A highly entertaining and very thorough overview of the early history of European Settlement in Australia. A really excellent kid-friendly production. Highly recommended.
Fair Dinkum Histories are loosely based on the Horrible Histories concept, although I found these more coherent, much better laid out and more respectful of their subject matter than any of the Horrible Histories. Jackie French has produced one of the clearest histories of early colonial life that I have ever read. The story is chronological, with plenty of interesting snippets from individual lives, and entertaining cartoon asides with terrible puns! Neither has she flinched from presenting the Aboriginal side of the story, in a very straightforward and fair-minded way (and being the well-loved garden writer that she is, neither has she neglected to mention the importance of compost to the early settlers!).
This really is a very valuable resource for studying Australian History, while being entertaining enough to be given as a birthday present to ten-year-old nieces.
Will be ordered in. Allow up to three weeks,