1. Bilingual books
2. Board books
3. Children as artists
4. Human body
5. Indigenous languages
6. Kimberley region (W.A.)
7. Mangala people (A65) (WA SE1-15)
8. Teaching

‘Karrkin’ My Body is one of several books published by the Indigenous Literacy Foundation in each of the five languages spoken by the people of the Bidyadanga community in the Kimberley region of Western Australia.

It is a bright colourful board book that teaches young children the names of body parts in the Mangala language and in this particular edition the English equivalent is provided. It is a perfect way for young children to begin to learn the language. The illustrations are a combination of artwork from the students of the La Grange Remote Community School and photographs of exuberant children actively showing the particular body part by First Nations photographer Wayne Quillam.

The book was created at an ILF workshop at Bidyadanga facilitated by Alison Lester, ILF ambassador, and Jane Godwin. The text for these books was written by Aunty Maureen Yanawana, who spearheaded this project and has been creating books in language for the students of Bidyadanga for several years.

Bidyadanga Aboriginal Community (La Grange) is located on the Kimberley coast in Western Australia, 1,590 km north of Perth and 180 km south of Broome.

1. Indigenous Literacy Foundation ‘Community Publishing’ https://www.indigenousliteracyfoundation.org.au/community-literacy-programs
2. WA Department of Education ‘La Grange Remote Community School, Bidyadanga WA’ https://www.det.wa.edu.au/schoolsonline/overview.do?schoolID=5267&pageID=SO01
3. Bidyadanga Aboriginal Community (La Grange Inc) https://www.bidyadanga.org.au/
4. Kimberley Language Resource Centre. Map showing the location of the various First Nations languages spoken in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. The Bidyadanga community is located on the coast to the left of the Karajarri language name. https://klrc.org.au/about/languages/
5. Wayne Quillam Photographer https://aboriginal.photography/