Possum Magic

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The tenth publisher: Omnibus Books in Adelaide, accepted it but asked me to cut the story by two thirds, re-write it more lyrically, make it even more Australian and change the mice to a cuddly Australian animal. I chose possums. (Australian possums are very soft and cute.) Poor Julie re-did all the illustrations. The book was published early in 1983. Not every picturebook author can get away with this: Half rhyming, half not rhyming. But Mem Fox does:

Monkey Baa Theatre Company creates and presents great theatre for young people. They collaborate with internationally acclaimed authors, award-winning creatives, and most importantly, imaginative young people, in bringing their shows to life. Prompt: Oceania- read a book written by an Australian author and the book is also set in places in Australia In Fox’s narrative food is the magic that makes Hush visible. It constructs her as a subject and thus may be said to stand in, metonymically, for culture itself. For Michel Foucault culture is the magic that makes individuals visible. Following Nietzsche, Foucault argues that cultural discourses of truth, power, and knowledge distinguish between normal and deviant behaviour, thus determining individuals’ actions and constructing them as subjects. For Foucault power does not “crush” individuals; it does not need to because In 1978 I was 32. Chloë was 7. She was such an avid reader I couldn’t keep up with her passion for books so I decided, as a non-traditional student, to take a course in children’s literature to find out about as many books as possible that might interest her, particularly those that had been published since my own childhood. O'Brien, Susie; Hodge, Regan (29 May 2022). "Popular children books deemed not culturally diverse enough". Herald Sun . Retrieved 7 June 2022.

Julie Vivas is a master of watercolour. A lot of picturebooks have been illustrated with watercolour used as a kind of textured fill, but the watercolour line in this book is delicate and precise. Over 25 years, Monkey Baa has become one of Australia’s widest touring companies with 38 national tours to 135 regional and remote communities, 5 international tours and over 3500 performances reaching over 1.5 million young people. Richards, Kel (1 June 2022). "Kel Richards: Beloved children's classics are being sacrificed at the altar of politically correct wokery". Sky News Australia . Retrieved 7 June 2022. Older editions of Possum Magic feature a map of Australia with place names. I wonder why publishers have decided to take this out of earlier versions (or perhaps it is simply an Australian/International publication difference, in which case Australians wouldn’t necessarily need a map). COMPARE POSSUM MAGIC WITH How exactly does Fox get away with this combination? The rhyming accompanies the most magical parts of the story, for example when Grandma Poss is looking at her recipe books. When she’s not rhyming, she’s making use of some other technique, such as alliteration or repetition…

One problem. Grandma Poss can’t find the spell to make Hush visible again. And then she remembers...this particular magic requires something more, something special, something to do with food...people food. Possum Magic takes us on a whimsical journey to cities around Australia to find the food that makes Hush visible again.Oh, for heaven’sake,’ I thought. ‘How easy!’ I felt that the assignment was beneath me. How wrong I was. No wonder the lecturer had set the task—we all discovered how difficult it was to write for young children and our estimation of children’s authors rose sky high. It was a lesson well taught, and well learnt. In Fox’s story the consumption of certain foods constitutes Hush as an individual. The various foods might be said to carry certain discourses or stories about what it means to be Australian, including lifestyle, attitudes, desires, and even power relations (who gets the biggest slice?). As Hush consumes these foods, she also consumes Australian-ness and is constituted as an Australian. As a visibly legitimate Australian subject Hush embodies culture or as Foucault puts it, she is an “effect of power.” Simultaneously she is also “the element of its articulation.” Hence by her annually repeated consumption of proper Australian food/culture she confirms, for all those (child readers) now able to see her, just what it means to be Australian. Greenaway, Judith. "Review: Possum Magic, Sydney Opera House". ArtsHub Australia . Retrieved 2019-07-10.

Kathleen T. Horning; Ginny Moore Kruse; Merri Lindgren (1991). "Picture Books". CCBC Choices (PDF). Cooperative Children's Book Center. p.40 . Retrieved 2 September 2021. Possum Magic is a 1983 children's picture book by Australian author Mem Fox, and illustrated by Julie Vivas. It concerns a young female possum, named Hush, who becomes invisible and has a number of adventures. In 2001, a film was made by the American company Weston Woods and narrated by the author. Molan, Erin (3 June 2022). "Erin Molan: Storm over classic kids' books is diversity gone mad". The Daily Telegraph . Retrieved 7 June 2022. Admin (29 August 2017). "Nan Chauncy Award 2017". readingtime.com.au. Children's Book Council of Australia . Retrieved 2 September 2021. I heard Mem being interviewed on TV a while ago. She said that if you didn't have time as parents to read several books a day to your children (meaning picture books, as you might imagine) you should have had gold fish instead.

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Mix dry ingredients, making a well in the centre. Dissolve baking soda in the boiling water. Warm the butter and the syrup in a small pan until the butter is runny, then add the soda & water. Pour this mixture into the dry ingredients and mix. If the mixture is too dry add a little more water. Roll out and cut biscuits roughly 3 inches round. Bake in oven for 20 minutes at 180 Centigrade (350 Fahrenheit.) Goodall, Hamish (2 June 2022). "Australian researcher claims children's book are not diverse enough". 7 News . Retrieved 7 June 2022. The consumer above is describing, nay lamenting, that they as parent are required to have a dialogic reading experience with their own child. But Grandma Poss has trouble finding the magic to make Hush visible again and, although Hush tells her she doesn’t mind, “in her heart of hearts she did”. Eventually Grandma remembers that, “it’s something to do with food. People food—not possum food”. And she and Hush set off around Australia to find the food that will make Hush visible.