1. Animals
2. Art techniques
3. Country
4. Cyclones
5. Dingoes
6. Drought
7. Environmental degradation
8. Friendship
9. Landscapes
10. Mineral industries
11. Stories and motifs
12. Trees
13. Water sources
14. Waterholes
15. Wombats

The land where Dingo and his friends live has been decimated by mining, drought and a cyclone. Dingo, Wombat and Crow and their friends struggle to live while their home is being destroyed by mining.

The land is dry and bare, so Dingo decides to draw a tree, which ascends to the sky, leaving a little tree in its place. The little tree holds a precious drop of water, and it is up to Dingo to decide when this little drop can be used.

As water becomes more scarce, Dingo and his friends, including Wombat and Crow, resolve to encourage Little Tree to become a walking tree.

This chapter book has four parts: Dingo’s Tree, The Raindrop, The Tree that Walked and The Last Tree. Within these four parts are themes that relate to community, custodianship, leadership, friendship and country.

It is a powerful story, one that is thought-provoking, but one that needs to be read more than once to fully appreciate the concept of how mining not only destroys the land, but has ongoing and wide-ranging repercussions. It has been described as a ‘cautionary tale’.

The stylised illustrations are fascinating in their shape and colour and could be used to demonstrate ways of depicting creatures that need not show detail.

Gladys Milroy and Jill Milroy are Palyku women, whose traditional country is in the east Pilbara region of Western Australia.

Gladys Milroy is the daughter of Daisy Brockman (also known as Daisy Corunna). She is a member of the Stolen Generations. As a small child, Milroy was placed in Parkerville Children's Home run by Sister Kate. Sally Morgan (author of ‘My Place’) and Jill Milroy are Milroy's daughters.

1. Teacher Notes for ‘Dingo’s Tree’ https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0092/5043/9268/files/Dingo_s_Tree.pdf?2389
2. Text version of ‘Dingo’s Tree’ by Gill and Gladys Milroy https://westerlymag.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/WesterlyVol.54Jill-Milroy.pdf
3. Gladys Milroy protecting country and culture through storytelling. ABC North West WA https://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2012/03/09/3450113.htm
4. Top Ten Indigenous-authored Children’s Books. Read Watch Play https://readwatchplay.wordpress.com/2013/05/02/top-ten-indigenous-authored-childrens-books/
5. 'Growing up the Future: Children's Stories and Aboriginal Ecology' by Blaze Kwaymullina, Brooke Collins-Gearing, Ambelin Kwaymullina and Tracie Pushman http://journal.media-culture.org.au/index.php/mcjournal/article/view/487