Aussie Heroes Article in the Tasmania Mercury

Warmest thanks to the amazing Damian Bester for this sensational article in the Tasmania Mercury today. Some more reader-friendly images below.

Who are the coolest people in Australian history? Soup Blog's kids know!

 

I recently had the pleasure of going on virtual tour with my new junior faction historical novel, Caroline Chisholm: The Emigrant's Friend. As part of my journey, I stopped at the glorious Soup Blog, where clever kids and reading kids tend to go, and asked this question:

Who are your top 5 coolest people in Australian history?

I was astonished at the results. Expecting Ned Kelly, Ned Kelly, Ned Kelly and Ned Kelly, followed by Ned Kelly, these kids totally impressed me with lists of both well-known people (and some Ned Kellys--I also nominated him!) and people I had never even heard of.

I love it.

Here are the responses from these amazing kids. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did. And thank you to the wonderful Rebecca Newman of Soup Blog for running this post--and to all the brilliant young minds who responded to the Coolest People call.

You can see the original post on Soup Blog here, including my top 5.

Celine, 11

I like your choice of cool people in history; one of your coolest people in your list is in mine as well. Here’s my list:

1. Mary Haydock
Mary Haydock ran away from the house where she was in service at the age of 13, disguised as a boy. She was caught stealing a horse and was sent to seven years transportation. When she was a convict, she married a free settler and businessman Thomas Reibey. Thomas died in 1811. Mary expanded many businesses, raised her family, and became extremely rich and did many charitable works. Her portrait is on the twenty-dollar note.

2. Ned Kelly
Ned Kelly is one of those people who some think is a villain and some think is a hero. I personally thought that Ned Kelly was a villain, but after I went into further research about Ned Kelly, I changed my mind. He’s cool!

3. John Simpson Kirkpatrick
Simpson was an ordinary boy who at the age of 21, signed up to go to war. He found a donkey, and used him to help carry wounded soldiers back to the hospital. John and Duffy (his donkey), saved many lives and was beginning to be known to lots of the enemies, and they were beginning to be angry. One day, a Turkish soldier sneaked up on John and shot him. Duffy still continued to take the wounded soldier to the hospital because he had already memorised the path. This made not only John Simpson Kirkpatrick a hero, but his donkey as well.

4. Andrew Barton Paterson
Andrew Barton Paterson (Banjo Paterson) wrote the words to the famous song “Waltzing Matilda”. I think he is one of the coolest people in history because he wrote about what people were doing in the rural areas of the country that he loved.

5. Jandamarra
Jandamarra was friends with an Englishmen called Richardson and joined the police force with him. However, when he was assigned to kill his own people in jail, he refused. Instead, Jandamarra changed sides and freed his own people. From then on Jandamarra was on the list of “wanted”. I think he’s cool because he never betrayed his own people.

Joseph, 9

1. Donald Bradman – he was a great cricket player

2. AB (Banjo Paterson) because of his bush poetry.

3. CJ Dennis who also wrote bush poetry

4. Cathy Freeman – a very fast runner

5. Fay Kathleen Howe – she lived on Breaksea Island in a lighthouse in WA and even when she was still a girl she used to pass on telegraph messages from soldiers on passing ships to the soldiers’ families during the war.

Matilda, 7

I like Banjo Paterson because of his poems and May Gibbs because I like Snugglepot and Cuddlepie and my Great Nana because without her I wouldn’t be born.

Pippa, 11

1. Howard Florey who discovered Penicillin

2. Edmund Barton – Australia’s first Prime Minister and he pushed for Federation

3. Mary MacKillop – the first Australian saint

4. Lionel Logue – the Australian speech therapist who helped King George VI

5. Can I put me? I’m a poet, writer, musician, composer, editor, book reviewer, publisher, scientific discoverer, mathematician … and more to come!

Jamie

My Five coolest People in Australian History

1. Ned Kelly the famous bushranger.

2. Sir Donald Bradman amazing cricketer

3. Captain Cook found Australia.

4. C.Y. O’ Connor a famous engineer who built water pipelines and got water to Kalgoorlie gold fields.

5. Banjo Patterson famous for his poetry.

How brilliant are these kids!?

Leave a comment and see if you can impress me with YOUR top 5 coolest people from Australian history.

Today was the final day on my Caroline Chisholm Blog Tour. What an historical journey it's been! Thank you yet again to my sensational blog tour hosts for your time, energy and support.

If you missed any of the posts, you can click on them quickly and easily in the links below, and don't miss your chance to win a copy of the book at Kids' Book Review. Comp closes this Sunday night 6 October.

I hope you get a chance to read Caroline Chisholm: The Emigrant's Friend. The book is a deeply personal achievement for me. I simply fell in love with the story of this astonishing woman, and I find it incomprehensible that she and her work is not as well-known as it should be. Her life dedication to the poor, destitute, abused, lost, misplaced, separated--it is truly a life-changing story and I dare you not to shed a tear during the final chapter of the book.

Let's teach our kids about real heroism. Caroline Chisholm is the real deal.

Monday 30 September

Giveaway - Kids’ Book Review

Review - Kids’ Book Review

Author Interview – Dianne Bates, Writing for Children 

Writing Historical Faction - Pass It On

Researching Sweet Caroline - Sheryl Gwyther’s Blog

Tuesday 1 October

Author Interview - ABC Radio Canberra

Review + Five Historical Faction Writing Tips - DeeScribe

Review - Elaine Ouston Blog

The Coolest People in Australian History - Soup Blog

Author Interview - My Book Corner

Wednesday 2 October

Review - HerCanberra

Author Interview - Buzz Words

Review - Alison Reynolds

Blog Tour Wrap-Up - Tania McCartney’s Blog

Caroline Chisholm Blog Tour: Review - Alison Reynolds

I'm on tour with Caroline! Today I'm visiting my lovely writing friend Alison Reynolds, with a review. Click on the image above for more, and be sure to see the entire tour schedule right here.

#carolinetour

Caroline Chisholm Blog Tour: Author Interview - Buzz Words

I'm on tour with Caroline! Today I'm visiting Vicki Stanton of Buzz Words with an author interview. Click on the image above for more, and be sure to see the entire tour schedule right here.

#carolinetour

Caroline Chisholm Blog Tour: Review - HerCanberra

I'm on tour with Caroline! Today I'm visiting HerCanberra with a book review by my literary idol, Jackie French. Click on the image above for more, and be sure to see the entire tour schedule right here.

#carolinetour

I'm on tour with Caroline! Today I'm visiting Rebecca Newman on her fabulous Soup Blog site, with a post on the Coolest People in Australian History. I'm nominating my top five--I wonder who they'll be? And if you're a kid, you can also nominate your coolest people. I'll publish the response on my blog!

Click on the image above for more, and be sure to see the entire tour schedule right here.

#carolinetour

Caroline Chisholm Blog Tour: Review - Elaine Ouston Blog

I'm on tour with Caroline! Today I'm stopping to visit the lovely Elaine Ouston, author and publisher, with a book review. Click on the image above for more, and be sure to see the entire tour schedule right here.

#carolinetour

Caroline Chisholm Blog Tour: Author Interview - My Book Corner

I'm on tour with Caroline! Today I'm stopping at My Book Corner for an author interview with the lovely Emma Perry. Click on the image above for more, and be sure to see the entire tour schedule right here.

#carolinetour

Caroline Chisholm Blog Tour: Author Interview on ABC Radio Canberra

I'm on tour with Caroline! Click the image above to hear my interview on Caroline with the gorgeous Melanie Tait on 666 Canberra ABC Radio. Be sure to see the entire blog tour schedule right here.

#carolinetour

I'm on tour with Caroline! Today I'm stopping to visit Pass It on, with a guest post on writing historical fiction. Click on the poster for more, and be sure to see the entire tour schedule right here.

#carolinetour

Caroline Chisholm Blog Tour: Author Interview – Dianne Bates, Writing for Children

I'm on tour with Caroline! Today I'm stopping at the website of Di Bates - Writing for Children - with an author interview. Click on the poster for more, and be sure to see the entire tour schedule right here.

#carolinetour

Caroline Chisholm Blog Tour: Researching Sweet Caroline - Sheryl Gwyther’s Blog

I'm on tour with Caroline! Today I'm stopping to visit my dear author friend Sheryl Gwyther, with a guest post on researching Caroline. Click on the poster for more, and be sure to see the entire tour schedule right here.

#carolinetour

Caroline Chisholm Blog Tour: Review - Kids’ Book Review

I'm on tour with Caroline! Today I'm stopping at KBR with this wonderful review by Anouska Jones. Click on the poster to read it. And be sure to see the entire tour schedule right here.

#carolinetour

Caroline Chisholm Blog Tour: Giveaway - Kids’ Book Review

I'm on tour with Caroline! Today I'm stopping at KBR for a giveaway. Click on the poster for your chance to win a copy of the book! And be sure to see the entire tour schedule right here.

#carolinetour

Caroline is on Tour!

 

I'm on tour with Caroline! Monday Tuesday Wednesday of this week. Come along for the ride! Click the tour poster above for the full schedule.

#carolinetour

Caroline Chisholm Blog Tour Schedule

I'm on tour with sweet Caroline! From Monday 30 September to Wednesday 2 October, join me as I tour the web, visiting some spectacular sites, with Caroline Chisholm: The Emigrant's Friend.

There will be guest posts, reviews, giveaways and author interviews. I hope you can join me as we explore the life of this amazing woman. With huge thanks to my blog tour hosts.

SCHEDULE

Monday 30 September

Giveaway - Kids’ Book Review

Review - Kids’ Book Review

Author Interview – Dianne Bates, Writing for Children 

Writing Historical Faction - Pass It On

Researching Sweet Caroline - Sheryl Gwyther’s Blog

Tuesday 1 October

Author Interview - ABC Radio Canberra

Review + Five Historical Faction Writing Tips - DeeScribe

Review - Elaine Ouston Blog

The Coolest People in Australian History - Soup Blog

Author Interview - My Book Corner

Wednesday 2 October

Review - HerCanberra

Author Interview - Buzz Words

Review - Alison Reynolds

Blog Tour Wrap-Up - Tania McCartney’s Blog

illustrations from Caroline Chisholm

Do you even know how much these make my heart race? Original illustrations from my Caroline Chisholm book by the gorgeous Pat Reynolds. Just so overwhelmed. They are truly stunning. Thank you, Pat. x

Sneak Peek - Caroline Chisholm book cover

Absolutely thrilled to show the beautiful cover for my very first historical fiction novel for New Frontier Publishing - Caroline Chisholm: The Emigrant's Friend.

I adored writing this book. It was some emotional journey and I hope you will look out for it this October. You simply must learn more about this amazing woman's life. Australia would not be the country it is today without this incredible, philanthropic power house.