Join the narrators as they explain all the things they saw in Yolŋu country. As the introductory blurb explains, Yolŋu country covers 97,000 square kilometres in northeast Arnhem Land, in the Northern Territory of Australia. Yolŋu is one of the largest Indigenous groups in Australia. The main language, Yolŋu, has twelve sublanguage groups. This book is written mainly in English, with the words of the animals in one of the sublanguages. English is a second, third or fourth language for most Yolŋu children.
One of the innovative features of this book is the pictorial glossary (which is not labelled as such) at the end of the story. The preface also features a QR code which plays an audio recording of the book. The story is written in near rhyme, for example, 'I saw a gurrutuminy [family] playing on the sand./ We saw a watu [dog] grab a stick from a man.' (pp 7-9)
The multi-media illustrations are all the more charming because they combine impossible perspectives such as cross-sections under the water with aerial views of the township in the end papers. The text and illustrations are by the Yolŋu students at Nhulunbuy Primary School, with the support of Ann James and Ann Haddon; alongside designer, Lee Burgemeestre; educator Shane Ogg; language expert Lisa Dhurrkay; and the Yirrkala School Literature Production Centre.
Aboriginal and or Torres Strait Islander Resource
