Introduction

Australia is fascinating and there is so much to learn! Australia is a British colony with six states, which include; Western Australia, South Australia, New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, and Tasmania. People in Australia greet each other by “G’day, mate!” It is an island country south of Asia and is between the South Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean. There are approximately nineteen million people who live there. Have you ever heard the phrase “The Land Down Under?”

Well the reason Australia is called that is because it is under the Equator! There are different groups of people who live here on the Land Down Under. They call people living there, Aborigines. People in Australia play a game called Cricket, it is played with a wide, flat bat and a hard red ball. It is similar to baseball played in the United States. Oh! One last thing before you jump into the book, have you ever seen the movie “Finding Nemo”? And if so, do you remember where nemo was? He was in Sydney, Australia! Enjoy the book, there is lots to learn!    

Short Story

Folk tale is a big part of Australia and this story about the frog and the drought that has been passed down generation to generation. It is an important part of Australian history. When Australians see a frog filling up with water and then burying itself in the ground, then there will be a drought soon. They have many different animals in Australia such as kangaroos, dingos, kookaburra, cockatoo, and a bandicoot. They all try to survive the drought once they see a frog filling up with water! 

A Boy & the Frog Tale

On a warm spring day, in Australia, sat a little boy in the dirt. The clouds began to roll in, the little boy decided to start walking back to his house. On the way back, he noticed a pond on the right side of the road. He saw something hopping away, it was headed for the pond! The little boy started to run after it and then he noticed it was a frog! The little boy watched as the frog began filling himself up with water and then buried himself in the ground. The little boy sat down and became very sad. He remembered his mum and dad telling him about the story of a frog who drank all the water. He remembered it leads to a drought.

The little boy thought and thought. 

“What are we going to do?” He exclaimed out loud. But there was no one around to hear him.

 The little boy started to run back to his house, he wanted to tell mum and dad about the frog! His mum and dad didn’t believe him, they said it would be okay because they haven’t had a drought in 10 years.

“Surely things will be fine, kid!” The dad said to the little boy.

 That night, the little boy couldn’t sleep! He tossed and turned. He was so worried there would be a drought. 

The next morning, the little boy and his parents were eating breakfast. They turned on the news to not only find out that it wasn’t suppose to rain that day but it wasn’t going to rain for the next two months! The little boy felt so sad but he knew this was going to happen! He thought to himself, we need a plan to get the frog to spit out all of the water!

The little boy thought and thought about what he could do. He finally come up with an idea! The little boy walked to the pond but couldn’t find the frog! He then remembered his mum and dad saying there wasn’t anything we could do once he buried himself in the ground. The little boy sat by the pond and cried! 

Days went by and there was no rain.

 16 days later, the little boy walked back to the pond and saw part of the frog’s body in the ground! He yelled with excitement. He tried and tried to pull the frog out, he finally did!

The frog began to burp and out came a little water.

 The little boy ran back to his mum and dad and told them what had happened! His parents told him that even though he burped some up, it doesn’t mean it will start to rain.

 After all, to this day, when the Aboriginal people of Australia see a frog drinking water, they know there will be a drought soon. 

News Article

Annette Kellerman is unique and many of you probably don’t know about her or her accomplishments. Kellerman was a little girl when she first learned to swim and dance. As she got older, she began to swim more and more. They called her the Mermaid Queen! During the time she learned to swim, female athletes weren’t used to being heard of. She traveled to England to show off her talents. Kellerman set a time in history for women! They got rid of their long stockings and changed to swim suits. Kellerman will forever be remembered as one of the first woman athletes! 

Annette Kellerman

This young lady has what it takes to show these men that women can be athletes too! Read more below:

When Annette was just a little girl, she loved the water. She also loved to watch the little dancers twirl. She dreamt that one day she would become just like them. However, Annette couldn’t

dance so her father taught her how to swim at a young age. She began to dance in the water because it made her feel graceful. Swimming became one of Annette’s favorite activities. She and her father traveled to London a few weeks ago, hoping to put on a show for everyone. The people of the town thought it was odd for a girl to be a swimmer but that didn’t stop her! By the end of her trip, she was called the Mermaid Queen by all of England. Annette left England and traveled to America where she was invited to the Wonderland Park in Boston’s Revere Beach.