Are We There Yet?

by Alison Lester

Hardcover, 2001

Status

Available

Call number

823.3

Genres

Children's Books

Collection

Your library

Publication

Puffin (2001), 32 pages

Description

An Australian family spends three months touring the continent in an old camper trailer.

User reviews

LibraryThing member AbigailAdams26

Eight-year-old Grace narrates this engaging travelogue introduction to Australia for the picture-book set, chronicling her family's three-month journey around the country, starting out from their home in Binnum (in Victoria, to the west of Melbourne), and traveling westward along the coast. From

whale-watching at the Head of Bight and snorkeling at Turquoise Bay, to visiting friends and family in Darwin, Brisbane and Sydney - not to mention making a trip into the interior, to see Alice Springs, and the great Uluru rock, known as the "Heart of Australia" - the family slowly make their way around their homeland, while the reader learns a little bit about the diverse regions and activities to be found in this humongous nation!

Engaging, informative, and entertaining, Are We There Yet?: A Journey Around Australia was chosen as one of our August selections, over in The Picture-Book Club to which I belong, where the theme this month is "traveling," and it certainly fits the bill! I liked the way in which Alison Lester managed to communicate so much factual information, about the different climates and ecosystems to be found around Australia, for instance, without ever breaking from her story. The family here are appealing, and the reader gets a definite sense of all their personalities, from height-fearing mom to impatient little brother Billy, who is always asking "Are we there yet?" Recommended to any child who enjoys stories about traveling, and road-trips, and to anyone looking for picture-books about Australia.

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LibraryThing member dangerlibearian

Great travelogue for Australia, a family travels the whole continent camping. Little boy asks over and over, "Are we there yet?". Very long, not for storytime, great information, funny asides, excellent travel/vacation story.

LibraryThing member kzrobin

With this book I learned that Australia and America have a lot in common. I have never been out of the US and I guess I just pictured other places to be so different. This would be a perfect book to read to your children on either the first week of school or the last week of school. It is a

wonderful book that shows how a family travels together and all the different things they discover on their road trip. This could be prep for students to write a journal on what they would like to do over the summer or even about their summer break. I love how it shows the reader that going on a road trip and spending all of that time in the car with your family is actually part of the vacation.

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LibraryThing member devilish2

This holds up to multiple readings. There is lots to look at in the pictures. This was my daughter's favourite book for a long time. I didn't tire of reading it too her. Highly, highly recommended.

LibraryThing member PaigeCostella

Grace and her family go on a six-month-long trip to Australia. Wile driving around the continent they swim, hike, go to zoos, museums, and tourist sites. This is a great book to read to children about vacations and the many things families do while on vacations.

LibraryThing member Fjola

So inspiring! The travel story has a good flow and realistic details. That and the little adventures and exciting experiences this little family has on their trip, together with the colorful illustrations of all the fantastic sites they visit really makes me want to go there. It's on our bucket

list now ...

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LibraryThing member kflach1

In my opinion, “Are We There Yet?” is a good book because it teaches the young reader about taking a trip around the continent of Australia. The story starts with Grace and her family taking a road trip together during the winter term of the year. She talks about the different stages of the

trip from starting out, to getting on the road, and also to the different landmarks and hot spots all around the continent of Australia. One activity Grace and her family participated in was snorkeling in the Turquoise Bay. “We went snorkeling at Turquoise Bay. A gentle current carried us over the coral reef, as though the ocean was giving us a tour. There were so many fish, like sparkling jewels. My favorites were the tiny Blue Angels.” I enjoyed the illustrations that the author and illustrator, Alison Lester provided to help showcase the story and important places in Australia. She uses bright colors in her illustrations, helping to make the story more real and gain attention from the readers. When Grace and her family were exploring the different areas in Australia, there was a picture of the continent with the exact location of each place they were visiting. I thought this was extremely informative because if someone would want to take a trip to Australia, they would know the location of the exact thing they were looking for when abroad. As the story progresses, the audience is able to really understand all the types of adventures and explorations Australia has to offer, through the eyes of a family on vacation. Some of the things children learn while reading this book would be, what this continent has to offer, the diverse landforms in the area, and how Aussie’s spend their vacation on their homeland. The big idea of the story is for children to understand where and what this international location of Australia has to offer for families, children, and adults.

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LibraryThing member crieder95

Are We There Yet? tells of a family's travel around Australia for 3 months. This book opens up a new world and a new place to young student who may have no idea, or very little of Australia. The picture books gives images to these new sights, animals, plants, and adventures of the family in

Australia. For educational purposes this is a good book to read to students and then have them do projects on Australia or make a month out of places around the world with other books also. Other than the fact that this book teaches about Australia it has very little educational purposes with literacy, moral, or thought provoking concepts.

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LibraryThing member Cheryl_in_CC_NV

Absolutely delightful survey of a *lot* of Australian stuff. I can totally see it being used in a Grade 3 or 4 classroom - each child could choose one animal, city, landmark, etc. and do a little research report on it.

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