Just So Stories

Fremantle Press

June 2024

ISBN: 9781760995317

RRP: $16.99

This is the first of a new series and it is absolutely adorable 💗. Whether this is the language of the traditional owners in your part of the country or not, this makes for a really sweet read for tiny Smalls.

To my mind, it’s no matter if this is your local language or not, it is still a valuable learning experience for little ones to hear the words spoken by the First Nations peoples. For older ones, there’s always the opportunity to find the equivalent word in their own local language but really this is just a delightful excursion into naming animals commonly seen in Western Australia e.g. kwoka (can you guess that one?), djooditj = tiger quoll, kaarda = goanna.

Author Jayden Boundry is a Wadjak Balardong Noongar and Badimaya Yamatjl teacher and cultural consultant. He is also a didgeridu player, traditional dancer and storyteller with Ngalak Nidja. Tyrown Waigana is a Wardandi Noongar (south-west cape country) and Ait Koedhal (Torres Strait Islander) multidisciplinary artist and graphic designer. It’s always exciting for me to be introduced to new (to me) First Nations creators and I foresee that this new series would be a huge hit. I look forward to seeing more in the future.

This gets a big 5 🦘🦘🦘🦘🦘rating for your little jarjums from bubs upwards to Prep.

Jayden Boundry’s new book gives early readers a start in speaking Noongar