National Reconciliation Week
Welcome to Lulu and Jazz Children’s Bookshop. We are excited to share our range of beautiful books exploring reconciliation for National Sorry Day (26th May), and National Reconciliation Week, beginning 27th May- 3rd June 2022, concluding with Mabo Day. The theme for this year’s Reconciliation Week is “Be Brave. Make Change.” (Reconciliation Australia).
Below are a sample of some of our wonderful books to explore
By Adam Goodes and Ellie Laing
Illustrated by David Hardy
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.
The bestselling Welcome to Our Country series aims to connect young children, parents and educators with First Nations history and culture.
By Anita Heiss
Illustrated by Samantha Campbell
Powerful and moving, Bidhi Galing (Big Rain) celebrates the Wiradyuri heroes of the Great Flood of Gundagai in 1852, told through the eyes of a young girl who is rescued from the raging floodwaters by her father.
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, the big rains came ...
This is the story of the Great Flood of Gundagai in 1852 and the Wiradyuri heroes, Yarri and Jacky Jacky, who paddled bark canoes through raging floodwaters, risking their lives to save countless others.
Anita Heiss’s powerful text, accompanied by Samantha Campbell’s evocative illustrations, is a gift of Wiradyuri culture, knowledge and language, sharing a resonant message for our times.
Edited by Shireen Morris and Damien Freeman
A collection of passionate essays from religious leaders arguing for a First Nations Voice to be enshrined in the Australian Constitution.
'Statements from the Soul sets the standard for conversations not just about the Voice, but the value and urgency of true reconciliation.' -Celina Ribeiro, The Guardian
In this ground-breaking collection of essays, diverse religious leaders and thinkers come together to advocate for the Uluru Statement from the Heart. Contributors from Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Jewish, Muslim and Sikh communities powerfully convey why a First Nations Voice to parliament is necessary not only legally and politically, but also morally. Drawing on their unique spiritual beliefs, they argue that the Uluru Statement offers a profound opportunity to heal the wrongs of the past and ensure a better future for all Australians. A rallying cry of support across religious and political divisions, Statements from the Soul shows that the Uluru Statement goes to the heart of who we are as a country and is essential to reconciliation.
With a foreword by Noel Pearson and preface by Henry Pinskier. Contributors are Sabah Rind, Wesam Charkawi, Fiona Jose, Sardar Ajmer Singh Gill, Prakruthi Mysore Gururaj, Bhikkhu Sujato, Stan Grant, Antonios Kaldas, Ralph Genende, Russell Broadbent, Karina Okotel, Kanishka Raffel, Peter Comensoli, Anthony Ekpo, David Saperstein and Rowan Williams.
By Thomas Mayo
In this updated edition of the bestselling book, Finding the Heart of the Nation, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander author Thomas Mayo gets behind the politics and legal speak to explain why the Uluru Statement from the Heart is an invitation to all Australians.
Australia is set to vote on a referendum to enshrine a First Nations voice in the constitution as a result of the 2022 federal election. In this book, Thomas focuses on the stories of First Nations People, including some new voices, looking at the truth of our past and present, and hopes for a better future. Importantly, he shares with you – the Australian public – how we all have the power to make change. The campaign for Voice Treaty Truth, starting with a referendum, is an opportunity to right some of the wrongs, give First Nations People a seat at the table, and to recognise that we are a nation with over 60,000 years of continuous culture.
Completing his writing just after the 2022 federal election, Thomas has included a new introduction and conclusion, as well as a call to action for all Australians. Now in a paperback format, this collection of stories offers hope and tells us how we, as Australians, may find our collective heart.
By Elfie Shiosaki
*Shortlisted for the 2022 Stella Prize*
*Shortlisted for the 2021 Queensland Literary Awards:Judith Wright Calanthe Award for a Poetry Collection*
Our grandmothers' stories teach us about Aboriginal women's ways of being in our many worlds. Some of the stories in this collection are held in spoken histories, others in archival material, recontextualised with living katitjin. Some are held in my imagination. They are fragments of the many stars in my grandmothers' constellations. I track my grandmothers' stars to find my bidi home.
Homecoming pieces together fragments of stories about four generations of Noongar women and explores how they navigated the changing landscapes of colonisation, protectionism, and assimilation to hold their families together.
This seminal collection of poetry, prose and historical colonial archives, tells First Nations truths of unending love for children — those that were present, those taken, those hidden and those that ultimately stood in the light.
Homecoming speaks to the intergenerational dialogue about Country, kin and culture. This elegant and extraordinary form of restorative story work amplifies Aboriginal women's voices, and enables four generations of women to speak for themselves. This sublime debut highlights the tenacity of family as well as First Nation's agency to resist, survive and renew.
By Aunty Kerry Reed-Gilbert
This second edition of The Cherry Picker's Daughter is an exquisite portrait of growing up Aboriginal on the fringes of outback towns in NSW in the mid-twentieth century. Its an important book for school libraries and classrooms, with profound insights into the extraordinary strength, resilience and ingenuity of Aboriginal families to overcome extreme poverty, persecution, racism and cultural genocide.
The strength of family ties in Aboriginal communities is clearly evident when three-month-old Kerry and her brother lost both parents. Her father, Kevin Gilbert — later to become a famous activist and artist — killed their mother and was jailed for many years. Her father's sister, whom she always called 'Mummy', raised Kerry and her brother, along with her own children and others within the extended family. The book is a tribute to this truly remarkable woman, who not only loved them selflessly and worked tirelessly to support them, but also managed to keep them from being taken/'stolen' by the 'Welfare'.
Told in the child's voice and in the vernacular of her Mob, activist, artist, poet and author, Aunty Kerry, tells her story of love and loss, of dispossession and repeated dislocation growing up in corrugated tin huts, tents and run-down train carriages, of helping her family earn 'an honest living' through fruit picking, and the impact of life as an Aboriginal state ward living under the terror of Protection Laws.
By Anne Kerr
Illustrated by Anne Kerr
Cover art by Marda Pitt
An outstanding teaching tool intended to inform and teach young children about a significant aspect of Australian history in order to build a platform where understanding, appreciation and respect for All People can be achieved.
By Gregg Dreise
Illustrated by Gregg Dreise
All that I’m wishing, Is that you take a moment to listen... A slam poetry persuasive and powerful vision of unity from award-winning First Nations creator Gregg Dreise.
Passionate, yet peaceful, Common Wealth is a compelling plea for a future of truth, togetherness and respect for our nation’s deep history.
A picture book for mature readers.
From multi award-winning author and artist, Gregg Dreise - a proud descendant of the Kamilaroi and Euahlayi people.
Valuable resource for discussion about the importance of moving forward together as a nation, with truth and respect for our history and Traditional Custodians. Timely themes for National Sorry Day and NAIDOC Week.
Themes: Indigenous history; Australian history; Australia Day; Australian anthem; unity; community. Contains some confronting images.
By Cassie Leatham
Illustrated by Sue Lawson
Meet Mr Beaky!
He has an important message about what it means to be an Aboriginal person in Australia.
Mr Beaky is blue and white, not green and yellow, but he is still a native bird.
By Aunty Fay Muir and Sue Lawson
'Each protest has been a stepping stone to the next battle...'
From the very first protest of January 26th as a Day of Mourning in 1938, to the Pilbara Strike of 1946, to the struggle for the right to vote and be counted; the fight for justice for First Nations people takes many forms.
Always Was, Always Will Be takes a closer look at some of the iconic First Peoples protest movements of the last 200 years, celebrating the strength, wisdom, and bravery of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people defending their land and asserting their right to self-determination through history.