The Girl in the Painting
Age 5+
Art: General Interest
The surprising truth behind one of Australia's most iconic paintings, Tom Roberts' Shearing of the Rams.
Susie lives on a sheep station and does all she can to help out alongside her sister and her rowdy brothers - collecting firewood, feeding the chickens and helping make the bread. But nobody - not the stockman nor the shearers nor the swaggies - ever notices Susie.
Until one day, a painter arrives at the sheep station - the famous Tom Roberts - and that all changes.
Based on the true story of Susie Bourne, and the painting of Tom Robert's iconic masterpiece, Shearing the Rams (1890).
Resources
Creators
Dee White is the award-winning, international author of more than 25 books for children and young adults. She has a passion for history and uncovering stories from the past like The Girl in the Painting, which she discovered on a family holiday. She is cofounder of Author Pen Pals and a strong advocate for literary and young writers and has presented author talks and writing workshops throughout Australia and overseas, including the SCBWI Europolitan Conference in Amsterdam and the Sharjah International Book Fair.
Sarah Anthony is a painter and metalsmith. She completed six years of art study in the UK, culminating in a BA Joint Honours in Fine Arts and Metalsmithing from Camberwell College of the Arts in London, in 1994. In 2009 she graduated from La Trobe University with a Masters in Art Therapy. Her early artworks were small metal sculptural pieces and contemporary jewellery; these were exhibited in Dublin, London, Auckland, Melbourne and Sydney. After a substantial break from art-making due to raising her young family, she has recently returned to artmaking and exploring the medium of oil painting. Drover is her first picture book.
Reviews
The artwork and illustrations were exquisite and so real – Susie and her sister, Sophie, particularly leapt off the page!
Zoe, @idreamofallthebooks
Through narrative non-fiction like this, the hidden stories of history are uncovered and shared with a new, modern audience, breathing life into little-known, sometimes long-forgotten back stories that are not only fascinating in themselves but offer insights that spark interest and inspiration decades, if not centuries, on.
Barbara Braxton, the bottom shelf
A touching and accessible introduction to Australian history, art and the impact of being truly seen, this is a book for homes and classrooms alike.
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