Ebony Froome (text) and Leanne Zilm (illustrator) Djinang Bonar: Seeing Seasons, Fremantle Press, August 2024, 32 pp., RRP $24.99 (hbk), ISBN 9781760994211
This handsomely produced book follows the six seasons of Noongar culture. The Noongar are the First People of the south-west of Western Australia, including the Perth area.
The text is a mix of Noongar and English with a glossary at the back for translation. The glossary though is not essential, for the illustrations perfectly match the Noongar vocabulary as it emerges. We can see that the mangatj is a banksia bush, the koomool a possum, and the maamong a whale.
Each season is given its Noongar name without a translation because they are unique to this area and this language, and thus not truly translatable. Our English-language season would only every be rough approximations..
This is a gentle and beautiful introduction to an indigenous language with full colour double page illustrations and clear minimal black-inked text. There is in addition a QR code for linking to a reading of the text in language, available at the publisher’s website.
Highly recommended for five to ten years olds, and of course beyond.
Reviewed by Kevin Brophy
