1. Animals
2. Bilingual books
3. Cats
4. Danger
5. Fear
6. Food
7. Indigenous languages
8. Ngalakgan people N77
9. Nocturnal animals

Mouse and Cat both sleep during the day and at night they hunt for food. ‘Mouse eats insects like grasshoppers and Cat eats small birds, lizards, snakes and …also mice’. Mouse and Cat don’t know each other and met when they both went searching for food at the same time. Each thought they were alone until they came face to face. Mouse got a fright when he saw Cat. Cat though was happy as he wanted to eat Mouse. Mouse turned and ran as fast as he could with Cat chasing him as Cat didn’t want to lose a good meal. After a great effort Mouse made it safely home.

This is a humorous story that children will enjoy. It is reminiscent of Tom and Jerry cartoons that the author states influenced her. The artwork is humourous, and the depictions of Mouse and Cat are very expressive.

The book was produced as part of a collaboration between the Indigenous Literacy Foundation and Meigim Kriol Strongbala, a program in Ngukurr in the Northern Territory to strengthen the place of Kriol.

Carol Robertson is a respected Elder and leader in the Ngukurr community. She was part of a 25-year project to translate the Bible into Kriol and since 2019 has assisted the Meigim Kriol Strongbala program to produce Kriol language resources and support Kriol education. She co-translated ‘Too Many Cheeky Dogs’ by Johanna Bell and Dion Beasley into Kriol.

https://www.ncacl.org.au/atsi_resource/too-many-cheeky-dogs/

Karen Rogers is a Ngalakgan woman and respected artist from Ngukurr. She wrote and illustrated an autobiographical picture book, ‘Main Abija’ (My Grandad) published in 2021.

https://www.ncacl.org.au/atsi_resource/main-abija-my-grandad/

1. Meigim Kriol Strongbala 23 March 2023. ‘Carol Robertson on her new book ‘Stori bla Brutbrut en Bujigat’ https://meigimkriolstrongbala.org.au/en_au/carol-robertson-on-her-new-book-stori-bla-brutbrut-en-bujigat/
2. Indigenous Government Australia 19 July 2018. Connecting with First Nations Australians ‘Ngukurr Story Project – Telling Our Stories in our Language’ https://www.indigenous.gov.au/stories/ngukurr-story-project-telling-our-stories-our-language
3. SBS News 16 November 2020. ‘While many Indigenous languages are disappearing, one has more speakers than ever.’ https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/while-many-indigenous-languages-are-disappearing-one-has-more-speakers-than-ever/cz1j46wi3