Spotlight on Reading

NAIDOC Week is next week and the theme is "Always Was, Always will be".  Here we have showcased some of our wonderful Indigenous books from our Library.

Mad Magpie - written and illustrated by Gregg Dreise.

The cheeky butcher birds always tease Guluu and he becoming a very mad magpie.  When Guluu heeds the advice of his Elders and ignores the birds, they just laugh at him.  But Guluu tries again... and this time he stands proudly at the riverbank and remembers how he used to sing when he was having a bad day.

Stay calm like the surface of the water, yet strong like its current.  Sing! Dance! Laugh!

Collecting Colour - by Kylie Dunstan

Rose and her friend Olive love going out bush in Arnhem Land to help Olive's mother collect 'Colour' and pandanus for weaving.  Come with Rose, Olive and her family, and learn, with the girls, how these beautiful baskets, mats and bags are made.

Same, but little bit different - by Kylie Dunstan

Right up the very top of Australia there is a special place.  My friend Normie comes from there, and he says that things are different to what you might see in the city.  

Marngrook - The long-ago story of Aussie Rules by Titta Secombe

This is the tale of marngrook, the Aboriginal ball game from north west Victoria, that inspired the birth of Aussie Rules.  'A wonderful kids' story that shares the origins of our national game.' - Adam Goodes - Sydney Swans.

How the Murray River was made - An Aboriginal story and play retold by Linda Bruce and Elether Bruce.

badudu stories by May L. O'Brien

In the language of the Wongutha people, badudu means 'not what it seems'.  This lively collection of stories by bestselling author May L. O'Brien explores some of the challenges of learning to speak English as a  second language.

Big Rain Coming by Katrina Germein

Everyone and everything is wating for the rain.  Rosie's kids, the panting dogs, the fat green frogs, and Old Stephen, for he predicts its arrival.  But when will the big rain come?

Warnayarra the Rainbow Snake - An Aboriginal Story - told by the Senior Boys Class, Lajamanu School

"Since we came here, Lajamanu has changed a lot.  Children have been born here and that means their Dreaming place is here.... 'Our law and our ceremonies are still important to us; it is the las of Walyajarra, the people who lived and died thousands of years ago, and we cannot change that.'

How the Birds got their Colours - an Aboriginal Story Told by Mary Albert

"Would you like to hear a story from long ago.  My mother used to tell me lots of stories, but this story I loved the best, because I loved the birds.'