From the Dreamtime: Australian Aboriginal Legends

by Jean A. Ellis

Genres: Australia, Nonfiction

121 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1992

Reviews

[Joeri Dassen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great little stories.

[Joseph Carrabis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another book purchased for research purposes and a far better read than Wise Women of the Dreamtime . These stories in this book had the shape and structure of folktales. I wanted to qualify that as "western" folktales and, on consideration, I've read Japanese, Chinese, African, Indian, and various South American folktales and most of them follow a similar format, so I'll leave off the qualifier.
There is a brief (usually one paragraph) comment preceding and following each folktale. The prelude shares where the fable is from geographically, historically, and culturally, the finale shares how modern Aboriginals incorporate the folktale into their present lives.
A good and suggested read whether one's researching or not.

[Sarah Huntington · Rating 4 out of 5]

This made me smile so much. Charming and beautiful tales from a beautiful culture

[Shannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really good book of aboriginal short stories would recommend it to anyone that likes short stories easy to read

[Charlie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really lovely collection of legends. I don't think I was expecting much, considering the legends were collected and translated by a white lady, but the stories still seemed to preserve a lot of the various Aboriginal cultures. I especially appreciated the story about the artist Marwai, who went around to different villages teaching others about his techniques for creating long-lasting natural paint. "Why the Platypus is Special" was quite a nice story, as well.