http://weheartbooks.com/2008/12/22/when-we-were-little-7/ Sat, 29 Oct 2011 10:16:20 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 http://weheartbooks.com/2008/12/22/when-we-were-little-7/comment-page-1/#comment-1102 Sue B Tue, 23 Dec 2008 06:52:51 +0000 http://weheartbooks.com/?p=1881#comment-1102 Other Australian classics for the slightly older age group are the Nan Chauncy (nee Masterman) novels. Hope one of you might get to review one of them some time! Nan was at one time the best selling children's novelist in Australia. She was born in 1900 (died 1970) and her family migrated from England to Tasmania in 1912 where her father was an engineer. She wrote her first novel (They found a cave) in the early 1940s; it was published in 1948 and about this time she and her husband, Anton, bought 1000 acres of bush next to Chauncy Vale and had it declared a wildlife sanctuary. Ahead of their time they were both very concerned about the destruction of bush and wildlife in the midlands of Tasmania. Nan had also had a deep interest in aboriginal culture and pioneer country living and this is reflected in her children’s novels. Her treatment of Aboriginal issues was unusual for the time and Tangara and Mathinna's People (1967) are generally regarded as her finest work. She won acclaim both in Australia and overseas; she won 3 Children's Book Of The Year awards for Tiger in the Bush in 1956, Devil’s Hill in 1959 and Tangara in 1961, and was the first Australian to win the Hans Christian Andersen diploma of merit. Many of her 14 novels are partially autobiographical including Half a World Away (1962), The Roaring 40 (1963), High and Haunted Island (1964), Lizzie Lights (1968) and The Lighthouse Keeper's Son (1969). An award in her name was created by the Children's Book Council of Australia to honour people who have made an outstanding contribution to the field of Australian children's literature. And guess what - her books are now collectibles, too! Other Australian classics for the slightly older age group are the Nan Chauncy (nee Masterman) novels. Hope one of you might get to review one of them some time!
Nan was at one time the best selling children’s novelist in Australia. She was born in 1900 (died 1970) and her family migrated from England to Tasmania in 1912 where her father was an engineer.
She wrote her first novel (They found a cave) in the early 1940s; it was published in 1948 and about this time she and her husband, Anton, bought 1000 acres of bush next to Chauncy Vale and had it declared a wildlife sanctuary. Ahead of their time they were both very concerned about the destruction of bush and wildlife in the midlands of Tasmania.
Nan had also had a deep interest in aboriginal culture and pioneer country living and this is reflected in her children’s novels. Her treatment of Aboriginal issues was unusual for the time and Tangara and Mathinna’s People (1967) are generally regarded as her finest work.
She won acclaim both in Australia and overseas; she won 3 Children’s Book Of The Year awards for Tiger in the Bush in 1956, Devil’s Hill in 1959 and Tangara in 1961, and was the first Australian to win the Hans Christian Andersen diploma of merit.
Many of her 14 novels are partially autobiographical including Half a World Away (1962), The Roaring 40 (1963), High and Haunted Island (1964), Lizzie Lights (1968) and The Lighthouse Keeper’s Son (1969).
An award in her name was created by the Children’s Book Council of Australia to honour people who have made an outstanding contribution to the field of Australian children’s literature.
And guess what – her books are now collectibles, too!

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