1. Bushfires
2. Country
3. Ecology
4. Environmental protection
5. Habitat
6. Indigenous knowledge
7. Landscapes
8. Survival
9. Trees

Uncle Kuu takes young people out on Country around Australia to meet Tree Elders. Emphasising the lore of Aboriginal people, his message is to look after trees without killing them. The front endpaper signals the range of landscapes depicted with a koala sitting under a stand of eucalypts looking across at families of boabs and palms.

The text describes Uncle Kuu’s actions and reactions in simple sentences. Additional information and calls to action are placed within painted bubbles on the pages, in imitation of sound bites. These are easily absorbed by the solo reader but could provide stopping points for the educator to invite discussion and sharing of personal experiences.

Uncle Kuu and the kids are painted in realistic poses, dressed in contrast to the vibrant variance of browns and greens of the flourishing trees. The stark paintings of land clearing and uncontrolled bushfires – characterised by Steffensen as people disobeying the lore of the land - then have maximum impact. The consequences of mismanagement are made clear, but the book ends hopefully with Uncle Kuu emphasising planting for the future as ‘hard work’ needed to ‘put the trees back’. Uncle Kuu finishes the day by singing the children a song: the words and music are appended, with the book’s QR code providing a connection to the music video.

Victor Steffensen is an Indigenous writer, filmmaker, musician and consultant applying traditional knowledge values in a contemporary context, through workshops and artistic projects. He is a descendant of the Tagalaka people through his mother’s connections from the Gulf Country of north Queensland. Sandra Steffensen is a ceramic artist who has also illustrated Victor’s previous book ‘Looking After Country with Fire’.

1. Victor Steffensen author Information https://hardiegrant.com/au/publishing/bookfinder/author/victor-steffensen
2. Sandra Steffensen illustrator information https://storyboxhub.com/authors-and-illustrators/sandra-steffensen
3. ABC The Drum 13 Dec 2023 Interview with Victor Steffensen who reads a few pages of his book and explains why he created ‘The Trees’ https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1174036730667447
4. The Book Muse 13 Dec 2023 review by Ashleigh Meikle of ‘The Trees : Learning Tree Knowledge with Uncle Kuu’ https://ashleighmeikle.com.au/2023/12/13/the-trees-learning-tree-knowledge-with-uncle-kuu-by-victor-steffensen-illustrated-by-sandra-steffenson/
5. Gladys Milroy and Jill Milroy, School of Indigenous Studies, ‘Different Ways of Knowing: Trees Are Our Families Too’, a chapter from ‘Heartsick for Country: Stories of Love, Spirit and Creation’, Fremantle Press, 2008 https://api.research-repository.uwa.edu.au/ws/portalfiles/portal/1538164/5366_PID5366.pdf
6. Edith Cowan University, The Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet Guidelines for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Terminology https://healthinfonet.ecu.edu.au/healthinfonet/getContent.php?linkid=675466&title=The+Australian+Indigenous+HealthInfoNet+guidelines+for+Aboriginal+and+Torres+Strait+Islander+terminology&contentid=44676_1
7. Australian Bureau of Statistics, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander-peoples