Archives

Going Fishing with Nana

Oct29
Going Fishing with Nana

Going Fishing with Nana

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Going Fishing with Nana

Frances Haji-Ali & Lindsay Haji-Ali

Karen Briggs

Magabala Books, 2025

32pp., hbk., RRP $A27.99

978922864048

It’s a special day because it’s time to pick up Nana and go fishing,   But Nana doesn’t live in the next suburb or town like many nanas do – Nana lives in the remote Roper River region of northwest Western Australia and not only is there a road trip  to undertake to get to  both her home and the fishing spot but much to see along the way, Frogs, jabiru, crocodiles… all sorts of wildlife, large and small, are watching them pass. And as the number of creatures increase, so the number of eyes looking does too.  

With rhythmic, repetitive text and clear, vibrant illustrations that make counting easy, young readers are not only encouraged to predict how many creatures will be on the next page, but also how many eyes there will be so the skill of counting in twos is consolidated. In fact, the fish they catch for tea is a bonus!

It’s a story that encourages little ones to appreciate the journey as well as the destination so instead of being focused on “Are we there yet?”, they are more observant towards what they see along the way.  And given the dedication indicates that Nana has passed, it is also an opportunity to talk about their own special times with their own grandmothers.  

An engaging way to  introduce young students to a less-familiar part of this vast country – perhaps even the concept of physical maps using the endpapers as a starting point – as well as the creatures that live there, and encouraging them to develop a new skill.  If all their classmates were looking at them, how many eyes would that be? 

 

 

 

 

Songlines: First Knowledges for younger readers

Aug26
Songlines: First Knowledges for younger readers

Songlines: First Knowledges for younger readers

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Songlines: First Knowledges for younger readers

Margo Neale & Lynne Kelly

Blak Douglas

Thames & Hudson, 2023

136pp., hbk., RRP $A26.99

9781760763480

Whenever our young people hear the now familiar Welcome to Country or recite their school’s Acknowledgement of Country, are they just hearing or saying words or do they have an understanding of the meaning and purpose behind them?

Ever since 1835 when NSW Governor Richard Bourke implemented the legal principle of terra nullius in Australian law as the basis for British settlement until its repeal in 1992 by the High Court’s Mabo Decision that recognised Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ continuing connection and rights to land through Native Title., there was a legally perpetuated belief that Australia was, indeed, a  “land belonging to no one”, having “a complete absence of people and additionally the absence of ‘civilised’ people capable of land ownership” and thus, was used to justify and legitimise the dispossession, dispersal, and inhumane treatment of First Nations peoples.

But in this book, the younger readers adaptation of Songlines from the critically acclaimed, best-selling First Knowledges series,  the authors and illustrators have provided a critical insight into the culture and history that underpins those  statements and helping them better appreciate what they are hearing and saying. 

Through easily accessible language, impactful illustrations and an appealing layout, readers learn how that connection to Country is established as they “walk through the oldest, biggest library of knowledge on Earth.” Not a physical library populated by shelves and shelves of books that may not be read for years on end but one that holds the knowledge of the land, sea and sky and which is read in “the rocks and the stones, the animals and the plants, the seasons and the weather. It’s also told through paintings and carvings, and in the designs of baskets and weapons,  And it’s in the memories , songs and dances of the Australian Aboriginal people…” 

These are the Songlines – the connections that run through place and time , families and kinship as they are passed on and around so that each new generation learns to find their way around, get  food and drink, connect with friends and family and know the right and safe way to make and do things.  How were these sorts of things navigated before shops made acquiring items easy, you could carry a search engine in your pocket or satnav and Google Maps were invented? 

In this book the authors invite the reader to “walk the Songlines with them across Country” to see and learn about it in a new way and really begin to understand what is meant by those ceremonial practices and words.  Spanning  art, history, song, science and culture, this is a collaboration between Margo Neale, senior Indigenous curator at the National Museum of Australia, and Lynne Kelly, a science writer working as an honorary research associate at La Trobe University and award-winning illustrator Blak Douglas, that gives it  authority and authenticity  relating the contemporary to the ancient and vice versa, with each chapter concluding with an opportunity for the reader to reflect on what they have learned through challenges which might require them to  research, discuss or  create something from the ideas presented including identifying whose country they live on, or  exploring the Emu in the Sky constellation , or comparing Stone Henge and Wurdi Yoang, or maybe visiting the Ara Irititja historical and cultural archive. There is also discussion about why some Songlines have been broken, particularly since those words of Governor Bourke and how their importance is now being recognised and communities are working to rescue and rebuild them.

IMO, if there is ever to be true reconciliation with our First Nations Peoples, then we need books (and series) like this so we can delve deeper into their beliefs, values, practices and priorities so we have a better understanding and a greater respect for them. Both this and Design & Building on Country have been CBCA Notables in their respective years,  and the third Caring for Country will be released on September 30, 2025.

 

 

Learning Country

Jul19
Learning Country

Learning Country

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Learning Country: A First Nations Journey Around Australia’s Traditional Place Names

Ryhia Dank

HarperCollins, 2025

32pp., hbk., RRP $A24.99

9781460765517

The publisher describes this as “a highly designed, colourful picture book aimed at celebrating traditional names of well-known Australian places such as Gadigal (Sydney) and Lunawuni (Bruny Island), from a popular breakthrough Indigenous artist” but it is so much more and has the potential to be an amazing asset to any teaching program as little ones, particularly, not only learn the basic geography of Australia and the place names but learn that they were known to First Nations people by traditional names long before European settlers put their stamp on them.  At the same time, older students who already know the country’s landscapes and landshapes can use their knowledge as well as the visual clues and cues in the illustrations to work out what place is being featured.  Where might the glossy black-tailed cockatoo soar above floodplains looking for a dunnart?  Or where might you tread softly along the river bank looking north to “Gubbi Gubbi Country through the clouds of bogong”?

 

A peek inside...

A peek inside…

There are some clues on the map on the title page which identifies the fifteen places visited, but not all are the major cities or places that tourists would expect. But, interestingly, Canberra is given its modern name despite local history saying it is an evolution of Kamberri, meaning “meeting place” and the traditional lands of the Ngambri people.

As well as becoming aware that familiar places such as have a history and significance connected to the land and its creatures that stretch far back in time, students might also want to investigate their own region and then, using Dank’s distinctive style, create an additional page for the book.  And just as Dank learned life lessons on her journey –I learned to watch, I learned joy, I learned to walk soft – they might also reflect on how their connection to their environment has shaped them as they, too, learn Country…

 

Earthspeak Boodjar Wangkiny

Jul2
Earthspeak Boodjar Wangkiny

Earthspeak Boodjar Wangkiny

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Earthspeak Boodjar Wangkiny

Sean McCann

Jane Goodwin

A & U Children’s, 2025

32pp., hbk., RRP $A26.99

9781761181238

Papa says we’re going to a special place today.
‘If we djinang (look), ni (listen), goordoo (feel), we might hear boodjar wangkiny (earth speak). We might even feel her heartbeat.’
I wonder what that will sound like? Will the earth’s heart beat just like ours?

For at least 45 000 years, the Noongar people have lived in what we know as south-west Western Australia. reaching north of Jurien Bay, inland towards Moora, and then south-east to the coast between Bremer Bay and Esperance and their word “boodjar” encompasses both the physical land and the spiritual and cultural landscape, including the relationships between people, nature, and the spiritual realm.  So on this journey well off the beaten tourist track, the family treks into the stunning landscape to connect with Mother Nature and learn about the interconnections and interdependency of water, wind and fire in shaping, building and nourishing the land. 

Noongar Country

Noongar Country

Interspersed with words from the Noongar language that are not only translated in the short glossary in the introductory pages, but which the astute reader will determine from using the context and the illustrations, this is another in a growing collection of stories that encourage our young students to really use all their senses to discover the wonder of the natural world that surrounds them.  It doesn’t need to be the vast open spaces – even just taking in the ever-changing local sky, trees and plants, animals and insects and the way they interact can bring about awareness and even a sense of calm and connection.  Just taking ten minutes to be outside to listen, feel and imagine how the land has been shaped by natural forces over billions of years can put immediate issues into perspective.  

As much as the family are in awe of the physical landscape, particularly as they enter the gorge and have to seek shelter in a cave from a storm,  in contrast, illustrator Jane Goodwin has put a particular emphasis on the flora and fauna so they are seen to be just as important as the rocks and hollows and towering cliffs.  The endpages feature leaves and bark in so many colours and the wonderful wildflowers of the region that provide sustenance to the creatures that live amongst them are a special focus.

But as well as being soothing for the soul of the reader, as they start to build a connection with what is beneath their feet and surrounding them, it also helps them begin to understand and appreciate the respect, love and caring for Country that is so integral to the lives of our First Nations people.  

Just as Papa suggests that the children might hear the earth speak and maybe even feel her heartbeat, so the reader is taken on a similar journey. 

 

Filling in the Map: Exploring Inland Australia

Jun27
Filling in the Map

Filling in the Map: Exploring Inland Australia

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Filling in the Map: Exploring Inland Australia

Carole Wilkinson

Wild Dog Books, 2025

48pp., hbk., RRP $A24.99

9781742036557

When the First Fleet arrived in Australia in 1788 Australia’s First Nations people had already lived on the continent for at least 60,000 years.

Matthew Flinders drew an accurate map of Australia’s coastline, but none existed of inland Australia. Aboriginal people knew their Country in detail without the need for maps. They had a network of tracks across the continent and detailed knowledge of food and water sources. But for the
European settlers Australia was a 7.7 million km2 mystery to solve.

This is how they set about Filling in the Map of Australia.

Using images of people, places and maps sourced through a range of official libraries, archives and museums, younger readers are taken on an historical journey of how this country was explored by Europeans after Captain Arthur Phillip established the first permanent settlement in 1788 in what Captain James Cook had named Port Jackson but which Phillip renamed Sydney.  While acknowledging that the Aboriginal people had been here for thousands of years prior to Phillip’s settlement and knew the country intimately with established tracks called Songlines and which the Europeans used, often without consent, this book focuses on those early European explorers beginning with Blaxland, Wentworth and Lawson penetrating the seemingly impenetrable Blue Mountains in 1813 and includes the travels of Hume and Hovell, Charles Sturt, Thomas Mitchell, Edward John Eyre, Leichardt, Burke and Wills, John McDouall Stuart, and Albert Canning offering straightforward factual information of each expedition. 

While it provides an overview of the opening up of the continent for future European settlement for the casual reader. teachers’ notes linked directly to the Australian Curriculum History strand, particularly those in Years 3-5, offer ideas that will make it come alive for those students, particularly connecting the past to the present. 

It is the ideal companion to its predecessor, Putting Australia on the Map (Wild Dog, 2020) offering not only a peek into the past of this country but also the opportunity to consider how countries were explored and mapped before satellites, drones and other devices and how we actually found our way before Google Maps, satnav and GPS.  (It’s only 20 years since my students sat watching our school janitor demonstrate how he found his way on his 4WD expeditions using a handheld GPS device, being fascinated by it and wanting to have a go to pinpoint the school as we asked “Where is Palmerston? as a special assignment for the school website!) 

And for those who prefer non fiction, it is the ideal book for this year’s CBCA Book week theme, “Book an Adventure”.  What if you were a journalist reporting on one of the expeditions as you accompanied it, particularly if you could timeslip while taking today’s technology with you?

Wildlife of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef

May6
Wildlife of Australia's Great Barrier Reef

Wildlife of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wildlife of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef

Myke Mollard

Woodslane, 2023

48pp., hbk., RRP $A29.99

9781922800367

Stretching for 2300 kilometres and encompassing 344 400 square kilometres of ocean off Queensland’s coast, even visible from space, the Great Barrier Reef is the world’s largest reef system and home to a myriad of species.  But, despite being World Heritage listed, the reef is in decline – mostly from human impact – and so this stunningly illustrated book is ideal for introducing the diversity of life that call it home.  From the living coral itself which makes up this vital protection of the Queensland coastline to the fish, birds, reptiles and other marine creatures that are dependent on it, the reader is taken on a journey of its wonders so that there is not only greater understanding of the importance of the interconnection between land, air and sea but a deeper appreciation for it. 

With large, colourful, highly detailed spreads of the various kinds of inhabitants (each of which is identified in a miniature on the final endpages) you don’t have to be a scuba diver to begin to be in awe of what Mother Nature has to offer, although it may well encourage a young reader to add scuba qualifications to their must-have activities. (You can get a restricted PADI Junior Open Water Diver certification from the age of 10, and full certification from 15.) There really is nothing quite like seeing the underwater world from the seabed, particularly at night when there is a whole different perspective on offer.

This is yet another fascinating and absorbing release from someone whose work as a biological illustrator I have come to know, admire and recommend through my reviews, and while it evoked memories for me – who can forget the graceful Spanish dance nudibranch drifting by, fluorescent in the light of our cyalume sticks? – it is ensured to inspire young students to not only protect the reef itself, but also to explore it in person.  Extensive teaching notes covering everything from the biodiversity of the region to its significance to First Nations peoples offer something for everyone with any interest to investigate and share their new knowledge so that this unique phenomenon which is on our doorstep is there for future generations ad infinitum. 

 

The O in the Snow (series)

Apr2
The O in Snow series

The O in Snow series

The O in Snow series

The O in Snow

9781925868609

The AU in Dinosaur

9781922800381

The I in Island

9781922800077

The NG in Ningaloo

9781922800787

The A in Rainforest

9781925868821

The OO in Uluru

9781925868180

The EE in the Deep Blue Sea

9781925868401

Judith Barker

Janie Frith

Woodslane Press 2020-2025

32pp., pbk., RRP $A19.99

 

The English alphabet has just 26 letters, yet there are 44 phonemes (perceptually distinct units of sound) that make up the words we speak, making the teaching of reading and writing with a primary emphasis on phonics or “sounding it out” tricky at best.  Many will be familiar with “ghoti” which is “fish” spelt from the sounds of ‘enough’, ‘women’ and ‘nation’ and T. S. Watt’s  poem which begins

I take it you already know
Of tough and bough and cough and dough?
Others may stumble, but not you,
On hiccough, thorough, lough and through?
Well done! And now you wish, perhaps,
To learn of less familiar traps?  

is a common visitor to Facebook feeds, while The Chaos written in 1922 by Gerard Nolst Trenité has over 800 irregularities in both spelling and pronunciation.  

So how can we help our young readers make sense of this language that is constantly changing and evolving as words are added, fall out of use or have their meanings changed entirely?

In this series of seven books (to date) young readers are introduced to the various spellings of a particular sound by taking them on a journey through a particular Australian landscape.  For example, The O in Snow is inspired by The Man from Snowy River and celebrates the creatures of the High Country and the drovers that once mustered horses and cattle on the high plains, while The AU in Dinosaur follows the journey of several young Australians on a time travel ride back to see real dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures.. 

In each book, the particular sound is highlighted in all its guises each time it appears, and Janie Frith’s stunning illustrations bring the whole to life so that even if the emphasis is not on the phonic awareness, the reader is still introduced to the Australian landscape and its inhabitants, and the teaching notes which accompany some of them offer ideas for exploring the many layers of each.  For example,  The O in Snow covers the relationship to the original poem as well as the Indigenous language and heritage of the Alpine High Country; the annual journey of the bogong moth; the Snowy-Hydro Scheme (and its current extension); renewable energy; the natural inhabitants of both the Monaro and the high country; the threats they face and the controversial current treatment of the brumbies; as well as developing vocabulary, listening to the original poem and the movie’s musical score (add in the Wallis and Matilda version)  and a variety of creative arts, giving it a broader audience than those coming to grips with the peculiarities of the language.

But, if that is your main focus, then challenge students to build their own version of The Chaos by seeing how many of the 800 irregularities they can find.  Here’s a kickstart…

 

Our Strange Lingo
When the English tongue we speak.
Why is break not rhymed with freak?
Will you tell me why it’s true
We say sew but likewise few?
And the maker of the verse,
Cannot rhyme his horse with worse?
Beard is not the same as heard
Cord is different from word.
Cow is cow but low is low
Shoe is never rhymed with foe.
Think of hose, dose, and lose
And think of goose and yet with choose
Think of comb, tomb and bomb,
Doll and roll or home and some.
Since pay is rhymed with say
Why not paid with said I pray?
Think of blood, food and good.
Mould is not pronounced like could.
Wherefore done, but gone and lone –
Is there any reason known?
To sum up all, it seems to me
Sound and letters don’t agree

(Author in doubt)

Walking the Rock Country in Kakadu

Mar12
Walking the Rock Country in Kakadu

Walking the Rock Country in Kakadu

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Walking the Rock Country in Kakadu

Karrire kundenge karribolknan kunwarddehwardde

Diane Lucas & Ben Tyler

Emma Long

A & U  Children’s, 2024

32oo., hbk., RRP $A29.99

9781761067860

Australia is a land of so many different landscapes and landshapes, with its  diverse topography, geology, rainfall and seasonal changes meaning there is an incredible range of vegetation and thus living inhabitants.  Not the least of these is Kunwarddehwardde, the rock country of the Arnhem Land plateau which extends into Kakadu National Park, an area of almost 20 000 km² in  in the far north of the Northern Territory and home of many First Nations clans for 40 000 years and rich in cave paintings, rock carvings and archaeological sites that record the skills and lifestyle of these peoples over the millennia.

In this stunningly illustrated book, the team behind the CBCA shortlisted Walking in Gagudju Country: Exploring the Monsoon Forest, once again take the reader on a wondrous journey through this jaw-dropping country, this time during yekke, the early dry season, to see what is there.  Through commentary that seamlessly incorporates the Kindjeyhmi language (with icons that explain what is being  identified)  interwoven through the vivid, detailed illustrations, the reader not only learns to use their eyes, ears and nose but to really use them keenly for there is much that is there but which is often overlooked.  As well as pointing out these hidden gems like the alyurr that grow in the rock crevices, their ancient stories are also shared – hidden among these tiny plants are tiny grasshoppers  known as the Lightning People’s children, coming out of the soil as the rains begin, gradually shedding their skins and revealing their bright colours so they can find a mate. 

A peek inside...

A peek inside…

As well as the explanatory text there is also an illustrated glossary that offers both English translations (and Latin where appropriate) as well as being a sort of “Where’s Wally ” challenge as you return to the page to try to find the things you missed.  Wide-ranging teachers’ notes are available from the publisher’s page, including a link to both a reading of the story, and the glossary – also accessible via a QR code from the introductory page of the book. 

Lucas’s first book, Walking with the Seasons in Kakadu, published 20 years ago led the way to opening up this land to our young readers so they could begin to understand its ancient stories and those who shared them and this stunning book continues the tradition. Like its predecessors, this has also been acknowledged as a Notable for the 2025 CBCA Book of the Year Awards Eve Pownall Award.

Certainly one that will encourage readers to book an adventure.

Every Rock Has A Story

Feb1
Every Rock Has A Story

Every Rock Has A Story

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Every Rock Has A Story: An A to Z of Australian Geology

Kitty van Cuylenburg

Cher Hart

CSIRO Publishing, 2025

64pp., hbk., RRP $A32.99

9781486316731

Drive a short way out of the city, any city or town, and it’s not long before you see rocks pushing their way out of the ground, remnants of some ancient hill or mountain.  Or head to the coast and watch the waves pound against the rocks, scurry into some hidden cave and emerge again in a plume of spray.  Perhaps you have been to Uluru, the distinctive monolith that seems to rise from nowhere in Central Australia, or maybe the limestone stacks on Victoria’s southern coast known as the Twelve Apostles .

 

Whichever landscape or landshape has caught your eye, it is hard not to wonder at the how and the what of each.  

So this new book from CSIRO Publishing is the ideal introduction to the land beneath our feet (or in front of us), the Country we walk on as it is a comprehensive A-Z of the rocks of this ancient land, their formation and timeline, the factors that make and shape them and some of those that aren’t as familiar. 

For independent readers who want information and explanation rather than just fun facts, but offered in a way that they can relate to,  this is a journey through Australia’s geological wonders with illustrations, diagrams and maps that not only spans the continent but also the 4.4 billion years of the planet’s history with the final entry being about the tiny zircon fragment found in Western Australia in 2001 and which radiometric dating showed to be “the oldest known mineral yet found on Earth – in one of the oldest existing pieces of the earth’s crust.”

While our students are becoming more and more aware of what’s around them and to observe this, giving them a basic understanding of what is beneath them through geology can only give them a deeper appreciation of not only the planet but also Country as it continually acknowledges Traditional Owners as being the first scientists and storytellers and request that their beliefs be respected, such as not taking boats though Ganbadba (the Horizontal Falls in remote WA) when the tide is running because the water is the Woonguss (creator snake) itself.

If you are beginning the new school year with an investigation into the ancient history of either the planer of this country, this is an important addition to that collection, but it is also an ideal companion for Rocks, Fossils and Formations, Giinagay Juluum, Hello Mountains, Our Country: Ancient Wonders,  and The Book of Stone, perhaps even Rockhopping.

 

 

Are We There Yet? 20th Anniversary Edition

Nov4
Are We There Yet? 20th Anniversary Edition

Are We There Yet? 20th Anniversary Edition

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Are We There Yet?  20th Anniversary Edition

Alison Lester

Puffin, 2024

32pp., hbk., RRP $A19.99

9781761620416

The year I turned eight, Mum and Dad took us on a trip around Australia. Luke, Billy and I missed school for the whole winter term….

So begins the story of Grace and her family as they begin a journey around Australia in a fold-out camper van – a journey  that began a little west of Melbourne, took them to all sorts of places as they explored the coast, the bush and the outback, and which became an instant classic when it was first published 20 years ago because it opened up this country to children who didn’t know much of what was beyond their immediate environment.  

Along with Possum Magic, this was a story that could be used to initiate so many lessons and learnings about the diverse landscapes, lives, and livelihoods in the days when the internet was not as accessible and affordable to all – for many dial-up connections  for the family computer were all they had, and the first iPhone was three years in the future.  While television was a staple, travelogues were not the choice of little ones so here was a story that featured a relatable family taking off on an adventure that was told with engaging characters, story-telling and illustrations and the familiar refrain of, “Are we there yet?”  Grace’s journey was tracked on large wall maps and young readers would delight in declaring that they were familiar with a particular place and relating their adventures.  

Now, in a different gold-foiled livery and a different world, parents can share this story that delighted them with their own children and plan and plot their own journeys as many take to the roads post-pandemic, particularly as taking children out of formal schooling is not as drop-jaw now.  

And it hasn’t lost its relevance for the classroom as students could explore their own neighbourhood and identify the places, people and events that make it a unique attraction for visitors even if they take them for granted, or they could set up a challenge based on the family’s adventures for others to identify significant places around Australia based on clues such as this on from Backpack Bear, (an online quiz about Australia and Australians that I developed over 20 years ago and which is still available for free), encouraging a variety of research and presentation skills.  

I am at the top of a mountain, first climbed by a European in 1840 and named by Polish explorer Count Paul Edmund Strzelecki. He named it after one of his country’s heroes because he thought it looked like his tomb. While it stands in Ngarigo land, it is yet to be given an official indigenous name although Kunama Namadgi has been proposed.

The climb to the top was quite easy – a 6.5 kilometre walk along a raised walkway after I got off the chairlift from Thredbo and a short stop at Australia’s highest public toilet at Rawson’s Pass. The walkway protects the fragile alpine environment.

The summit is 2228 metres above sea level, making it Australia’s highest mainland mountain and from it I can see other mountains of the Main Range of the Great Dividing Range, including Mt Townsend which is the second highest mountain, Mt Carruthers and Mt Twynam. They are all part of a national park which shares the name of this mountain.

If you wish to follow in my footsteps, you need to come here between November and April, although if you are skier you can come during the winter..

Where am I?

Because it is a classic and so well-known, winning many awards, including being selected as a key focus book for the National Year of Reading 2012, there is a plethora of resources available online to support other activities including this one from Reading Australia. Our world may be smaller and different from that of Grace and her family, because although the book is 20 years old and its foundations began 10 years before that, it is still as relevant and refreshing now as it was then.  And I can hear parents saying, “I remember this” as they see it on shop shelves and pick it up to share with their own little ones and make more memories.