The small number of authors who decided to create an 'Australian fairyland' before Ernst wrote her book were well received by reviewers who measured the fairytales against their European counterparts and found them suitable for children. One reviewer even suggested that Australia offered a better environment for European fairies who had migrated for a better life. ‘ It may be mentioned that it has transpired that the fairies were so much disturbed, during the last 50 years, by iron railways and ploughing in the Old Country that they left it for Australia, and it is told in the most interesting and simple language how much good they did in this country. ’ Connecting the introduction of fairy folk into Australia as almost as unavoidable as was the rabbit and the sparrow but with pleasant consequences, a reviewer explains, ‘Though injudicious acclimatisation, as of the rabbit and of the sparrow, has its dangers, the introduction of the elves and gnomes of old-world leg
Imagining Australia in fairy tales: My PhD journey and beyond