Legends: Stories of Australia

Legends: Stories of Australia is a collection of short stories written by Allan Baillie, one of Australia's best known writers for young people, about a wide range of Australian people, places and events which have acquired legendary status. The diverse range of subjects in this collection covers the whole continent and beyond, from the Dreamtime to the 20th century.

The stories include:

The Rainbow Serpent, Pemulwuy, Buckley, The Mahogany ship, Eliza Fraser, Phar Lap, Fisher's Ghost,  Clancy of the Overflow, Crooked Mick, Beersheeba, The Don, Kokoda Trail and many others

The stories are particularly suitable for reluctant readers

• they range in length from a paragraph to one and a half pages
• they cover a diverse range of subjects
• they are well written in language which less able readers can cope with
• they are presented in a magazine format
• they provide a good range of non-fiction text for classroom use

Legends has also been found to be a very valuable book in multicultural classrooms. It provides content about Australia in a form these students can read without difficulty. 

Legends is supplemented by Legends Teacher Resource Book which provides photocopiable activities and ideas for using non-fiction in the classroom, based on the stories in Legends.

Legends is accompanied by Heroes: Australians at their Best and Villains: A Gallery of Australian Rogues, both by Allan Baillie. Heroes will provide readers of Legends with stories equally interesting but a little longer and little more challenging.

 Legends Contents

• The Rainbow Serpent
• The Wreck of the Batavia
• Pinch gut
• Black Caesar
• Bennelong
• Pemulwuy
• The Battle of Vinegar Hill
• The Rum Rebellion
• Musquito
• Cannibal Convict
• Pirates of the Cyprus
• Buckley's Chance
• Eliza Fraser
• Bunyips
• Fisher's Ghost
• Yagan
• The Mahogany Ship
• Eureka!
• Robbery at Eugowra Rock
• The Leviathan
• The Dog on the Tuckerbox
• Dig'
• Amazing Grace
• Last Stand at Glenrowan
• Jandamarra
• The Black Stump
• Waltzing Matilda
• The Man from Snowy River
• Crooked Mick of the Speewah
• Lasseter's Lost Reef
• Mawson's Lone Trek
• The Mount Lyell Disaster
• Escape from Gallipoli
• Victory at Beersheba
• Smithy
• Phar Lap
• The Don
• The Stinson Crash
• Rats of Tobruk
• Krait
• Kokoda
• Dawn
• Bibliography