Cooee Mittigar: A Story on Darug Songlines

By Jasmine Seymour
Illustrated by Leanne Mulgo Watson

*Shortlisted for the Prime Minister's Literary Awards 2020: Children's Literature*

*Shortlisted for the SPN Book of the Year Award 2020*

*Longlisted for the CBCA 2020 Eve Pownall Award for Information Books*

*Longlisted for the 2020 ABIA Small Publishers' Children's Book of the Year*

'Warami mittigar. Hello friend.
We welcome you to Darug Country.'

Cooee Mittigar, meaning Come Here Friend, is an invitation to yana (walk), on Darug Country. In this stunning picture book, Darug creators Jasmine Seymour and Leanne Mulgo Watson tell a story on Darug Songlines, introducing children and adults-alike to Darug Nura (Country) and language.

Greeted by Mulgo, the black swan, readers are welcomed to Nura. Journeying through the seasons, Mulgo describes the land, skyscape, birds, animals and totems. It is a gentle guide to how Darug people read the seasons, knowing when it is time to hunt and time to rest. It is also an appeal to remember, offering new ways of seeing and reading the lands of the surrounding Sydney region.

With Darug language interspersed with English and an extensive glossary throughout, Cooee Mittigar presents an important tool for learning, told as a tender story with exquisite illustrations. It is Jasmine and Leanne's wish that with this book, everyone will know that the Darug mob are still here and still strong.

Cooee mittigar. Tread softly on our lands.
Know that this dreaming was here. Is still here.
Will be forever.

Teachers' Notes available here