Note: Publisher's Note (in front pages of the book): "The following short Stories are the work of a young Australian girl, whose childhood was passed in quiet country places favourable to the contemplative mood and the observations of nature. They are offered here simply as Tales told by a Child to younger Children, in the hope that they will not only amuse the young, but also win the approval of those to whom a loving study of tree and flower, bird and insect, and the association of familiar elements of old-world fairy lore with Australian surroundings, commend themselves." From "A Bibliography of Australian Children's Books", by Marcie Muir (1970): Olga Ernst (1888-1972), the Australian-born daughter of German migrants, was just sixteen when this book was published. She 'was one of a small group of writers who attempted to nationalise the fairytale towards the end of the 19th century, signalling quite clearly that they intended to affix the elves and fairies of Europe onto the Australian landscape filling a void that was keenly felt by the children of emigrants and the Australian-born children of emigrants' (Robin Floyd: 'Olga Ernst's Contribution to the Development of Australian Identity in Children's Literature' [a paper presented at the Australian Association for Research in Education Annual Conference, Melbourne, 2010]). Floyd, an ernest admirer to be sure, continues: 'From a 21st century perspective Ernst's fairytales do seem clunky and 'not quite right'. It seems unnatural to find mermaids from the cold Baltic Sea swimming in the Yarra or discovering water nixies who the reader may surmise would be more comfortable in the rivulets of Europe than living in a ferny billabong. Nonetheless, primary sources, critiques and reviews in newspapers at the time 'Fairytales from the Land of the Wattle' was published, reveal that reviewers saw it as a step forward for Australian children and that linking the old world lore with the new was a logical progression. Reviews of her books are extensive in comparison for those for other early fairytalers, and are discovered in three states: New South Wales, South Australia and Victoria suggesting the market embraced her writing in a positive way'.

Synopsis: A collection of fairy tales set in Australia, although they use elves, fairies, and other mythological creatures from Europe.