The South Pacific

An introduction to the geography, economy, people and culture of the different islands in the South Pacific. The non-fiction books in the series link to traditional stories, which help students to understand how other people live and their stories from the past. "The Chatterbox series won the 2006 Australian Awards for Excellence in Educational Publishing. A lovely introduction to strong literatures, the books are well-written and illustrated by well-known Australians. Students can bounce off these authors into the wider world of reading. The Chatterbox series is levelled towards, Lower, Middle and Upper Primary."

I regularly write for Pearson Education's magazines in Australia, which is how I found out about the Chatterbox series. However, I should probably whisper this in case they hear. "I'm not Australian." I think they've decided that I've written enough for them now to be classified as Australian. Or perhaps I'm a bit like Phar Lap and Russell Crowe, who are like adopted Australians. I don't mind. I like writing for them. They have a good sense of humour and they produce great books. I need to practise their strange accent though.

•	Read books about South Pacific cooking. There are some great ones out there like this new one Me'a Kai: The Food and Flavours of the South Pacific or choose others from your local library. Cook up a feast one night and surprise your parents.
•	Find out what Tivaevae is, or the significance of long hair, tattoos, and dance for different South Pacific Island nations.
•	Read stories based on islands such as my favourite Joy Cowley book The Silent One: The Moving Story of a Special Friendship or the award-winning adult book about a 13-year old on Bougainville Island, Mister Pip. Alternatively look at some of my other favourites about life and obstacles on islands from the selection below.

Click on these images to buy these books by other authors at Fishpond

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The South Pacific
(Chatterbox series)
Longman, Pearson Education
Australia, March 2004
ISBN 9780123602893 or
ISBN 100123602890