1. Agriculture
2. Animals
3. Bushfires
4. Climate
5. Country
6. Culture
7. Dreaming
8. Ecology
9. Environmental education
10. Fire
11. History
12. Indigenous knowledge
13. Land management
14. Nature
15. Plants
16. Seasons
17. Trees
18. Water

Bruce Pascoe and Bill Gammage are well-known for their passionate belief in and promotion of Australia’s Indigenous Peoples practices in caring and cultivation of Country.

The book begins with a description of what the land looked like prior to 1788. It was a land with big mobs of grazing animals, skies flocked with birds and waters black with fish and water so clear you could see the bottom of Sydney Harbour. The land looked different rather than big swathes of thick bushland there were large areas of grassland with few trees. Much has changed over the past two hundred plus years, today Australia is amongst the countries with the most extinct species and the most serious land degradation.

The biggest change was that Indigenous People were stopped from caring for their Country. They were forced off their land that had provided for them for thousands of years. Erosion and salinity were all too common, waterways were diverted or drained and the natural swamps that kept the country moist and fertile dried up. Slowly there was less water and the more fire-prone land was dryer.

Pascoe weaves in family stories. He shares his long experience with land restoration and using Indigenous food plants to plead for a different approach from the European model of farming which he believes is not suitable for Australian soils. There is information on Indigenous food staples and delicacies which support his strong belief in the skills and knowledge of Australia’s Indigenous People.

Included at the back of the book is an index and information on important words and concepts found in the book. There is also information about the book’s creators.

‘Caring for Country’ was adapted for the ‘First Knowledges for younger readers’ by Jasmin McGaughey with illustrations by Savi Ross. It is an adaption for younger readers of the book by Bruce Pascoe and Bill Gammage entitled ‘Country: Future Fire, Future Farming’ first published in 2021.

1. Scholastic Teaching notes by Cara Shipp for ‘Caring for Country’ by Bruce Pascoe & Bill Gammage https://resource.scholastic.com.au/ResourceFiles/100146315_133511.pdf
2. Reading Time 30 Mar 2026. ‘Caring for Country’ by Bruce Pascoe & Bill Gammage. Adapted by Jasmin McGaughey, illustrated by Savi Ross (First Knowledges for Younger Readers) https://readingtime.cbca.org.au/caring-for-country-first-knowledges-for-younger-readers/
3. Story Links 12 Sept 2025. Helen Gearing reviews ‘Caring for Country’ by Bruce Pascoe and Bill Gammage https://storylinks.booklinks.org.au/2025/09/12/caring-for-country-first-knowledges-for-younger-readers/
4. Good Reading Magazine Oct 2025. Review of ‘Caring for Country’ by Bruce Pascoe and Bill Gammage https://goodreadingmagazine.com.au/article/bruce-pascoe-and-bill-gammage-on-caring-for-country/
5. The Conversation 16 Dec 2021. Taylor Coyne – ‘Book review: Country is an urgent call to learn from Indigenous knowledges to care for the land’ https://theconversation.com/book-review-country-is-an-urgent-call-to-learn-from-indigenous-knowledges-to-care-for-the-land-172142