Natashia Curtin, Just Like You, Walker Books Australia, August 2024, 40 pp., RRP $24.99 (hbk), ISBN 9781760658069
This picture book is a dual-narrative mini-memoir about the creator Natashia Curtin’s time growing up in a remote township in the Northern Territory’s Arnhem Land. In this simple story, a mother recalls her childhood to her little boy. While the words just like you are repeated to show the similarities of experience, the pictures show the differences. For example, I liked playing games with my friends is depicted as the boy playing soccer, while the girl (the mother) plays with a tennis ball and tin cans with her Aboriginal friends.
The words have been translated into Gapapuynu by Judy Nalambirra. Gapapuynu is one of about six languages spoken in the Yolngu township in which Curtin grew up. She says she was keen to make the book in part for her own children who live in the relative monoculture of a big city. She also wanted to highlight the similarities and differences between city and rural kids.
Teacher discussion notes are available on the publisher’s website.
Reviewed by Heather Gallagher
