magabala books – Aussie Reviews

Dark Emu Black Seeds: Agriculture of Accident? by Bruce Pascoe

If we look at the evidence presented to us by the explorers and explain to our children that Aboriginal people did build houses, did build dams, did sow, irrigate and till the land, did alter the course of rivers, did sew their clothes and did construct a system of pan-continental government that generated peace and prosperity, then it is likely we will admire and love our land all the more.

For too long Australian children and adults have been told that Aboriginal people were hunter-gatherers who collected food by chance and lived nomadic lifestyles. If this is the case, then why is there so much evidence of organised agriculture, dams, houses, towns? And what can we learn from this past that will help modern Australia with challenges including those faced in contemporary food production?

Dark Emu: Black Seeds provides an in-depth insight into the agricultural and social practices of Aboriginal people prior to European settlement, and the impact which that settlement had on those practices. With evidence including historical documents, photographs and anecdote, as well as discussion of its implication, this is an intriguing read, which uses accessible language which the lay person can understand, though will also be of interest to scholars.

Dark Emu – Black Seeds: Agriculture or Accident?, by Bruce Pascoe
Magabala Books, 2014
ISBN 978192214243

Available from good bookstores or online.

Deadly D and Justice Jones: Making the Team by Scott Prince and Dave Hartley

The TV is really loud. I can’t take my eyes off it. North Queensland are winning by four points but The Bulldogs are about to score. Mum is saying something to me but I can’t hear her. The commentator is shouting, ‘Bulldogs have the ball with a minute to go!’

‘Barba passes to Ennis, Ennis to Morris, Morris finds space out wide, he steps one, steps another, he’s in the open …’ CLICK. Mum turns off the TV.

‘Aye, why’d you do that? Mum! Bulldogs were about to score!’ I say springing off the couch.

‘We’re leaving, son,’ Mum says.

‘No way! Are you gammin’?’ Morris scoring for the Bulldogs is now a distant memory.

‘Barba passes to Ennis, Ennis to Morris, Morris finds space out wide, he steps one, steps another, he’s in the open …’ CLICK. Mum turns off the TV.

‘Aye, why’d you do that? Mum! Bulldogs were about to score!’ I say springing off the couch.

‘We’re leaving, son,’ Mum says.

‘No way! Are you gammin’?’ Morris scoring for the Bulldogs is now a distant memory.

Eleven-year-old Dylan is not happy about moving to Brisbane from his home in Mt Isa, but it’s happening anyway. In Mt Isa, he could keep the secret of what happens when he gets angry. But he settles quickly at his new school in Brisbane, despite a run-in with the local bully Jared. He makes friends with Justice Jones and begins to relax. Things are looking good when the whole class sets out on an excursion to watch the Brisbane Broncos rugby team train. Then Justice attracts the attention of Jared and his cronies and Dylan gets angry. When Dylan gets angry, he transforms into a powerful, fully-grown man, which terrifies him. But this time is different. This time, as he tries to hide, he discovers that the strength and power that scare him are exactly the skills that the Broncos are looking for. With the help (sometimes) of his friend, he is soon training with the NFL club.

Deadly D and Justice Jones: Making the Team is co-written by a former rugby star and a teacher and is the first of a planned series. It introduces Dylan (Deadly D) an indigenous Australian and Justice, with Islander heritage. They are at the end of primary school, sports mad and on the brink of adolescence. It’s almost possible to smell the hormone surge as Dylan transforms to Deadly D. Prince and Hartley celebrate the powerful and positive role sport can have in the lives of young adolescents in this rugby-meets-magic tale. Readers will empathise with Dylan as he learns about this new body, and chuckle at the enthusiastic excesses of his mate Justice. Sports fans will revel in the inside look at life in a NFL rugby team. Chapters are short, include illustrations from Dave Hartley and chapter headings. ‘Deadly D and Justice Jones’ is ideal for upper-primary sports-mad, can’t-sit-still boys and older reluctant readers.

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Deadly D and Justice Jones: Making the Team, Scott Prince & Dave Hartley Magabala Books 2013 ISBN: 9781922142184

review by Claire Saxby, Children’s author and bookseller

www.clairesaxby.com

My Home Broome, by Tamzyne Richardson & Bronwyn Houston

I live in a place where the sand is smooth and
turtles nest on Cable beach.
I live in a place where the sun sets over the Indian Ocean.
My home Broome.

When she was eight years old, Tamzyne Richardson wrote a poem about Broome and all the things that she loved about her home town. Local artist Bronwyn Houston took the poem and developed a community project whereby she worked with young local artists to illustrate Tamzyne’s poem. The result is a beautiful picture book which is alive with all the magic of Broome.

Each spread includes one stanza of the poem, brought to life by a scene made up of painted backgrounds and individual components contributed by various of the young artists to create a pleasing, eclectic whole. There are also facts about different aspects of Broome on every page. A really wonderful feature is the focus on the multicultural society in Broome and, particularly, the culture of the Yawuru Aboriginal people, the traditional owners of the area.

My Home Broome is both educational and entertaining.

My Home Broome, by Tamzyne Richardson & Bronwyn Houston, with Friends
Magabala Books, 2012
ISBN 9781921248467

Available in good bookstores and online.

Two Mates by Melanie Prewett ill Maggie Prewett

My name is Jack and I live in Broome, a small town in the Kimberley in the far north of Western Australia.
I have a good mate called Raf and we’ve lived in Broom since we were babies.
Raff and I have been mates for a long time.

My name is Jack and I live in Broome, a small town in the Kimberley in the far north of Western Australia.

I have a good mate called Raf and we’ve lived in Broom since we were babies.

Raff and I have been mates for a long time.

Mates Jack and Raf spend much of their time together. They have adventures by themselves and with various family members, trying everything that is on offer, from fishing to hunting, from quad-bike riding to listening to buskers at the market. They swim, search for crabs, collect tadpoles and frogs. <a href=”http://www.fishpond.com.au/product_info.php?ref=271&id=9781921248450&affiliate_banner_id=1″ target=”_blank”>Two Mates</a> is presented as a fiction picture book but is the illustrated true story of these two boys. Each spread has a main image occupying half the spread, and another vignette accompanying the text. There are photos of the real boys and their families at the end of the story.

Jack narrates this story about his friendship with Raf. As he describes their friendship and the things they do, he is also describing life in and around Broome. It’s a rich and full life in an amazing environment that many readers will be unfamiliar with. These boys explore their worlds with an enthusiasm that infectious. Their backgrounds are different, but each embraces the world of the other. <a href=”http://www.fishpond.com.au/product_info.php?ref=271&id=9781921248450&affiliate_banner_id=1″ target=”_blank”>Two Mates</a> is written by Jack’s mother and illustrated by his grandmother. This is a wonderful celebration of life, and reminds us all that life is good. Recommended for junior- to middle-primary readers.

<a href=”http://www.fishpond.com.au/product_info.php?ref=271&id=9781921248450&affiliate_banner_id=1″ target=”_blank”>Two Mates</a>, Melanie Prewett ill Maggie Prewett Magabala Books 2012 ISBN: 9781921248450

review by Claire Saxby, Children’s Author

www.clairesaxby.com

Marngrook – The Long-ago story of Aussie Rules by Titta Secombe ill Grace Fielding

In the bush, at the foot of the Grampians, lived people from the Djab-Wurrung and Jardwadjali clans.

This was their traditional country and they had lived in the area for thousands of years.

In the bush, at the foot of the Grampians, lived people from the Djab-Wurrung and Jardwadjali clans.

This was their traditional country and they had lived in the area for thousands of years.

A father is hunting when he sees a possum. Not only will the family have dinner, but Wawi will make a ball for his son to play with. He uses the skin, some kangaroo sinew and some emu feathers. And so the first football, shaped like an emu egg, is made. Wawi’s son loves to play with the ball, so much so that one day he wanders too far from camp and cannot find his way home. The bush at night is filled with unfamiliar sounds and shapes, just as his mother had warned him. Illustrations mix traditional Aboriginal painting styles with more representational images.

Marngrook is a traditional tale about the ball that went on to be used in developing Australian Rules football. It shares not only the invention of the ball, but something of the traditional life of a particular family group. There are references to other traditional stories, hunting tools, cooking methods and family roles. The reader can follows the main narrative thread and absorb so many other details, almost incidentally. Recommended for junior- to mid-primary readers.

Marngrook: The Long-ago Story of Aussie Rules, Titta Secombe ill Grace Fielding Magabala Books 2012 ISBN: 9781921248443

review by Claire Saxby, Children’s Author

www.clairesaxby.com

Dead Man's Gold, by Michael Torres

The sun was rising when Billy Stone left his family sleeping in their swags and set of for Black Hills Station. The station was getting ready for a cattle muster, and Bill was the best drover around. It was a clear morning, and the chatter of birds filled the air.

It’s an ordinary day for Billy when he sets out to Black Hills Station for the upcoming cattle muster. He’s a skilled drover and comfortable making his way through this challenging landscape. But this trip is going to be extraordinary, even before he reaches the station. When he stops at a waterhole to fill his water bag, Billy discovers a silver gun. He buries the bones he finds with the gun and determines to discover how they came to be there. There are still prospectors around and Billy learns about the hold that gold has over these men, past and present. Gentle watercolour images add to the wonder and mystery of this country.

Dead Man’s Gold is an outback story, an adventure, a treasure hunt, all rolled into one. It’s also a story about doing the right thing. Billy is a hero in the mould of old Western stories. He’s travelling alone, and overcomes every setback man or nature throws at him. His moral core is strong, although he’s not above a little mischief. He’s open, honest and very skilful. But he’s also prepared to learn from an old timer who shares his gold-mining secrets. Boys particularly will respond to this laid-back tale of adventure and mystery. Stories of the skills of Aboriginal stockmen are legend around campfires and on stations. Dead Man’s Gold brings one of these stories to a broader audience. Recommended for mid-primary readers.

Dead Man’s Gold, Michael Torres ill Sharyn Egan
Magabala Books 2010
ISBN: 9781921248191

review by Claire Saxby, Children’s Author
www.clairesaxby.com

This book can be purchased online from Fishpond. Buying through this link supports Aussiereviews.

Dabu – The Baby Dugong, by Selena Solomon

Reviewed by Tash Hughes

Although not a happy story, this book is a vivid recounting of a baby dugong’s growth to adulthood.

Dabu is born and finds comfort in his mother’s presence. His mother teaches him survival means and the strength of family, as Dugongs travel in great family herds.

Each page is predominantly blue, with clear pictures to enhance the story. The first half of the text is in English, followed by a repetition of the story in Kala Lagaw Ya. This language is the traditional language of the Western Torres Strait and is slowly becoming extinct.

The Dugong, or sea cow, is also facing extinction. Traditionally, hunting the dugong was dangerous but very prestigious, and young men still hunt them with traditional methods today.

As Dabu grows, he learns about the dangers of mankind and actually sees his mother speared by men. She cries, tells Dabu to get away, and swims for her life. Dabu stays with his mother until the end, before finding his family again and realising he is no longer afraid of the ocean.

Although this story could happen anywhere tropical, Solomon set it in the Western Group of Torres Strait Islands. The Dugong was named, via an anagram, after Badu Island.

The book includes a full list of Kala Lagaw Ya words used in the story with an English translation beside each word.

Dabu – The Baby Dugong (kazi dhangal), by Selena Solomon, Illustrated by Dennis Nona, Translated by Ephraim Bani Magabala Books, 1992