Topic

The Earth is inhabited by a vast number of living creatures. Some scientists believe there are around 8.7 million species of plants and animals that call our planet home. These living creatures exist in almost every corner of our world with only the most barren of deserts and deepest of oceans remaining unpopulated save for microscopic organisms.

Topic

The Last Dragon, written by Charles Massy and illustrated by Mandy Foot, is the story of a small, rarely seen lizard, Timpo, who is the last of his kind in his valley. Convinced he is not the only Monaro grassland earless dragon left, Timpo and his companion Wolfie the spider set off across the windswept Monaro plains in search of others.

Module

This resource is aligned to the Australian Curriculum: Humanities and Social Sciences for Year 4 students.

Topic

The Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie from the Netherlands (VOC or United East Indies Company) was established in 1602 with the purpose of buying spices from East Asia for trade on the European market.

Topic

As captain of the newly built Eendracht, Dirk Hartog was bound for the East Indies in 1616, along with other VOC ships.

Topic

At least four VOC ships were shipwrecked on the Western Australian coast in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

Module

This resource is aligned with the Australian Curriculum: English for Year 4 students. It has been developed to use National Library collection material as the basis for an exploration of children’s literature as part of the literature strand of the English learning area.

Topic

Children develop their sense of self through relationships with friends and families. Many early Australian children’s novels depict families on the move from Britain to Australia. Some struggled to establish a life in the harsh outback.

Topic

Authors have used the beauty, harshness and problems of our land to tell their stories, often basing their stories in familiar locations and using their reaction to a particular environment as the central theme.

Topic

Authors and illustrators of children’s books bring imaginary and distorted worlds to life, creating works inhabited by curious creatures and magical beings. These works include fairy tales and fantasy books.

Topic

The 19th century was the age of the English language boys’ adventure story.

Topic

Writing and illustrating a children’s book involves many steps. Sometimes one person takes on both tasks, while at other times an author and an illustrator work together to bring a story to life.