Historical information

Author Fred Joyce Schonell was born 3 August 1900 in Perth to school master Edward William Schonell and Agnes Mary (nee Mawer).

Following his graduation (B.A) from the University of Western Australia in 1925 and his marriage to Florence Eleanor de Bracey Waterman in 1926, Schonell was awarded the Hackett Scholarship. The scholarship allowed schonell to complete a Ph.D. on the diagnosis and remediation of spelling difficulties at King's College and the London Day Training College, University of London; having travelled to England in 1928. From 1933 to 1950, Schonell acted as a lecture and researcher at Goldsmith's College, was appointed Professor of education at the University of Swansea (1942) and at the University of Birmingham (1947). Schonell returned to Australia ub 1950 as the Foundation Professor of Education at the University of Queensland and acted as head of the University's education department. Following a stint as President of the Professional Board, Schonell was named the first full-time, salaried, Vice Chancellor of the University of Queensland in 1960.

During his career, Schonell oversaw many research projects and authored many published works including "The Happy Venture Playbooks" (1939 onward) which were developed as teaching materials for English speaking students throughout the Commonwealth.

Professor Fred J. Schonell was knighted in 1962. Sir Fred J. Schonell died 22 February 1969 from Hodgkin's disease at Indooroopilly. The Fred and Eleanor Schonell Educational Research Centre was named after the pair in 1967. Schonell was posthumously inducted into the Reading Hall of Fame in 2001. (https://www.readinghalloffame.org/fred-schonell-inducted-2001)

This specific copy of Saturday Play was a library book at the former Mandurang State School.

Physical description

A 64 page children's book made from stapled thick paper and a cardboard, red stripped, cover in 1965. The cover depicts an image of a woman sitting in a high back chair, reading to two children, a cat and a dog. The second in a series of books titled "THE HAPPY VENTURE PLAYBOOKS" written by Fred J. Schonell, "Saturday Play" was illustrated in colour by William Semple. The text is large and easy to read, the text black on a white background. Printed by Robert Cunningham & Sons Ltd. in Alva, Scotland. Published by Oliver and Boyd in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Inscriptions & markings

On the cover is a handwritten price of 10c. On the title page is a stamp "State School No.1952" which also appears on the inside back cover "State School No. 1952 Mandurang". Several pages have words underlined or circled in either pencil or blue pen.