1. Animals
2. Art techniques
3. Children as artists
4. Children as authors
5. Climate
6. Country
7. Culture
8. Fishing
9. Glossaries and vocabularies
10. Indigenous knowledge
11. Indigenous languages
12. Seasons
13. Social life and customs
14. Sport
15. Tiwi Islands (NT SC52-15, SC52-16) 
16. Tiwi people (N20) (NT SC52-16)

‘Tiwi Seasons with Marius’ was created by senior students from Tiwi College/Alalinguwi Jarrakarlinga at the 2022 Indigenous Literacy Foundation ‘Create Initiative’ workshop in Sydney.

The story centre on Marius, a Tiwi man who loves his culture and is welcoming his friend Michael and his son Justin, who are coming to stay for a year. The book traces time by the seasons that occur. They arrive in October, Tiyari season, the hot humid period that leads into the Jumatakarri, the wet season. Throughout the reader is told about food gathering excursions, the football final (AFL is very important on the Tiwi Islands) and the cool burning carried out by the rangers during Kumunupunari or dry season from March to August. At the end of the year, the visitors, Michael and Justine, are farewelled with a traditional ceremony, a yoyi and given a pukumani pole for their dreaming Yirrikipayi (crocodile) totem.

The naïve style illustrations appear to be linocuts. They reflect the story although some of the content is not quite clear. The book has an informal conversational tone that draws you into the happenings and explanations. Tiwi language words are woven through the text and there is a glossary at the back of the book. There are two QR codes including one on the back cover that provides a reading of the story and another on the final page that provides details of the full Tiwi Islands seasonal calendar.

An interesting book that gives an insight into life on the Tiwi Islands.

1. Reading Time 6 July 2024. Bronwyn Joseph reviews ‘Tiwi Seasons with Marius’ https://readingtime.cbca.org.au/tiwi-seasons-with-marius/
2. Tiwi Land Council ‘Tiwi Seasons’ https://www.tiwilandcouncil.com/285/tiwi-seasons
3. Media.news.com.au ‘Language Fact Sheet – Marntuwunyini In Tiwi language, ‘marntuwunyini’ translates to ‘dugong’ in the Tiwi language’ Includes short piece on ‘Tiwi Seasons with Marius’ https://media.news.com.au/multimedia/2024/NED-11621/Marntuwunyini_Language_24.pdf
4. Medianet 22 November 2023. ‘First Nations students create a book in a week’ https://newshub.medianet.com.au/2023/11/first-nations-students-create-a-book-in-a-week/29287/
5. CSIRO. YouTube ‘Tiwi Islands: Indigenous seasonal calendars on Many Lands, Many Seasons https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-sxe_HlBEMg
6. Tiwi Land Council ‘Football and the Tiwis’ https://www.tiwilandcouncil.com/253/football-and-the-tiwis