Tropical Cyclone Alfred is about to make landfall on the southern Queensland and northern New South Wales coasts of Australia. Speaking to family and friends who live in Brisbane and Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, it is a time of uncertainty and for some, trepidation, having never experienced a cyclone before. As a nation, we have been here before.
Australian writer, Jackie French, dedicates her beautiful picture book, Cyclone to those who endured Cyclone Tracy that devastated Darwin, Australia’s northern most capital city on Christmas Day, 1974 and to those who served and stayed behind to rebuild the city of Darwin. This last Christmas marked the 50th anniversary of Cyclone Tracy.
I was a young girl in 1974 when my auntie and cousins came to stay with us. They were some of the 30,000 people who were evacuated to the south. My uncle stayed behind to clean up and help rebuild the devastated town. I am still haunted by the photos I saw of toys and teddy bears, muddied and strewn against fences and across the streets, formerly wrapped and intended as Christmas presents for the young children of Darwin.
As a 5-year old girl, it was beyond imagination that anything could impose itself on Christmas day like that. Many residents who lived in Darwin felt the same on Christmas Eve.
The houses and public buildings of Darwin were rebuilt with much stricter safety standards in order to withstand future cyclones and extreme weather conditions. Of course, our weather forecasting systems are much more accurate today too in order to allow us to be much more prepared than the residents of Darwin in 1974.
The series of books I have included by Jackie French and impeccably illustrated by Bruce Whatley and Danny Snell are based on true stories from Australia’s experiences with extreme weather and natural disasters. Targeting young readers, they contain detailed information in the back of the books. They are dedicated to all those who endured these events as well as to all the heroes who fought and gave and volunteered, a testament to the Aussie spirit that prevails and bands us together when the going gets tough in this beautiful land of ours.
The authors and illustrators offer detailed explanations in the back of the book regarding their own experiences with extreme weather events.
Flood is an excellent book that describes the experiences of the 2011 Brisbane floods and surrounding areas. Bruce Whatley describes his thought process that led to his beautiful illustrations of such an emotional story, of those who experienced the Queensland floods and those who so selflessly gave through this time.
Fire is dedicated to all brave Aussie fire fighters and volunteers and to those who are touched by the devastation of Australian bushfires.
The Fire Wombat is an important book based on events witnessed by Jackie French during the 2020 fires. This is a heartfelt story of compassion which saw all kinds of people from across Australia come together to save our Australian wildlife from devastation. This is a beautifully illustrated book by Danny Snell and a great introduction to the natural world for younger readers and the wider, often overlooked effects of extreme weather. Beautiful!
By Jackie French & Danny Snell
Based on events witnessed by Australian Children's Laureate Jackie French during the 2020 fires and co-created with award-winning illustrator Danny Snell, this is a story of courage, compassion and survival, which saw people across Australia come together to save our wildlife from devastation.
Bruce Whatley describes the elements that make up the land of red dust, the Australian drought landscape, as “deceptively beautiful”. This “wide, brown land” is captivating in all its forms and in every season but that captivation often fails to tell of the heartbreaking stories that may lie in the ruins and cracked earth of its “droughts and flooding rains”.
And then… one day, the clouds will gather as the shadows fall and the land is drenched once more. New life and land begins.
By Jackie French & Bruce Whatley
From the award-winning creators of Flood, Fire and Cyclone comes Drought – a moving story about the devastating effects drought has on many Australians and their farms.
This is a great book to read while reading about the ten plagues in Exodus chapters 7-12. While the Exodus story was God’s judgment on Egypt, this helps us to recognise that we still experience the effects today in Australia, of a fallen world that is far from Eden.
The Newcastle Earthquake occurred in Newcastle, New South Wales in 1989. The shock measured 5.6 on the Richter Scale and was one of Australia’s most serious natural disasters.
By Jackie French & Bruce Whatley
From the award-winning creators of Flood, Fire, Cyclone, Plague and Drought.
Many of these books about Australia’s extreme weather have won a Children’s Book Council of Australia title, CBCA Notable Book or CBCA Short-Listed Book. They are great introductions to a wide range of weather conditions that will become firm favourites in your households for the younger generation as well as older readers as your family shares these together.
Icon of children’s literature, we have also enjoyed many of Jackie French’s children’s books and historical fiction over the years with our older children as well as these delightful picture books for little people. Regardless of her target audience, French’s books appeal to a wide age range and I have throughly enjoyed and learned from her extensively researched works, along with my children.
May the Aussie spirit never wane as we band together to find different ways to help and serve and protect our fellow Australians. These books are a great way for future generations to know and appreciate the stories of those who have gone before and the enormous impact they have made in service to others.
More Picture Books…
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Best Winnie-the-Pooh Complete Collection
Travel Around The World With Picture Books (Part 1)
