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y separately published work icon Dot and the Kangaroo single work   children's fiction   children's  
Issue Details: First known date: 1899... 1899 Dot and the Kangaroo
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'Lost and afraid in the darkening bush, Dot is befriended by a kind Kangaroo. She eats the berries of understanding and is then able to communicate with all the bush creatures, who eventually guide her home.

'The intriguing tale of Dot and her Kangaroo is told by Ethel Pedley with the charm that has made this book an Australian favourite since it was first published in 1899. Now, as then, children will be enthralled by this oldest of Australian classics, it will endure to entertain generations to come.' (Publication summary)

Exhibitions

10627234
10626492

Adaptations

form y separately published work icon Dot and the Kangaroo Yoram Gross , John Palmer , ( dir. Yoram Gross ) Sydney : Yoram Gross Film Studios , 1977 Z1256824 1977 single work film/TV children's fantasy Based on the book of the same name by Ethel Pedley, the story concerns Dot, the young child of an outback settler, who becomes lost in the bush. She is befriended by a huge female red kangaroo, leading to Dot travelling about the countryside in the kangaroo's pouch. The two meet a number of characters on their travels, including a platypus, a koala, and a kookaburra, and have several exciting adventures before the kangaroo eventually helps Dot find her way home.
Creature 2016 single work drama children's

'Creature is a new interactive digital and physical theatre experience based on the much loved Australian story, Dot and the Kangaroo.

'Discover the magical landscape of the Australian bush as you've never seen it before, where large scale 3D projections of familiar animals spring to life and respond to the dance and aerial performers on stage. How long before this unique native wildlife disappears as humans encroach on their habitat?

'Creature invites you to step into an enchanting world to explore how human actions affect the Australian environment.

'First commissioned by QPAC for the 2016 Out of the Box festival for children eight years and under.

'Proudly supported by Brisbane's Child. ' (Production summary)

Reading Australia

Reading Australia

This work has Reading Australia teaching resources.

Unit Suitable For:

AC: Years 5 and 6 (NSW Stage 3)

General Capabilities

Critical and creative thinking, Ethical understanding, Intercultural understanding, Literacy

Cross-curriculum Priorities

Sustainability

Notes

  • Dedication: To the children of Australia in the hope of enlisting their sympathy for the many beautiful, amiable and frolicsome creatures of their fair land; whose extinction, through ruthless destruction is being surely accomplished.

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

VIEW PUBLICATION DETAILS FOR ALL VERSIONS ()

Other Formats

  • Also braille and sound recording.
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Related Works

y separately published work icon Dot and the Kangaroo Douglas Ancelon , Stella Chapman , Sydney : Angus and Robertson , 1924 Z1104630 1924 single work drama children's
Lost in the Bush Ethel Pedley , 1928 single work drama
— Appears in: School Paper : Grades III and IV , December no. 370 1928; (p. 166-167) Dot and Kangaroo meet a koala and learn about Aboriginal hunting and corroborees.
The Trial Stella Chapman , Douglas Ancelon , 1929 single work drama children's
— Appears in: School Paper : Grades III and IV , September no. 378 1929; (p. 124-126)
y separately published work icon Dot and the Kangaroo in the Court of the Animals Ethel Pedley , North Ryde : Angus and Robertson , 1976 Z1104626 1976 extract picture book children's (Dot and the Kangaroo)
y separately published work icon Dot and the Kangaroo Daniel Hargreaves , John Palmer , Sydney London : Angus and Robertson , 1977 Z1014084 1977 single work children's fiction children's

Based on the 1977 Yoram Gross film, this version is retold by Daniel Hargreaves. John Palmer's lyrics from the film's musical score are also included.

The story concerns Dot, the little daughter of settlers in the Australian outback, who loses her way in the bush. Terrified by the strange sounds and dark shadows she is soon befriended by a kangaroo. Dot travels in the pouch of the kangaroo on an adventure-packed journey.

VIEW ALL RELATED WORKS (10)

Works about this Work

Settler Colonialism and the Formation of Australian National Identity : Praed's 'Bunyip' and Pedley's 'Dot and the Kangaroo' Christa Knellwolf King , 2009 single work criticism
— Appears in: Imagined Australia : Reflections around the Reciprocal Construction of Identity between Australia and Europe 2009; (p. 107-121) 'This essay discusses stories that performed the task of defining the identity of the white settler community at the turn of twentieth-century Australia. It concentrates on two late nineteenth-century narratives, Rosa Praed's short story 'The Bunyip' (1891) and Ethel C. Pedley's children's book Dot and the Kangaroo (1898) which, in different ways, utilise the mystery and danger of the Australian outback as building blocks for representing experiences that were supposedly familiar to all Australians. These two stories describe their white characters' responses to Aboriginal legends and rituals as seminal moments in their personal growth, implying that first-hand knowledge of Aboriginal traditions was an essential element in the collective experience of Australian settlers.' (p. 109)
Revisiting Dot and the Kangaroo: Finding a Way in the Australian Bush Ulla Rahbek , 2007 single work criticism
— Appears in: Australian Humanities Review , February no. 41 2007; Rahbek suggests that, rather than being a tale of being lost in the bush, Dot and the Kangaroo is in a fact a story of being found. 'It is the indigenous creature who can show Dot how to find the true values of the Australian land and its bush creatures ... Dot learns, this paper argues, the importance of security and a sense of place from these animals, a security they themselves have lost in the wake of the European settlers' arrival.'
y separately published work icon Was Lost Gip Really Lost? : Some Representations of the Lost Child in Nineteenth-Century Discourses of Childhood Catharine Vaughan-Pow , St Lucia : AustLit: The Australian Literature Resource , 2009 Z1231837 2001 single work criticism
y separately published work icon Bunyips : Australia's Folklore of Fear Robert Holden , Nicholas Holden , Canberra : National Library of Australia , 2001 Z899883 2001 single work criticism This book examines the role of the bunyip in Australian folklore from the first European settlers to the present time. The bunyip was important in Aboriginal mythology and the origins of the word are discussed. One chapter is devoted to Australian literature and the portrayal of bunyips. There are also extracts from Australian stories.
y separately published work icon Ethel Pedley's 'Dot' Reaches Her Century Jeffrey Prentice , St Lucia : AustLit: The Australian Literature Resource , 2009 Z1256402 2000 single work biography criticism Biographical details of Ethel Pedley's life and works, literary and musical.
Untitled Millicent Jones , 1992 single work review
— Appears in: Reading Time : The Journal of the Children's Book Council of Australia , vol. 36 no. 1 1992; (p. 31-32)
— Review of Seven Little Australians Ethel Turner , 1894 single work children's fiction ; Dot and the Kangaroo Ethel Pedley , 1899 single work children's fiction
Untitled Jo Goodman , 1992 single work review
— Appears in: Magpies : Talking About Books for Children , September vol. 7 no. 4 1992; (p. 30)
— Review of Dot and the Kangaroo Ethel Pedley , 1899 single work children's fiction
Untitled W. V. , 1992 single work review
— Appears in: School Library News , November vol. 24 no. 4 1992; (p. 23)
— Review of Dot and the Kangaroo Ethel Pedley , 1899 single work children's fiction
y separately published work icon Was Lost Gip Really Lost? : Some Representations of the Lost Child in Nineteenth-Century Discourses of Childhood Catharine Vaughan-Pow , St Lucia : AustLit: The Australian Literature Resource , 2009 Z1231837 2001 single work criticism
y separately published work icon Ethel Pedley's 'Dot' Reaches Her Century Jeffrey Prentice , St Lucia : AustLit: The Australian Literature Resource , 2009 Z1256402 2000 single work biography criticism Biographical details of Ethel Pedley's life and works, literary and musical.
y separately published work icon Dot and the Kangaroo Sydney : Australian Broadcasting Commission , 1977 Z1365625 1977 single work criticism Discussion of the full length animated movie directed and co-written by Yoram Goss, based on Ethel Pedley's book, including a review by John Hend.
Revisiting Dot and the Kangaroo: Finding a Way in the Australian Bush Ulla Rahbek , 2007 single work criticism
— Appears in: Australian Humanities Review , February no. 41 2007; Rahbek suggests that, rather than being a tale of being lost in the bush, Dot and the Kangaroo is in a fact a story of being found. 'It is the indigenous creature who can show Dot how to find the true values of the Australian land and its bush creatures ... Dot learns, this paper argues, the importance of security and a sense of place from these animals, a security they themselves have lost in the wake of the European settlers' arrival.'
Changing Perspectives : The Implied Reader in Australian Children's Literature 1841-1994 H. M. Saxby , 1995 single work criticism
— Appears in: Children's Literature in Education , March vol. 26 no. 1 1995; (p. 25-38)
VIEW ALL WORKS ABOUT (17)
Last amended 9 Jan 2019 09:00:00
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