Yakanarra Songbook: About our place in Walmajarri and English

Description

There are 14 songs in this fabulous book, ten in Walmajarri language and four in English, all beautifully illustrated by the kids from the Yakanarra Community School. These are songs about how the Walmajarri came to Yakanarra and their special places: songs about hunting, fishing and collecting bush food; songs about the animals and birds, and the sounds that they make; and much much more. The songs were written to help the kids at Yakanarra speak Walmajarri. But given that they are intended to be sung to the tunes of well known classics, this is a book to be enjoyed by everyone, regardless of age or language.

Jessie Wamarla Moora and Mary Purnjurr Vanbee are elders of the Yakanarra community and teachers at the Yakanarra Community School. Alison Lester is an Ambassador with the Indigenous Literacy Foundation, a Children's Laureate, and an award-winning author/illustrator of numerous books, including Magic Beach, Are We There Yet? and Noni the Pony. Chris Aitken is a singer songwriter, who, over the past 15 years, has gathered over 800 songs written and sung by Australian school children, many from remote Indigenous communities around Australia.