Gurawang the bandicoot lives in a hollow log in the bush close to Grandma's farm. While he enjoys scratching in Grandma’s garden and helping himself to her vegetable patch, Grandma is not pleased. She puts a fence around her garden. She loves animals though and creates a new place where she leaves all her vegetable peelings, fruit and dry bread for the nearby animals. Soon possums, birds, mice and wallabies arrive and enjoy their new spot. The reader is given an insight into how Gurawang might be feeling by suggesting that he is pleased to share food with his animal friends.
The text placement alternates between the left and right side of the double page spread. Opposite is an illustration in bold colours, which provides insights into the characters’ lives, such as the hollow log where Gurawang lives or the vegetable garden with all Grandma’s beans upended by Gurawang. Opposite the text is an oval encircled by Aboriginal motif art that covers the remaining page.
There is a glossary of nine Wiradjuri language words used in this story. These appear at the front of the book and at the bottom of each page when they appear in the story. The story leaves the reader with a sense of humans and animals live in harmony. There is also an encouragement for readers to find ways that humans and animals can live together and satisfy each other’s needs.
An autobiographical statement about Gloria Whalan is included in which she reveals she is part of the Stolen Generations. She was raised by her non-Indigenous grandmother and discovered at 49-years-of-age that she was of Wiradjuri descent from New South Wales.
Series: Grandma's Farm Stories No. 4
Aboriginal and or Torres Strait Islander Resource
