When Australia experienced the Gold Rush, huge numbers of new arrivals flocked to Australia, coming from all over the world. By 1855, with horses the only means of overland travel, Australia urgently needed train tracks.
It wasn’t just the countryside that needed trains – cities did too. Fresh milk, food, and other supplies had to be brought in daily. Sydney answered this need by building its first Central Station in 1855: a simple shed with a tin roof and a 30-metre platform. The very first train line ran from Sydney to Parramatta.
As the pages turn, we see how the magnificent Grand Sydney Central Station was envisioned and built. The foundation stone was laid in 1902 on a site that had once been a cemetery. Most graves were carefully relocated, though some remained where tombs were unmarked or no family could be found.
Soon, the station boasted a glamorous dining room and lively stalls selling newspapers, coffee, and sandwiches. Excitement was palpable as the era of electric trains arrived. New underground lines were constructed, and during World War II, the station’s tunnels doubled as bomb shelters.
This is a wonderful book, packed with fascinating details about this grand old station. Did you know that beneath Hyde Park and Parliament House lies an unused tunnel with a hidden ‘lake’, more than a kilometre long and five metres deep?
All Aboard! is a large-format board book, complete with lift-the-flap surprises revealing extra facts along the journey. Jackie French brings her trademark flair to the text, while Martina Heiduczek’s illustrations vividly capture the atmosphere of the station across different era.
Reviewed by Jane Stephens
Age Guide 5 +
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jackie French AM is an author, historian, ecologist and honorary wombat, part time. She has written over 300 books, with over 100 awards and shortlistings in Australia and overseas. Some of her books have been bestsellers and others have been eaten by the wombats. She has been Senior Australian of the Year, Australian Children’s Laureate, Australian Literacy Ambassador, and is an Adjunct Professor of the University of Queensland in ‘any area you want to be’ because she works in so many fields.
As well as successfully campaigning to change the way young people are taught to read and preserving authors’ and publishers’ copyright, she works with literacy programmes in Australia and overseas and has set up a conservation reserve in the valley that is her home, for the wombats and many endangered species. The wombats were not grateful.
Wombats never are. She is still not dead. Jackie also really loves trains, and Central Station.
ABOUT THE ILLUSTRATOR
Martina grew up in a small fishing village on the Baltic Sea in Germany. Here you could find her mostly galloping through the forests with flying piggy tails on her Shetland pony, drawing or reading.
These days she is an illustrator and lives in Australia.
With a passion for colour and textures Martina aims to create happy images that evoke emotion and thought in young and old minds alike.
Her works are inspired by nature, people, places, and the moving and silly things she sees… Magic is everywhere!
0 Comments