The Land of Ideas:
Stories for Children
Edited by Pauline Wardleworth and Adam Dutkiewicz
Interior illustrations and cover illustration and design by Michal Dutkiewicz
(WAV Publications, 1986)
In 1986, South Australia turned 150 years old. Since settlement by the British in 1836 the State has changed dramatically, no less in culture than in landscape. This book attempts to reveal this development within the realm of one particular genre – the art of talespinning for children.
The Land of Ideas was conceived originally in 1984 as an anthology of writing for children of 7 to 12 years by authors of this state. Indeed, most of the contemporary stories were commissioned for the book.
The book is divided into four sections: Early Fantasy, The Jindyworobaks, Modern Fantasy and Modern Realism. The earliest story is “The Binnajig and the Tattyoon”, written by Tarella Quinn in 1911; the title is lifted from a story by Vernon Knowles, written in 1926, and Elizabeth Powell’s story “Mr Jigsaw”, was penned in 1928. The Jindyworobak section includes stories by Colin Thiele, Rex Ingamells and Flexmore Hudson, written in the 1940s and 1950s. One story by Christine Leckie, “Tenement Trial”, was written in 1962, but the rest of the material was contemporaneous with publication, with work by Barbara Hanrahan, Christobel Mattingley, Mike Ladd and several others.
The Land of Ideas is a special book designed to relate to a wide range of people. It serves as a survey of our history and writing and how these two areas overlap, and as an introduction to the tricks of fiction and the world of imagination.
Publication was assisted by the Literature Board of the Australia Council.
The Dutkiewicz Archive 