Birrarung Wilam: A Story from Aboriginal Australia

Praise

This text perfectly captures the intersection of culture and science, making this an excellent text for an elementary-level unit on animal habitats, artistic portrayals, and cultural depictions of ecology. Wilam, home, takes many forms for a plethora of animals in this striking Aboriginal story.
—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

The animals are painted naturalistically, framed by tapestries of texture and pattern that contain aboriginal elements. As the river approaches the city, buildings appear, but always in the background. It’s a lovely, immersive introduction to a language, and a closely observed view of the Australian natural world.
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Kids who would normally snooze through a travelogue will find this inviting, and those already interested in ecosystems may be encouraged to similarly document their own. It’s also a book that offers many possible approaches…However you use it, it’s a dazzling literary journey. (See p. 489 for publication information.)
—Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books (starred review)

A necessary purchase, and co-written by a senior Aboriginal elder and the Yarra riverkeeper, this is one small step toward depicting a culture that is likely underrepresented in most collections.
—School Library Journal

“Me no leave it, / Yarra, my country. / There’s no mountains / for me on the Murray.” This 1874 quote from William Barak, Wurundjeri Ngurungaeta (who was a leader of the Aboriginal Australian nation of the Woiwurrung language group), opens this dynamic celebration of Australia’s Yarra River Valley…A distinct and introspective reflection on time, place, creatures, and people.
—The Horn Book