Tea and Sugar
Christmas by
Jane Jolly, illustrated by Robert Ingpen (National Library of Australia)
HC RRP $24.99
ISBN 9780642278630
Reviewed by Anastasia Gonis
The tea and sugar has run out. The train that brings
the supplies only comes on Thursdays. But the first Thursday of December is the
day the children of the Plain wait for. It is when Father Christmas travels the
line.
Ingpen’s extraordinary art captures the essence of
the outback plains, the indigenous children’s longing and anticipation for the
one thing that brings the outside world closer to them - the Tea and Sugar
Train.
The art and prose encompasses all life in the
outback, which includes the post-war migrants that came from Europe to work on
the East- West line, and their lives in railway camps. It comes alive under Ingpen’s
masterful strokes like a stage production.
The outstanding pencil portraits of the children and
Father Christmas, and the divine double-page fold-out illustrations that
magnify the settings, bring wondrous detail and action into focus.
The story of the Tea and Sugar Train that from 1915
to 1996 travelled from Port Augusta to Kalgoorlie once a week, is a page taken
from our rich history of migration and development. It retraces the forming of
the outback, the people’s way of life, and their tremendous contribution to our
country. An outstanding production presented in Jane Jolly’s excellent
narrative. It’s a priceless addition to any bookcase.
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