Tea and Sugar Christmas by Jane Jolly and Robert Ingpen
Tea and Sugar Christmas is a wonderful picture book that depicts a part of Australia's history, The Tea and Sugar Train that ran between Kalgoorlie in WA and Port Augusta in SA. Watch the following short film, available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vAh-p0-cPA held by the NFSA.
This film will provide you with background knowledge about this train and the services that it provided to people who lived and worked along the track.
This film will provide you with background knowledge about this train and the services that it provided to people who lived and worked along the track.
Read the story
Once the story and the information pages at the back of the book have been read, go back and study the pictures and the text more closely.
Language of the story
- How does Jane Jolly set the scene at the beginning of the story?
- What senses has she used to describe the setting and Kathleen? Using your five senses, what other words could she use to describe the settings in the story?
- What is a simile? Similes make the biggest impact when they have not been overused. ‘As white as a ghost’ is used too much. Can you identify any smilies used in this story?
- Onomatopoeia is when a word imitates the sound that is describes. Clunk and clink, tinkle, croak and screech are all examples of onomatopoeia. Make a list of other words that imitate the sound that they describe.
- Why has Jane put a crow in to the story? How does the crow help to create atmosphere?
Realism
Robert’s style is called realism. This is where the artist attempts to represent the subject matter truthfully.
- What other artists and illustrators are realists?
- Would the book have worked as well if he had used a different style? What other styles might have worked?