Australia Culture

Inspired by Disney Animation Studios' latest film, Moana, this middle grade novel features characters and adventures based on the rich culture of Oceania. It includes original content in the form of mini folktales interspersed throughout the story of the film.

The bombs were falling and the smoke rising from the concentration camps, but all Hitler's daughter knew was the world of lessons with Fraulein Gelber and the hedgehogs she rescued from the cold. Was it just a story or did Hitler's daughter really exist? And If you were Hitler's daughter, would all the horror that occurred be your fault, too? Do things that happened a long time ago still matter?

Miss Arabella Braithewaite of Switherby knows there is no future for the 10 orphans - a remarkable mix of genteel and working-class children - she has gathered together in these years of England’s grim factory growth in the early 1820s. Her plan, quite outrageous in the eyes of most, is to take the children to Australia to take up a land grant. Thus, one day the townsfolk gather to watch a line of departing “pilgrims” led by the fearless “Missabella”.

There were dozens of us on the ship, all ages, boys and girls, and we were all up on deck for the leaving of Liverpool, gulls wheeling and crying over our heads, calling good-bye, I thought they were waving good-bye. None of us spoke. It was a grey day with drizzle in the air, the great sad cranes bowing to the ship from the docks as we steamed past. That is all I remember of England…

Kira and her mom are spending the summer at a wildlife sanctuary in Australia helping her aunt Mamie, a veterinarian, care for the animals. When Kira falls in love with an orphaned koala joey, her joy is complete—until a health emergency pulls Aunt Mamie away. Suddenly Kira can’t seem to do anything right. She’s put the wombats and her beloved koala joey in danger, and now her new friend Alexis won’t talk to her. Can Kira find a way to catch a roving predator—along with a few wayward wombats—and earn back everyone’s trust?

Margie is an indigenous young girl whose best friend is a wolf. Together, Margie and the wolf go on many adventures and make new animal friends. They are different, certainly, but they are all filled with love and fun. As a team, they play games together in the wild landscape of the Australian bush, but rest assured, Margie and the wolf are always side by side.

Tristan White's story started like many others. He had a dream to work in a job that inspired him. He didn't find that job, so he created it. In 2004, The Physio Co (TPC) was born with one team member: Tristan White. In the 13 years since, TPC has become a remarkable health care success story based upon fast growth and a thriving, systemised company culture. Tristan's obsession with creating an inspiring place to work for himself and others has resulted in more than a decade of learning, testing and refining.

Culture Smart! New Zealand provides essential information on attitudes, beliefs and behavior in different countries, ensuring that you arrive at your destination aware of basic manners, common courtesies, and sensitive issues. These concise guides tell you what to expect, how to behave, and how to establish a rapport with your hosts. This inside knowledge will enable you to steer clear of embarrassing gaffes and mistakes, feel confident in unfamiliar situations, and much more!

Butter O'Bryan lives in a Very Small Castle with his father and three aunts—Aunt Elephant, Aunt Cake and Aunt Peculiar. These aren't their real names, of course, just as Butter's father isn't really called 'Pongo'. And even though Butter is only twelve years old, and the grandson of one of Australia's most successful Jam Kings, he is very aware of the hardship many people are experiencing. Butter has been told there are ghosts at the nearby isolated Howlers Beach, but are there? And how can the children Butter plays cricket with on the beach simply vanish?

Sixteen-year-old Nipper and his Gallipoli mates Lanky, Spud, Bluey and Wallaby Joe are starving, freezing and ill-equipped. By November 1915 they know that that there is more to winning a war than courage. The Gallipoli campaign has been lost. Nipper has played cricket with the Turks in the opposing dugout, dodged rocket fire and rescued drowning, freezing men when the blizzard snow melted. He is one of the few trusted with the secret kept from even most of the officers: how an entire army will vanish from the Peninsula over three impeccably planned nights.

It's a dark and dangerous journey for the Cobb and Co night mail coach, but when his coach-driver father is injured, young Jem Donovan must take the reins. Surely a boy like Jem can't handle a team of four horses and guide the coach on a rough bush track through fog and untold dangers? But there are six passengers on the coach tonight, each with a secret. And if Jem can't get them all to their destination by morning, the seventh secret could be deadly.

Life hasn't been much fun for Milly Dynes lately. There seem to be problems everywhere she looks. She's always loved her home in Tidgy Bay, but at the moment she wishes she was somewhere—anywhere—else. Then Eliza Vanda turns up-and magic comes with her.

On the far northwest coast of Tasmania at Cape Grimm lies the isolated and idiosyncratic community of Skye, which practises a religion that reveres the imagination. One clear evening in 1992 all the inhabitants enter the church hall, where they are locked in and burned alive. They have been persuaded to do this by a young man called Caleb Mean - also known as El Nino, the Christ Child.

During a semester in the wilderness, 16-year-old Sib expects the tough outdoor education program and the horrors of dorm life, but friendship drama and an unexpected romance with popular Ben Capaldi? That will take some navigating. New girl Lou has zero interest in fitting in, or joining in. Still reeling from a loss that occurred almost a year ago, she just wants to be left alone. But as she witnesses a betrayal unfolding around Sib and her best friend Holly, Lou can't help but be drawn back into the land of the living.

Neuseeland war damals weitaus wilder als heute. Eine grün wuchernde feuchte Pflanzenwelt, in die über Jahrmillionen niemand eingegriffen hatte. Ein menschenleeres riesiges Land mit reicher Tierwelt. Dieses Paradies finden die Mitglieder eines polynesischen Stammes, als sie um 950 n. Chr. mit ihren riesigen Kanus die Fahrt übers Meer, durch wilde Stürme und mörderische Wellen überstehen. Über 2000 km von ihren Heimatinseln entfernt, lassen sie sich nieder und begründen das Volk der Maori.

Nani siempre ha soñado con ser una princesa. Cuando una princesa de la vida real de Hawái visita a su pueblo en Hilo, Nani se viste con sus mejores ropas. Pero, mientras observa a la Princesa Luka, quien ha venido a salvar al pueblo de Mauna Loa de la lava volcánica, Nani aprende que hay algo más que ser una princesa con ropas finas.

Cuando un raro y pequeño animalito aparece fuera de la nada después de un gran chubasco, ¡los animales australianos se preguntan de dónde puede ser! Su piel, sus patas, su cola, y su pico como de cuchara de helado les recordaba a cada animal algo diferente. Con un espiritu "australiano", todos se ponen a trabajar con entusiasmo para ayudarle a descubrir su procedencia.

The mayor flipped a lever, and everyone cheered as Old Lower Grange was submerged beneath five thousand swimming pools’ worth of water. But Cassie’s family wasn’t there to see it - they were too busy rushing to the hospital to deliver an eight-weeks-early Cassie. Now, twelve years later, Cassie feels drawn to the mysteries hidden beneath the surface of the manmade lake - and she’s not the only one.

Australia is home to some of the most unusual animals in the world. Did you know, millions of years ago, all the continents were clumped into one large landmass? When the continents began to break away, South America, Antarctica, and Australia were still stuck together. Later, South America connected to North America, but Australia separated. It kept evolving in isolation, which is why the animals of Australia can look very different from animals anywhere else in the world.

Young wombat Lola doesn’t quite fit in. Wombats are supposed to be shy and quiet, but Lola is talkative, curious, and always getting into trouble. When her village is attacked by a Tasmanian devil leading a group of swamp rats, Lola’s parents are captured - and the rats say it's on the orders of the queen! To rescue her parents, Lola will have to leave home for the very first time and set off on a wild adventure. Even with the help of friends she meets along the way, Lola will need every ounce of her bold bravery to help rescue her family and save the kingdom!