1. Alphabet
2. Autobiographies
3. Family
4. Missions
5. Murrin Bridge (SW NSW S155-06)
6. Social life and customs

This is a unique take on an alphabet book. The entries for each letter are short little stories about the author’s childhood on an Aboriginal mission. As such, it’s a biographical alphabet book of the author/illustrator, Elaine Russell. She is a Kamileroi woman. The acrylic and gouache illustrations are bright and inviting, in the naive style, and depicting various scenes around mission life.

From A is for Aunty Goldie, the aunt who cheers the kids on with her red bandanna, to Z is for Zinc Ointment, the book circles nicely back to Aunty Goldie’s medicine cabinet and the panacea of medical treatments held within it. The zinc ointment entry is a great example of the humour and left-field approach of this book.

1. Murrin Bridge Mentioned in Dawn: A Magazine for the Aboriginal People of NSW; 9(4); April 1960: pp 2,4,14 https://aiatsis.gov.au/sites/default/files/docs/digitised_collections/dawn/april_1960.pdf
2. Artist Interview, Art Gallery of NSW https://youtu.be/teBwzk9u63w
3. Teaching Resource. Literacy and Creative Arts for Bookweek 2001, pp 21-24 Thistle-Martin, Judith, 2001, http://artsmmadd.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/A-is-for-Aunty.pdf
4. Teaching Resource Linked to Numeracy Early Stage 1: t Elessa Mavridis, 2013, Scoop.i https://www.scoop.it/topic/early-stage-1-hsie-cues1/p/4000112427/2013/04/17/a-is-for-aunty-by-elaine-russell
5. Human Society and Its Environment Guide to using picture books in History K–10. NSW Department of Education https://www.hsiensw.com/uploads/4/7/7/1/47718841/guide_to_picture_bks_in_history_k-10sm.pdf
6. Murrin Bridge Aboriginal Station (Lake Cargelligo District, NSW) - photograph in State Library NSW collection https://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/collection-items/murrin-bridge-aboriginal-station-lake-cargelligo-district-nsw
7. Indigenous.gov.au - Murrin Bridge https://www.indigenous.gov.au/community/murrin-bridge