Book Description

This first book by K. Langloh Parker is still one of the best available collections of Australian Aboriginal folklore. It was written for a popular audience, but the stories are retold with integrity, and not filtered, as was the case with similar books from this period. That said, the style of this book reflects Victorian sentimentality and, an occasional tinge of racism that was apparent in those times. However, this volume does contain 31 uniquely Australian tales like: The Galah, and Oolah the Lizard, Bahloo the Moon and the Daens, The Origin of the Narran Lake, Gooloo the Magpie, and the Wahroogah and many more tales with distinctly Aboriginal titles. The texts, with their sentient animals and mythic transformations, have a somnambulistic and chaotic narrative that mark them as authentic dreamtime lore. The mere fact that she cared to write down these stories places her far ahead of her contemporaries, who, at the time, barely regarded native Australians as human. However, children will find here the Jungle Book of Australia, but there is no Mowgli, set apart as a man. For man, bird, and beast are all blended in the Aboriginal psyche. All are of one kindred, all shade into each other; all obey the Bush Law. Unlike any European Marchen, these stories do not have the dramatic turns of Western folk-lore. There are no distinctions of wealth and rank, no Cinderella nor a Puss in Boots. The struggle for food and water is the perpetual theme, and no wonder, for the narrators dwell in a dry and thirsty land. Parker has some odd connections with modern popular culture. She was rescued from drowning by an aborigine at an early age. This incident was portrayed in the film 'Picnic at Hanging Rock'. The song "They Call the Wind Mariah" was based on a story from this book and the pop singer Mariah Cary was reputedly named after this song. 33% of the net profit from this book will be donated to schools, charities and special causes. Yesterday's Books for Tomorrow's Educations"