Side by Side: In the Beginning
Collectible Australiana Bedtime Story Indigenous Australian Culture Australian Picture Book Sports-themed Children’s Fiction Australian History for Children Cross-cultural Friendship
“Side by Side: In the Beginning” is the rare Australian picture book that collectors, parents, and sports-minded families hunt for in one slim 38-page package. Published in 2010 by Melbourne micro-press One Day Hill, this first edition paperback blends Indigenous creation motifs with Australia’s love of field sports, producing a crossover story that works as a bedtime read-aloud for 4- to 8-year-olds and as a conversation-sparker about culture and history for teens and adults. Because the tiny print-run vanished quickly from bookshops, clean copies are now scarce on the secondary market, especially ones with no ex-library markings, no inscriptions, and pages still crisp and bright.
N. McMullin’s lyrical text follows two children—one Aboriginal, one European-descended—who discover a shared ancestral connection through an ancient game played on the same red earth where modern footy now roars. Every spread is saturated with panoramic watercolor-and-ink illustrations that map the continent’s shifting landscapes: ochre deserts, coastal mangroves, inner-city stadium lights. The visual narrative invites multiple readings; younger kids track the animal “spirit coaches” hidden in each scene, while older readers notice historical clues—convict bricks, station fences, AFL goalposts—layered into the backgrounds. The result is a book that satisfies both the bedtime-story market and the antiquarian hunt for culturally significant Australiana.
Collectors prize “Side by Side” for its production values: thick matte art paper, sewn signatures (rare in modern paperbacks), and a laminated cover that reproduces the original wrap-around painting. This copy shows only light scuffing and one unobtrusive crease on the rear panel; internally it is immaculate—no foxing, no dog-eared leaves, no ownership marks—making it an ideal gift copy or investment piece for anyone building a specialised shelf of Indigenous-Australian crossover titles, sports-themed picture books, or small-press rarities. Secure it now while clean first editions still surface under the $50 mark.
Refer to our eBay listing for a full condition report and many more high-quality pictures of this item.
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