Romancing The Rock

12th October, 1918

One of Australia’s children’s classics was born on this day. The Magic Pudding, written by Norman Lindsay, was first published. Although it is almost 100 years later, this book is still in print and popular amongst children.

Lindsay originally wrote this book, partly to settle an argument with a friend. His friend believed that children only wanted to read about fairies, but Lindsay thought they wanted to read about food. I guess he won the argument in this case, even though we know kids still love fairies.

The story was about the adventures of three friends — Bunyip Bluegum, Bill Barnacle and Sam Sawnoff — and their magic pudding called Albert. Albert might be a magic pudding, which can never be eaten up, but he has a bad attitude all the same. The three friends must defend against losing Albert to the pudding thieves several times, before they decide to settle in a tree house, away from the dangers of travelling.

In 2000, a movie was made, although apparently quite deviated from the book and didn’t do so well — even with stars like John Cleese, Hugo Weaving, Geoffrey Rush and Sam Neill voicing over the lead roles.

Norman Lindsay was a very creative man. He painted, sculpted and wrote prolifically, although early on his work seemed to strike up some controversy. He only ever wrote two children’s books, however, and The Magic Pudding is probably his best known work of all.

Do you remember reading this classic as a child? Do you still have a copy in your house?