FIRST NATIONS PICTURE BOOKS

This page is a list of First Nations picture books available in our library along with teacher notes and resources

For ease of use, the list has been divided into Fiction and Non Fiction
Fiction
IDJHIL / HELEN BELL
SUMMARY
​Set in Western Australia in the 1940s, it tells of Idjhil, who is born into an Aboriginal family group that is attempting to maintain its traditional Nyungar lifestyle within increasingly restrictive parameters. But at age nine the boy is taken from his family in accordance with the official government policy of the time.
RESOURCES
​No resources currently available.
F BEL
NEDINGAR / ISOBEL BEVIS
SUMMARY
A young child wants to meet their Ancestors. They want to know them, and learn from them and follow their ways. Their mother gently explains that they have already met their Ancestors, yesterday, today and tomorrow, and that they are everywhere in Country, walking close behind them.
RESOURCES
​F BEV
SAY YES / JENNIFER CASTLES
SUMMARY
A story about how the events surrounding the historic 1967 Australian Referendum played out in the everyday lives of two young girls. Once there were two little girls who were best friends. They did everything together. As they got older they weren't allowed to do the same things anymore. Because they looked different. Because of the law. This is a story about the landmark 1967 Referendum, the two women who came together to change the law -- and how the Australian people said YES.
RESOURCES
​F CAS
THE HEARTBEAT OF THE LAND / CATHY FREEMAN
SUMMARY
Cathy ran barefoot every day across the great ancient land, as her people had done for sixty thousand years before. And when she ran, she could hear the heartbeat of the land. Ba Boom Ba Boom Ba Boom... Then one day, Cathy hears a cry. She answers this cry and, with one small step at a time, the seeds of change are planted.
RESOURCES
​F FRE
BIG RAIN COMING / KATRINA GERMEIN
SUMMARY
A lyrical story about waiting for the rain to come to an isolated Aboriginal community. Tension in the community builds as the rain clouds thicken and grow dark. Everybody waits. When will the rain come?
RESOURCES
​F GER
BACK ON COUNTRY / ADAM GOODES
SUMMARY
A joyful story about the power of reconnecting to family, culture and Country. 
It's Lucy and David's first time back on Country.
They meet their cousins and Elders, and see special places, learn local language words and hear stories as old as time.

Join them to feel the strength that comes from being back on Country.
RESOURCES
​F GOO
CEREMONY / ADAM GOODES
SUMMARY
Joyful and full of fun, Ceremony invites you to celebrate the rich traditions of dance, family, community and caring for Country from the world's oldest continuous culture.
RESOURCES
F GOO
WALK WITH US / ADAM GOODES
SUMMARY
Harvey and Mum are heading to their favourite park for a walk on Cammeraygal land.
'Time to awaken the ancestors,' says Uncle Boris.'Every time we sing or acknowledge Country, the ancestors are listening.'
What do you know about the Country where you live?

Inspired by the Uluru Statement from the Heart, Walk With Us is an invitation to go on a journey of learning and appreciation – with family, with friends, and with our nation – together.
RESOURCES
F GOO
BIDHI GALING / ANITA HEISS
SUMMARY
Wagadhaany grew up near the Marrambidya Bila. She loved dancing in the rain and listening to her father, Yarri, tell her stories about life on Wiradyuri ngurambang. When white people started building on the floodplains, Yarri was worried. He knew the power of the bila and tried to warn the strangers, but they would not listen. Years later, when the big rains came, Yarri and his brother, Jacky Jacky, jumped into their bark canoes and paddled through raging floodwaters, risking their lives to save countless others.
RESOURCES
F HEI
YOU AND ME: OUR PLACE / LEONIE NORRINGTON
SUMMARY
In this picture book, old Uncle Tobias goes fishing every morning, helped by two young boys aged around seven or eight years of age. Using traditional Aboriginal techniques, they catch a range of sea creatures, including skinnyfish and stingrays. When it rains, they take shelter under a bridge with a group of Indigenous ‘long-grass’ people, who sleep out on the foreshore reserves on Darwin’s urban fringe. The boys listen to Uncle Tobias’ stories of times past and later join a multicultural crowd on the beach. While the two boys are happy to move between the two worlds, Uncle Tobias stays away.
RESOURCES
F NOR
STOLEN GIRL / TRINA SAFFIOTI
SUMMARY
Stolen Girl is a fictionalised account of the now universally known story of the Stolen Generation and tells of an Aboriginal girl taken from her family and sent to a children's home. Each night she sings, and dreams of her mother and the life they once shared - of sitting on the verandah of their corrugated-iron home, cooking damper and hunting goanna. But each morning she is woken by the bell to the harsh reality of the children's home, until finally one day she puts into action her carefully crafted plan - unlocking the door and taking her first step back toward home.
RESOURCES
F SAF
NANA'S LAND / DELPHINE SARAGO-KENDRICK
SUMMARY
Follows the adventures of two teenages who live with their extended family in the lower Yidinji region of Queensland. The pair learn the traditional ways of life and listen to their nana's stories about her land in the rainforests. Their first test of adulthood is to find their way to this land using the skills they have been taught
RESOURCES
No resources currently available.
F SAR
THE LAND RECALLS YOU / KIRI SAUNDERS
SUMMARY
Honouring the Stolen Generations, and all who've been taken, The Land Recalls You is a powerful story of returning, written with love and reverence.
RESOURCES
F SAU
OUR DREAMING / KIRI SAUNDERS
SUMMARY
Goodjagah, little one, walk with me ... I want to tell you our Dreaming as the Elders told it to me. Award-winning storytellers, Gunai woman Kirli Saunders and Bigambul man Dub Leffler explore a deep love and respect for Country and all her spirits ... past, present and beyond.
RESOURCES
F SAU
OPEN YOUR HEART TO COUNTRY / JASMINE SEYMOUR
SUMMARY
Tom Tom is an engaging contemporary story that traces a day in the life of a small boy living in a typical Aboriginal community in the Top End of the Northern Territory. It follows the adventures of Tom Tom as he goes to preschool, eats lunch with Granny Annie in the bottom camp, swims in the Lemonade Springs in the afternoon and spends the night with Granny May and grandfather Jo in the top camp.
RESOURCES
F SUL
TOM TOM / ROSEMARY SULLIVAN
SUMMARY
Tom Tom is an engaging contemporary story that traces a day in the life of a small boy living in a typical Aboriginal community in the Top End of the Northern Territory. It follows the adventures of Tom Tom as he goes to preschool, eats lunch with Granny Annie in the bottom camp, swims in the Lemonade Springs in the afternoon and spends the night with Granny May and grandfather Jo in the top camp.
RESOURCES
F SUL
SORRY DAY / CORAL VASS
SUMMARY
Long ago and not so long ago, the children were taken away, their sorrow echoing across the land. But today there is hope. Today is special. The crowd hums with excitement. Maggie and her mother wait, and then they hear the words: 'To the mothers and the fathers, the brothers and the sisters, we say sorry!' Sorry Day acknowledges the past and shows willingness to make things right.​
RESOURCES
F VAS
Non Fiction
GURRIL: STORM BIRD / TREVOR FOURMILE
SUMMARY
Gurril, Storm Bird is a Gimuy Walubara (pronounced ghee-moy-wah-la-burra) Yidinji traditional story that helps to explain the cultural beliefs held by the Yidinji First Nations People of Cairns. The Gimuy Walubarra are the traditional custodians of Cairns and the surrounding regions. This story has been told orally by many generations over thousands of years and is intrinsic to the Yidinji culture, both past and present. The call of the storm bird helps the Yidinji people prepare for the arrival of rain or the wet season. During the dry season the Gimuy Walubara people would dance and mimic the storm bird to bring in the rain.
RESOURCES
​​No resources currently available.
298 FOU
THE RAINBOW SERPENT / DICK ROUGHSEY
SUMMARY
The story of Goorialla, the Rainbow Serpent, who shaped the mountains and rivers, and made people turn into birds, animals and plants.
RESOURCES
​​No resources currently available.
298 HOU
WILAM / AUNTY JOY MURPHY
SUMMARY
In this picture book the indigenous and geographical story of Melbourne's beautiful Yarra River, from its source to its mouth; from its pre-history to the present day. An ode to Australian rivers, the flora and fauna that live on them, and the function they perform as a part of modern day life. Wilam brings Aboriginal life, culture and language right in to the heart of the city.
RESOURCES
305.89 HOO
IN MY BLOOD IT RUNS / DUJUAN HOOSAN
SUMMARY
This is the story of Dujuan Hoosan, a ten-year-old Arrernte/Garawa boy. A wise, funny, cheeky boy. A healer. Out in the bush, his healing power (Ngangkere) is calm and straight. But in town, it's wobbly and wild, like a snake. He's in trouble at school, and with the police. He thinks there's something wrong with him. Dujuan's family knows what to do: they send him out bush, to learn the ways of old people, and the history that runs straight into all Aboriginal people. So he can be pround of himself.​
RESOURCES
305.89 HOO
SOMEBODY'S LAND / ADAM GOODES
SUMMARY
For thousands and thousands of years, Aboriginal people lived in the land we call Australia. The land was where people built their homes, played in the sun, and sat together to tell stories. When the white people came, they called the land Terra Nullius. They said it was nobody's land. But it was somebody's land. Somebody's land is an invitation to connect with First Nations culture, to acknowledge the hurt of the past, and to join together as one community with a precious shared history as old as time.
RESOURCES
305.899 HAR
FINDING OUR HEART / THOMAS MAYOR
SUMMARY
Author Thomas Mayor's journey around Australia with the Uluru Statement has been a moving experience. In particular, when he visited schools he was inspired by the children he spoke with. Unlike past generations, Australian children today are learning Indigenous languages, seasons and the truth of this country's history. Some children he met even knew more about the Australian Constitution than most adults do! The expression 'through a child's eyes' is put into practice in the pages of this picture book for 5- to 10-year-olds. Thomas hopes that by talking to the guardians of future Australian generations, perhaps we can all accept what First Nations have proposed in the words of the Uluru Statement
RESOURCES
305.899 MAY
STORY DOCTORS / BOORI MONTY PRYOR
SUMMARY
From the very first stories and art, to dance, language, and connection with the land, Boori offers a rich account of Australia's true history. An illustrated celebration of the power of storytelling to unite us, how nature connects us, and the truth that the medicine needed for healing lies within us all.
RESOURCES
305.899 PRY
FOR 60,000 YEARS / MARLEE SILVA
SUMMARY
This is an empowering picture book celebrating truth and the strength of Australia's First Nations community.

For 60,000 years, as sure as the sun rises and rests, our people have thrived and survived. Originally penned as a poetic response to January 26th, this is an empowering story of truth, strength and community​
RESOURCES
305.899 SIL
COME TOGETHER / ISAIAH FIREBRACE
SUMMARY
In this essential book; Isaiah; a Yorta Yorta and Gunditjmara man; establishes a foundation of First Nations knowledge with 20 key topics. Alongside bright and contemporary illustrations by Mununjali and Fijian artist Jaelyn Biumaiwai; Isaiah connects us to each topic through his own personal story and culture; from the importance of Elders to the Dreaming.
RESOURCES
305.89915 FIR
WELCOME TO COUNTRY / AUNTY JOY MURPHY
SUMMARY
Welcome to the traditional lands of the Wurundjeri People. We are part of this land and the land is part of us. This is where we come from. Wominjeka Wurundjeri balluk yearmenn koondee bik. Welcome to Country.
RESOURCES
305.89915 MUR
FREEDOM DAY / ROSIE SMILER
SUMMARY
In 1966, more than two hundred courageous Aboriginal people walked off the Wave Hill Cattle Station in the Northern Territory. Led by Vincent Lingiari, these stockmen and their families were walking together to fight for equal pay and land rights. 
RESOURCES
323.119915 SMI
SEASONS / AUNTY MUNYA ANDREWS
SUMMARY
Have you ever been excited for the first day of summer, only to be disappointed when it arrives cold and rainy? For First Nations People, the seasons don’t change when the calendar does. Instead, we can look for changes in plants, animals, water, weather and the stars to mark the start of a new season.
 
Aunty Munya explains how there are six seasons on her Country. Mankal is the rainy season, bringing strong winds from the ocean, while Barrgan is the season when bush fruits are most plentiful.
RESOURCES
No resources currently available.
508.2 AND
WALKING WITH THE SEASONS IN KAKADU / DIANE LUCAS
SUMMARY
Join Diane Lucas and Ken Searle as they walk through the bush of Northern Australia. Follow the seasonal calendar of the Gundjeihmi-speaking people of Kakadu. Feel the changes each season brings to the plants, animals, insects and birds of this rich and inspiring land.​​
RESOURCES
508.94295 LUC
LOOKING AFTER COUNTRY WITH FIRE / VICTOR STEFFENSEN
SUMMARY
Join Uncle Kuu as he takes us out on Country and explains cultural burning. A timely story of understanding Australia's ecosystems through Indigenous fire management, and a respectful way forward for future generations to help manage our landscapes. ​
RESOURCES
577.2 STE
THE TREES / VICTOR STEFFENSEN
SUMMARY
Looking after the trees is important for keeping Country happy and healthy. First Nations people have cared for the trees on Country for thousands of years. In return, the trees look after the people and provide them with gifts of seeds, flowers, wood and more. This creates balance between giving and taking from the land. The trees is a powerful and timely story to help future generations manage our landscapes and ensure that they thrive.
RESOURCES
​No resources currently available.
582.160994 STE
COLOURS OF AUSTRALIA / BRONWYN BANCROFT
SUMMARY
Deep love of country inspires Bronwyn Bancroft's poetry and the richly layered hues of Colours of Australia. Each line speaks a different voice, each image stirs a different mood, and all combine to evoke the miracle of colour with which we are surrounded.
RESOURCES
759.994 BAN
SHAPES OF AUSTRALIA / BRONWYN BANCROFT
SUMMARY
From boulders to bee hives, from mountains to coral, Bronwyn Bancroft explores the shapes that form our land.
RESOURCES
No resources currently available.​​​
759.994 BAN
CATHY FREEMAN: BORN TO RUN / CATHY FREEMAN
SUMMARY
As a little girl, Cathy Freeman had only had one dream - to win a gold medal at the Olympics. At twenty-seven years old, that dream came true. At the Sydney 2000 Games, she crossed the finish line, won a gold medal for Australia and became a national hero. How did she go from being a little girl who loved to run to an inspiration to people around the world? Cathy tells her story about where self belief, hard work and the power of a loving family can take you. ​
RESOURCES
796.42 FRE
TOOK THE CHILDREN AWAY / ARCHIE ROACH
SUMMARY
Set in the Kimberley region in north-west Australia, this is the true story of a young Aboriginal man who, along with his people, suffered injustice and imprisonment. To the settlers, he was an outlaw to be hunted. To the Bunuba, he was a courageous defender of his country, taking part in ambushes and hiding out in his territory.
RESOURCES
A828 ROA
JANDAMARRA / MARK GREENWOOD
SUMMARY
Took the Children Away is a moving indictment of the treatment of indigenous children from the 'Stolen Generation' and a song which 'struck a chord' not only among the wider Aboriginal community, but also nationally.
RESOURCES
994.1403 JAN