Dot And The Kangaroo - Introduction
Spencer introduces a children’s novel they are going to read online.
Hi, this is Spencer from Spencer Reads, on Unpretending’s Substack.
I haven’t been here for a while. I’m going to read a book instead of telling fairy stories. The only problem is you can’t just read any book. It has to be in the public domain if you don’t have copyright permission. So, in the public domain, the author has to die and then plus 70 years, in Australia and the United Kingdom and USA. I think in Canada and some other countries, it’s plus 50 years. So, if I lived in Canada, I could do the books I want to do, which is the Enid Blyton books like The Famous Five, and The Secret Seven, and The Enchanted Wood, and Tales From Toyland. But I can’t.
I’m going to read an Australian book, it was written in 1899 and is in the public domain. It’s called Dot And The Kangaroo, and there was a movie about it when I was in primary school. It’s a cartoon movie. And it’s a really good book written by a lady, and her name is Ethel Pedley, and she wanted to let people know about the destruction of the forests, and the bush that people were doing as they were making cities and clearing land for farms and things like that. Now, it’s a bit sad the story, so if it affects you and you feel a bit sad, maybe get a teddy or something to help make yourself feel okay. It’s very important that you feel safe and okay. I have Pookie, but I know this story, and I know the ending is good, so it’s okay.
I’ll tell you a bit about the story. So, there’s a little girl and she must be really, really little because she gets to ride in a kangaroo’s pouch. So I’m reckoning she’s about maybe three or four, because baby joeys can still go into the pouch when they’re a bit big. When they’ve got these legs sticking out man, I tell you that must hurt the Mama but it’s really padded in the pouch. I always wanted to be in a pouch.
Anyway Little girl and she gets lost in the Bush and she’s really sad, and little kids get lost in the bush a lot back then, because it was real bush and not so many cities. Anyway, what happens is this kangaroo comes along and gives the little girl some special roots and berries to eat, and then she gets to hear all the birds and the animals and how they speak. She can understand everything and it’s a really cool long story about all the adventures that they get up to. I can’t remember if they’re scary adventures, but I suppose we’re going to find out as I go.
Now, I was going to get someone else like Jo or Unpretending to read it, because I make mistakes, but guess what they say? Well, Multimes was saying that I could read it myself, I didn’t think I could but the ones on the inside they said that they’ll read it with me. So when I come up to a hard word, they’ll tell me what the word is so I don’t have to stop and sound it out, hopefully that’s going to happen.
So anyway, I thought I’d read it and like I’ll read like a chapter. And maybe I’m not sure if I’m allowed to put a picture up, but I can either draw a picture, or I can on the phone, take a photo of the picture and put it up. I guess I’d have to make sure that the person who put the pictures up, the pictures are in the public domain too. Gosh, that’s a lot. So that’s what I’m going to do.
So these (Substack posts) are probably be long and I probably won’t edit, so if there’s like a barking dog, that’d be Nala. And if you can hear the chickens sometimes, that’ll be the chickens, the chooks, and they’re outside my window. And also, sometimes maybe you might hear a car, or a truck going past… I don’t know if you hear that one? That one was a chicken. And sometimes, like in some chapters if the children, that who live here at this house, if they are here they might say stuff occasionally, I don’t know.
Anyway, but, they (Our System members) said I can do this big long one (book), because they want to give me some important things to do that is good for kids. Rather than me doing that grown up stuff, like babysitting all the time, or doing grown up cleaning, or even grown-up cooking and stuff even though I can do all that. They want to help me here to do more kids’ stuff. I don’t know if you heard that bark? That was Nala. I’ll come back in a bit and do the chapter one.
And you’re allowed to comment or ask questions, if you want to know something about anything. You know cause it’s Australian, and it’s sort of in the olden days or a lot in the olden days, it’s like 120 years ago, twenty three years ago even. And, there might be like words, or there might be like cultural things that you might want to ask questions about. And you’re allowed to, and one of us here, maybe be me because I know heaps. We’ll get back to you, and tell you about it, we’ll tell you the answer or we can find it out too.
And we want to say also like thanks for coming to our Substack and to Spencer Reads. Unpretending likes to say we hope you have a wonderful day. I say…, hope you have a good day too and see ya till I do chapter one which maybe be today still I’m not sure.