Kookaburra and Kangaroo was the
name of a monthly newsletter that 8 year-old Elizabeth (as Kookaburra) and 10 year-old Mary (as
Kangaroo) living at home and attending school in Perth, would send to their
father MPD on Argyle Station, East Kimberley.
Kookaburra and Kangaroo contained
family news, made up stories, drawings, poems and jokes. Each edition measured 14 x 21cms and ran to about 20 pages. Nine examples from several hundred are provided here. Occasionally younger
brothers submitted items.
The newsletter continued,
with interruptions, for almost three years. It encouraged creativity and some competitiveness, established a certain discipline, set
a pattern for later collaborations and, glancing through the pages today, reveals individual characteristics that developed as the sisters matured.
