1. Animal tracks
2. Animals
3. Art motifs
4. Bilingual books
5. Board books
6. Kangaroos
7. Missing children
8. Mothers
9. Parent and child
10. Visual literacy

All parents are fearful when they cannot locate their young child. Here a mother kangaroo (marlu) is searching for her little kangaroo (minya marlu). The text employs a repetitive question, after greeting each new native animal by name. For example here is an emu, ‘Hello garliya, have you seen my minya marlu?’ The animal then directs her to another animal. This style continues until the mother finds her baby whose excuse is a slightly dismissive, ‘Sorry, Mum, I’ve been playing with my mob’ where we a see a young joey surrounded by other baby kangaroos.

The artwork works well in moving the mother’s search forward with the inclusion of animal tracks while the background changes as the day progresses from an early morning light to an evening twilight glow creating a sense of the mother’s growing anxiety. At the end of the book is an illustrated glossary of the Wirangu animal words used.

‘Where’s my Minya Marlu? was created by 18-year-old Mia Speed, a Wirangu woman, as part of a school research project with the aim of producing a Wirangu language resource for children in her community, the western coastal region of South Australia. The text is mainly in English but uses the Wirangu language words for the names of the animals in the story

1. Reading Time 6 December 2024. Lynne Babbage reviews ‘Where’s my Minya Marlu?’ By Mia Speed https://readingtime.com.au/wheres-my-minya-marlu/
2. Bedrock May 2025. ‘Love for Language’ – ‘Where’s my Minya Marlu?’ by Mia Speed https://publications.ieu.asn.au/bedrock-219/article-2/love-language/
3. SACE project to published author: Mia Speed’s inspiring Indigenous storytelling journey https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bKpALOl2e8
4. ABC News Eyre Peninsula (SA) ‘Author Mia Speed’s children’s picture book connects readers with Wirangu language and culture.’ https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-12-05/mia-speed-first-nations-childrens-language-book-wirangu-sa/104666450
5. SBS/NITV 26 November 2024. ‘Where’s my Minya Marlu? An 18-year-old Wirangu woman has written a children’s book in language.’ https://www.sbs.com.au/nitv/article/wheres-my-minya-marlu-an-18-year-old-wirangu-woman-has-written-a-childrens-book-in-langua/lhtrrzr7d