1. Bush tucker
2. Children as authors
3. Cultural diversity
4. Daily life
5. Families
6. Friendship
7. Landscapes
8. Leisure
9. Manyallaluk / Eva Valley (NT Top End SD53-09)

Remember that experience of excitement and pride in your life? ‘Tell ‘em!’ invites us to experience these emotions through the enticing lifestyle of Aboriginal children from Manyallaluk School in the Roper River region in the Northern Territory. Here life is full of joy as the illustrations invite us to experience bike riding, disco dancing, back flipping, singing old songs, listening to stories and language from the old people, caring for the country, riding with rangers and on quad bikes, hunting bush turkey, goanna and kangaroo with the family—and more! Both universal and particular childhood experiences capture life in this community.

The illustrations invite viewers to enjoy the landscape images of red-orange colours and the blues of waterfalls and creeks. These feature as the essential backdrop to a vibrant culture and enjoyable family life.

Karen Briggs, the illustrator, says she is inspired by her love of animals and nature and memories of holidays with her grandmother on the Cummeragunja Mission, an Aboriginal reserve situated in Yorta Yorta country on a bend in the Murray River in New South Wales, near the Victorian town of Barmah. She is a descendant of the Yorta Yorta people whose ancestral homeland radiates from the junction of the Goulburn and Murray Rivers in North East Victoria. Briggs’ illustrations for ‘Kick with My Left Foot’, published in 2014 and shortlisted for the CBCA Crichton Award in 2015, is available in this Resource.

1. Teachers’ Notes by Jemma Myors. Teachers’ Hub@harpercollins https://hcau-assets.supadu.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/18075611/Tell-Em-Teachers-Notes-1.pdf
2. Review by Sue Warren of 'Tell 'em!' https://losangzopa.wordpress.com/2020/05/31/tell-em-written-by-katrina-germein-rosemary-sullivan-with-the-children-of-manyallaluk-school-illustrated-by-karen-briggs/
3. Interview with Katrina Germain about writing for children https://www.katejfoster.com/general-blog/author-interview-katrina-germein
4. Manyallaluk School’s Facebook Page shares activities and learning experiences with both the community and families https://www.facebook.com/ManyallalukSchool/
5. Overlander TV 'Manyallaluk Aboriginal Community' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzOYUZ63LV8