Research Focus

One Species, Many Lessons explores how Whitcombe & Tombs introduced Australian animals to young readers through locally relevant educational publishing. At a time when many schoolbooks used in Australia were imported or based on British models, the publisher brought native species and familiar environments into the classroom.

Our archival research revealed that the same animal could be represented differently according to a publication’s educational purpose. A kangaroo might appear naturalistically in a geography or nature-study book, become a simplified and repeatable symbol in an arithmetic exercise, or be dressed and given human characteristics in a storybook. These illustrations were not simply decorative. Their style, detail, and accompanying text supported different ways of observing, counting, reading, and imagining.

Exhibition Experience

The showcase presents this finding through two comparative experiences. An angle-dependent image display reveals contrasting versions of the same species as visitors change their viewing position. A stamping activity brings together four representations of the kangaroo from different Whitcombe & Tombs materials. As visitors print each image and read its original context, they can trace how one familiar animal shifted between geography, language learning, mathematics and storytelling.

Together, the displays show how Whitcombe & Tombs adapted Australian wildlife for different educational purposes, helping children recognise, understand and imagine the country around them.