1. Birds
2. Board books
3. Counting
4. Fish
5. Indigenous languages
6. Music
7. Pelicans
8. Singing

‘Mayarda’ is a playful song that teaches how to count in Gooniyandi and designed to help young children to learn using words that have great meaning as they tell of caring for Country and respecting the environment.

The colourful illustrations show one, two, three pelicans then one, two three fish The use of repetitive text works well as we see the pelicans swimming, then the fish swimming and then the inevitable feasting as hungry pelicans gulp down the fish.

The book was developed at a workshop for local women facilitated by Baya Gawiy Centre in Fitzroy Crossing, Western Australia. The creators worked with ILF Ambassador Alison Lester, children’s author Jane Godwin and book designer Lee Burgemeestre. A song was composed in collaboration with Dr Gillian Howell from the University of Melbourne as part of the Perth based Cultural Tura ongoing Sound FX program in Fitzroy Crossing. A QR code is located on the book’s back cover to listen to the song.

Author Patricia Cox and translator Brenda Shaw are Gooniyandi women from the Kimberley region in Western Australia.

1. SBS/NITV 11 March 2024. Rachel Knowles reports ‘These Fitzroy Crossing women are teaching their languages through bright and bold picture books’ https://www.sbs.com.au/nitv/article/these-fitzroy-crossing-women-are-teaching-their-languages-through-bright-and-bold-picture-books/5cha49jrh
2. Indigenous Literacy Foundation News. ‘Women at the Baya Gawiy Buga Yani Jandu Yani u Centre create books to preserve language.’ https://www.indigenousliteracyfoundation.org.au/news-events/women-at-the-baya-gawiy-buga-yani-jandu-yani-u-centre-create-books-to-preserve-language
3. National Indigenous Times 7 March 2024.’First Nations language, stories preserved through Fitzroy Crossing Indigenous Literacy project.’ https://nit.com.au/07-03-2024/10103/first-nations-language-stories-preserved-through-fitzroy-crossing-indigenous-literacy-project