Exploring Multiculturalism in Mem Fox's 'I'm Australian Too': A Review

This report provides a comprehensive review of Mem Fox's children's book, "I'm Australian Too." The book, illustrated by Ronojoy Ghosh, portrays Australia's history and multicultural heritage, discussing immigration and celebrating diversity through rhyming verses and vibrant illustrations. The review analyzes the book's simple language, targeted at young children, and its effective use of illustrations to represent Australian life. It explores key themes such as multiculturalism, social details, and the importance of fostering a sense of belonging for all Australians, regardless of their background. The report highlights the book's impact on children's understanding of diversity, the role of educators and parents in reinforcing its messages, and the overall success of the book in promoting social awareness and national unity within a multicultural context. The review also references key academic sources, supporting the claims made about the book's significance and impact.

I’M AUSTRALIAN TOO
MEM FOX

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The book I’m Australian Too is a picture book for young children. This book had been
written by the Mem Fox and the illustrations done by Ronojoy Ghosh. In this book, the history of
Australia has been portrayed along with the heritage that it preserves on the basis of multi-
cultural aspects (Dudek, 2018). The historical factors of the immigration have also been
discussed in this book. The elements in the book are really fascinating and it has been written in
the rhyming verse. The lesson that the book gives is that all the people are Australians
irrespective of their ethnic background, their home culture and their skin color. Multiculturalism
is the main purpose behind writing this book and it has been reflected through the characters of
the book.
Before going through this book it is really very important to know about the way in
which the author has described Australia using a globe. In this context he describes Australia as
an island which needs a boat or plane to reach. People from different regions come here and gets
settle down on this island. While continuing the reading of this book it was further discovered
that there were stunning or outstanding illustrations were made by the author which very cleverly
represents the deeds of the families in relation to the Australian acts such as swimming, walking
and watching the fireworks.
The three important things that will be discussed in this section are language, social detail
and the theme of this book. These themes are extremely important to understand the purpose of
writing the book. The language used here in this book is quite simple and this has been very
impactful on the children. The targeted readers of this book are mainly the children aged up to 5.
This is why the use of simple language is extremely important from all the aspects.

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The words of the Ronjoy Gosh are the perfect accomplishment of the Mem’s words,
which illustrates the variation of Australian colors which were taken or captured in the mighty
sunlight of Darwin, Melbourne’s iconic trams as well as the calmness in front of the water bodies
and also the hills which adds up spices to the multicultural background of Australia. All the
children found residing all over Australia are very much considered to be familiar with the hay
bails found in the fields, cuisines of Italy, harbour of Sydney and the other outback.
The main purpose is to explore the meaning of being an Australian. This is mainly a
picture book and the characters of the book have been presented through the cartoon like figures.
This kind of simple language has often been very much influential to catch the attractions of the
children of the lower classes (Dudek, 2018). This is why this book has an exceptional value in
front of the children. The parents can also help the children to learn the important lessons in the
book and know about the theme of the book. The inhabitants of Australia have enjoyed this book
and the illustrations in this book are really perfect. The use of short and simple sentences and
easy to catch words is the main factors of the success of this book (Merga & Roni, 2018).
The theme of the book is really very interesting and it has been one of the most
successful themes to catch the attractions of the book. The original inhabitants of the Island were
mainly the aboriginal and Torres Strait islanders. These people had been subjected to great
tortures by the British colonists’ time and again. After these bad times, all the Australian people
came together and joined their hands so they could work together and strive for the excellence of
the country together. In this attempt, they believed in the multiculturalism.
The differences between the people of Australia have been explored as marked by their
actual cultural heritage, skin color and other factors. Through this book, the theme of

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multiculturalism has been explored in the best ways (Merga & Roni, 2018). The children have
understood the importance of multiculturalism as they will have to stay together and in harmony.
This theme is extremely important to be reciprocating among the little children for their own
future benefits (Cadusch, 2017).
The third aspect that has been described in this book is regarding the social detail about
the book. The social issue that has been discussed in this book is about the descriptions of the
multicultural society of Australia (Dissanayake, 2014). From the early times in Australia, people
of all sections lived in the country. In this book, the children are taught to live with all the people
from all backgrounds in harmony so the national unity can be preserved.
The impact of this book on the literacy group has been immense. The children are the
primary targeted readers of this book. The primary purpose of writing this book by the author
was to increase the social awareness among the children. This is a rhyming book full of colorful
illustrations done by Ronojoy Ghosh. In each of the pages, children from different ethnic
communities of Australia have been able to have an experience on the cultural diversity of
Australia (Gregory, 2017).
The backgrounds of the different children have been exposed through this book. The
message sent in this book by the author is every child are same and all of them should be treated
in the similar ways (Cadusch, 2017). The culture of Australia has been wide ranging and many
people have come and shifted their dwelling place at Australia. The illustrations done by
Ronojoy Ghosh have been quite fascinating and it has attracted the attention of the children in
big time. The use of colors has been a very important factor for the success of this book among
the children (Srinivasan, 2014). The text is composed of the simple rhyming texts and it has a

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special appeal to the children. This is why they have liked this book and attracted by the simple
use of language in this book.
The children are able to understand the differences between the different communities
since the illustrator has used different shapes and colors to depict the different families and
places. (Osborne, 2018) These families depict the different communities with different ethnic
backgrounds. The children feel a sense of consistency when they go through the colorful pages
of the book (Gregory, 2017). This feeling of consistency has been very much helpful for the
children to understand there are no differences between them. Therefore, all of them are
Australians. In this book, the message about multiculturalism has been given and children have
learned that all the refugees are their brothers and sisters.
Learning outcomes in the children suggests that the children must have a strong sense of
identity which is needed to be created and this work can basically be done by the educators only.
The educators here are conveyed to provide a healthy and learning environment to the children
where they feel safe and supported. This can further assist the child in developing positive self-
identities. The educators are expected to be the best role model in overall development of the
child and it includes teachers, parents and caregivers.
Positive identity can be created by encouraging the child to positively interact and play
with other kids in very respectful manner as these activities may encourage them and teach them
the lessons of sharing and working together as a team. These activities will also help the child to
become sensitive towards those children whose first language are not English and try to learn
and adapt with the local languages of the children (Kids, 2017).

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The parents also have conveyed the message to their children that everyone is a friend
and they should love each other without any discrimination. The conversations between the
families, children and characters belonging to the primary schools have attracted the children so
much that they have been able to understand the importance of the fellow feeling and
brotherhood. The children have felt that they should think that refugees are their friends and all
of them bear the same pride of being an Australian. This is the manner in which the children
need to grow up and embrace everyone whoever they meet in their lives.
The key messages given to the parents for creating the best learning outcomes in the
children and nurturing their relationships are basically based upon the love, security and support
given by them to their young ones, as it helps the children to develop into better individuals and
also in emerging their emotions, social and physical growth. Parents are required to pull off some
time from their busy schedules and do some creative activities with their kids. As this book is
also related directly to identifying the diversities which are based, taken and evidenced from the
local newspapers in relation to cultural fetes, fairs and visits to the museums or going to the local
markets for shopping.
Thus it can be concluded from the above reading that the main aim of this book is to
celebrate the multicultural and the rich diversity which is enjoyed by all the people of Australia.
This books starts reminding the culture of Australia in the pictorial or very colorful form begging
from stories of indigenous people in Australia and the refugees and the other general residents.
This book is very helpful in teaching or guiding the children about the multifarious culture of
Australia’s rich cultural heritage or the diversity.

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References and Bibliography
Cadusch, S. (2017). I'm Australian too [Book Review]. Practical Literacy: The Early and
Primary Years, 22(3), 47.
Dissanayake Mudiyanselage, K. (2014). Encouraging empathy through picture books about
migration. In Picture books and beyond (pp. 75-91). Primary English Teaching
Association Australia (PETAA).
Dudek, D. (2018). Seeing the human face: Refugee and asylum seeker narratives and an ethics of
care in recent Australian picture books. Children's Literature Association
Quarterly, 43(4), 363-376.
Flohm, A. (2017). I'm Australian Too. Education, 98(3), 26.
Frank, H. (2014). Cultural Encounters in Translated Children's Literature. Routledge.
Gregory, E. (2017). One child, many worlds: Early learning in multicultural communities.
Routledge.
Merga, M. K., & Roni, S. M. (2018). Empowering parents to encourage children to read beyond
the early years. The Reading Teacher, 72(2), 213-221.
Osborne, S. (2018). Kaleidoscope Mem Fox. Independent Education, 48(2), 6.
Srinivasan, P. (2014). Early Childhood in Postcolonial Australia: Children's Contested
Identities. Springer.
Wheatley, N. (2016). Australians All. Murdoch Books.

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Kids, N. w. (2017, March 19). Celebrate Australia's diversity with 'I'm Australian too'. Retrieved
from Newy with Kids: https://newywithkids.com.au/im-australian-too/