K. Langloh Parker – författare

Australian Legendary Tales: Folk-lore of the Noongahburrahs as Told to the Piccaninnies was first published in 1896. The 30 tales are supplemented by a glossary and the first tale transliterated from the original language and are set in a ''no-time'' where animal spirits, supernatural beings and humans interact, often alluding to ideas of creation.Langloh Parker is probably right in her surmise that this is the first attempt to collect the tribal tales of any particular native tribe, or to exploit this special field of distinctively Australian literature in this particular form. Australian children may read here for the first time about Yki the sun, and Baloo the moon, how the gay Galah came to be a bald headed bird, and why Oolab the lizard is coloured a reddish brown and is covered with pikes like bindeah prickles, why Dinewan the emu cannot fly, and how it was that Goomblegubbon the bustard came to lay only two eggs in a season... The legend of Wirreenun, the rain-making magician, is one that can hardly fail to appeal to all who know what an Australian drought is; and those who would like to know what the blacks thought of Cookoo-burrah the laughing-jackass, or Gooloo the magpie, or Moodai the possum, or any of the other familiar denizens of the bush, may be confidently recommended to these delightful pages. Mrs Langloh Parker has told all these stories with a full appreciation of their value as folk-lore as well as of their interest as legendary tales. She has striven, and not unsuccessfully, to do in this way for Australian folk-lore what Longfellow did in "Hiawatha" for the North American tribes, and Mr. Andrew Lang''s introduction has some warm words of commendation for the interest of the volume from his special point of view. The book has a further claim to attention in that it is the first ever illustrated by an aboriginal artist (Tommy McRae)... - Sydney Morning Herald, 1896

Australian legendary tales: Folk-lore of the Noongahburrahs as told to the piccaninnies presents a collection of traditional stories that illuminate the beliefs, values, and imaginative world of the Noongahburrahs. The opening frames the work as an effort to preserve a rapidly fading cultural heritage, emphasizing both its value to young readers and its importance as a record of Aboriginal storytelling. Early reflections highlight the beauty of oral tradition, where natural phenomena, animal behavior, and human experiences are explained through narrative patterns shaped by wisdom, caution, and playful invention. The tales blend wonder with moral insight, using interactions between people, creatures, and the landscape to explore cleverness, cooperation, and the delicate balance of the natural world. While the stories carry moments of whimsy, they also reveal deeper connections between community, land, and identity, offering a window into an enduring worldview shaped by observation and respect for nature. Through its varied episodes, the collection demonstrates how storytelling functions as both entertainment and cultural memory, preserving the rhythm, humor, and symbolic richness of Noongahburrah tradition.