aboard the campervan with Taha, an Australian boy of Greek heritage, and his mum. They’re off on a journey of discovery that’s going to lead them to some of our country’s most fascinating places and interesting locals.

Taha’s adventures make compelling reading for all young explorers, and while their engrossed in tales of Taha and his mischievious ways, they’ll also learn about the geography, local industry, history and culture of each region – a new location in every book – that Taha visits.

Comments

This is a fun new series about Australian geography and culture for primary school kids. Taha is a fun character with a great sense of humour and an eye for interesting people and places as he travels around Australia with his mother in their campervan.

My older kids have read the first four books in this series and enjoyed them. There are some great facts included in the story as well as lots of great illustrations and photos of the places Taha visits. The format of the books is great – lots of variety with presentation of information and very visually appealing.

The first four books in the series are available now, with two additional titles to be published in both September and November. These books would be a great classroom resource and the Australian Geographic Education website has teacher resources for the series available.

I’m looking forward to the next four books, although I’m disappointed that the series is so short with only eight titles. I think it’s great that they avoid focusing on the major capital cities and instead feature some country towns and more remote areas, but there are so many great areas that missed out – including my hometown of Newcastle.

Review copy details
Title: Our Australia series
Author: Phil Kettle
Publisher: Australian Geographic, 2010
ISBN:

• Our Australia #1: Mildura (ISBN: 978-0-980710330-5, 128 pages)
• Our Australia #2: Broken Hill (ISBN: 978-0-98071-331-2, 128 pages)
• Our Australia #3: Longreach (ISBN: 978-0-98071-332-9, 128 pages)
• Our Australia #4: Alice Springs (ISBN: 978-0-98071-333-6, 128 pages)

Genre: Children’s Fiction/Non-Fiction, Australian geography
Age: 8+ years

Related Links

• Review of Our Australia series at Suite101.com