Tjuntjuntjara Remote Community School & Stewart Ennis and Leech, Ange, (illustrator), Yaltji ngayuku papa? (Where’s my dog?), Indigenous Literacy Foundation, August 2024, 44 pp., RRP $29.99 (hbk), ISBN 9781923179301
This book was created by the children from Tjuntjuntjara Remote Community School as part of a creative writing workshop led by Ange Leech.
The story is bilingual in Pitjantjatjara and English. The illustrations combine drawings by the children and photographs of their community and country in the Great Victoria Desert, Western Australia.
Kililpi introduces himself to the reader, and begins to show us his school, friends and environment. He can’t find his dog Tjanpi Tjanpi and we accompany him on his search, a clever device to take the reader on a tour of the community.
The book is also a counting book, illustrating the numerals with children’s gorgeous drawings of different dogs (up to 20) which are very cute. There are dogs with reading glasses, dogs with super curly tails, dogs that smile and dogs with big pink tongues!
This a charming book which shows the reader what life is like in one of the remotest communities in Australia. It is full of joy and energy and fun.
Recommended for readers aged 4+. This is an invaluable classroom resource and should be in every primary school library collection.
Wonderful teacher resources can be found at the Indigenous Literacy Foundation website.
Reviewed by Gaby Meares
