1. Animals
2. Art motifs
3. Art techniques
4. Art, Aboriginal Australian
5. Birds
6. Cassowaries
7. Cockatoos
8. Country
9. Crocodiles
10. Environmental education
11. Kookaburras
12. Landscapes
13. Lizards
14. Marine animals
15. Marsupials
16. Plants
17. Rainbows
18. Seals
19. Sharks
20. Visual literacy
21. Wallabies

The title page for ‘Learning Country’ features a map of Australia with 15 Aboriginal place names and some of the animals that live there. The viewer is challenged to determine the common Australian name for each location as ‘Learning Country’ celebrates the traditional names for well-known Australian locations. Examples include Gadigal (Sydney) and Lunawuni (Bruny Island). The text highlights the deep cultural significance of Country and the stories and animals associated with these places.

The language is poetic and when read aloud, it generates strong visual images. For example, readers are invited to ‘laugh joyfully like a kookaburra in Canberra’, and ‘walk soft under the bunya pines in Meanjin’. There is a strong sense of respect for the natural world and its Indigenous roots.

The storyteller describes the places, in simple text, by what lives there, whether seals hunting abalone in Lunawuni or big trees protected by the cassowary at Gimuy (Cairns). Australia’s ‘colonial’ names, known by many Australians, are not mentioned. So here’s the challenge — use the clues and illustrations to guess the place or encourage the reader to undertake research.

Each double page features animals, flowers, birds, vegetation and geographical features associated with the place. The contemporary art includes traditional decorative methods. Colours and distinctive designs draw the viewer in for a closer inspection.

Ryhia Dank is a Gudanji/Wakaja woman who grew up in a remote community in the Gulf of Carpentaria. Now based on Gubbi Gubbi Country, she tells us that she became familiar with her Country though stories told by her family and by the ‘places and footprints’ her family has travelled since the beginning. She describes her paintings as ‘storywork’: telling stories through her designs and patterns. (source: author profile in ‘Learning Country’)

1. Procreate. Meet the Artist 28 Nov 2023 ‘Maintaining the oldest living civilisation — the revolutionary Indigenous art of Ryhia Dank’ https://procreate.com/insight/2023/ryhia-dank
2. Story Links 29 May 2025 review by Mia Macrossan of ‘Learning Country’ https://storylinks.booklinks.org.au/2025/05/29/learning-country/
3. Reading Time 29 Aug 2025 review by Kevin Brophy of ‘Learning Country’ https://readingtime.cbca.org.au/learning-country-a-first-nations-journey-around-australias-traditional-place-names/
4. ReadPlus 25 June 2025 review by Fran Knight of ‘Learning Country’ https://www.readplus.com.au/reviews/learning-country
5. Just So Stories 3 June 2025 review by Sue Warren of ‘Learning Country’ https://losangzopa.blog/2025/06/03/learning-country-a-first-nations-journey-around-australias-traditional-place-names-ryhia-dank/