Mia Speed, Where’s my Minya Marlu?, Indigenous Literacy Foundation, October 2024, 16 pp., RRP $14.99 (Board), ISBN 9781922592873
Mia Speed is an 18-year-old Wirangu woman (Port Lincoln | Ceduna, SA) who created this book at the age of 16 as part of a research school project, with a goal of providing a Wirangu language resource for kids in her community. It is a board book for young children but is not bilingual in the traditional sense of having two narratives, one in English and one in the Wirangu language. Instead, it intersperses the English text with Wirangu vocabulary.
As the story progresses, the reader follows marlu (kangaroo) searching for her minya marlu (joey). She addresses each animal she encounters with its Wirangu name, so it engages non-Indigenous readers to learn the words for different types of creatures. In case readers have difficulty, there is a glossary at the back.
Each double-page spread introduces a new animal, with a simple repetitive question on the left and the clue given by the new friend on the right. This simple board book is especially useful for its own community but is also a helpful insight into an Indigenous language for other Australians.
Reviewed by Lynne Babbage
