Curio

State Library of New South Wales
Drawing of Blinky Bill’s christening, with notations for colour alteration, c. 1932

Drawing of Blinky Bill’s christening, with notations for colour alteration, c. 1932

Watercolour with pencil

Published in Blinky Bill: The Quaint Little Australian, 1933

From children’s book illustrations by various artists, c. 1930–198-

Presented by HarperCollins Publishers Australia, 2011

PXD 1101/Box 4


While people were first introduced to this cheeky, self-assured koala in Jacko: The Broadcasting Kookaburra, Blinky was destined to have a book of his own. His cheeky and resilient spirit embodies aspects of the Australian character strongly asserting itself by the 1930s.  Blinky Bill was an instant success and Wall quickly set to work on drawings and a storyline for the sequel, Blinky Bill Grows Up.

Blinky Bill: The Quaint Little Australian was first published in 1933 by Angus and Robertson.


Dorothy Wall’s son Peter provided first hand material for Blinky Bill’s escapades; he too was cheeky and adventurous giving Wall never ending inspiration for her stories.

The earliest known example of Dorothy Wall’s work was in the Lone Hand magazine of 1 October 1914, it was a black and white drawing titled The Cheat.