Life and breath stories by Ursula Dubosarsky
Life and breath stories are a collection of short stories by renowned and acclaimed Australian author Ursula Dubosarsky. Dubosarsky needs little introduction to teachers and librarians. She was the Australian Children's Laureate from 2020-2021. She has won nine state literary awards and the Children's Book Council Book of the Year (The return of the book spy) as well as being short and long-listed multiple times. Internationally she has been nominated for both the Hans Christian Anderson and the Asrid Lindgren awards. Children know Dubosarsky's writing well through picture books such as The terrible plop and many other titles. Teachers could use The word spy as part of their personal reference libraries. Dubosarsky loves words and she loves language. It is somehow clear as soon as you read any of her work that you are in the hands of an accomplished writer.
Some short stories in the Life and breath stories collection have been chosen from published work in magazines, papers and anthologies. Many of these stories have been published in The School Magazine published by the NSW Dept of Education (Australia's longest running literary magazine for children-1916-2026!) What a pity it is when schools feel that they can't afford the subscription!
The selection is divided into two parts: Old Bones and Young Blood, with the first story 'The little green leaf' being an outlier. At the conclusion Dubosarsky includes some notes on each story: the characters, the plot, the reason for writing the story and the themes. Many of the stories are based on her own life and probably this is what gives them such clear-eyed poignancy and authenticity.
Dubosarsky writes about Sydney gardens, brothers playing with tin soldiers during the war, looking out at the world through the leaves of a lemon tree, neighbourhood children, the old horse in the paddock near the school, being left at an Uncle's house when her mother was having a new baby, being bundled up and taken there by her dad, clear memories of a stuffed bird in a glass jar, of going home with a boy from her class who was a bit of an outsider and finding out how he lived-at the end of the line, the strange story of Percival, whose mother wouldn't let him go out into the world and so much more... The descriptive power and the perspective of the various narrators are crystal clear so that one is seeing it and feeling it all for oneself too.
Short stories must encapsulate much in a bite sized piece of text. They must be succinct and powerful. Often they end with a jolt. Life and breath stories fits the bill. These stories are perfect to pick up and read in one sitting. The impact leaves something to mull over. For teachers, Life and breath stories are ideal to pick up and read before break times or when a break is needed. For a short while, another intense world is visited.
Themes: Life, Death, Decisions, Self.
Wendy Jeffrey