I'm grateful for Little Black Books...

As part of the community-based Indigenous publishing project known as Black Ink Press in Townsville, there's a fabulous collection of twelve colourful books all written and illustrated by kids for kids.

The collection called ‘Little Black Books’ are all created by Indigenous students and young people. With titles related to fishing, crabbing and boating it’s not hard to see what kids like to do and write about, and therefore like to read, especially in northern Qld!

I have three of the twelve titles right now: Fishing Time in the Banana Boat by Jesse Mooney is about a family going fishing and the drive to the beach reminds me of when I was a kid, when I read the dialogue: ‘Are we there yet?’

Minh Nga’an Wichan Catching Fish by Venita Korkaktain is told in Wik Mungkan and English, is a bright, brief tale about catching fish that allows kids (and those reading to and with them) to learn some Wik Mungkan language as well.

And as someone who loathes camping – I am a concrete Koori and love the city – I particularly appreciated Monty Pompey’s book Disaster Camping and the perils of getting rained out!

These are great little readers for up to five years, and the bios of each of the students who wrote the stories are just as interesting. You can buy the books individually for $8.00 or scoop the dozen for $75.00. What a fantastic gift for your littlies this Easter, or perhaps a donation to your school library or community centre. To order click here.