Main Abija My Grandad by Karen Rogers

A moving account of her relationship with a beloved grandfather is made all the more poignant with the use of the language of the Ngukurr people of Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory (Kriol).

Aboriginal language in a picture book cries out to be spoken. A clip of Karen reading the story in both Kriol and English can be found on the Allen & Unwin website. And this can then be spoken by children as the story is told. Kids young and old will enjoy finding the Kriol word for things in the English version, practising them and joining in as the story is told.

Hearing the story told in Kriol is stunning.

A range of things to do in the classroom when reading this book can be found on the publisher's website.

Karen Rogers recalls the school holidays she spent with her grandfather at Wuyagiba east of Katherine. Here she learnt the stories of the environment from him, through language and Dreaming stories, he explained whose Country it was. It was he who told her about the sugarbag and showed her how to get into the bees' nest in the trees for the honey. He often carried her on his shoulders, and looked after her when her mother was ill and had to go to Darwin. They went out on his horse and stayed at the stock camps on the station where he worked as a station hand. He was also a wise and repected elder. When she married and had children they spent time with the older man learning to hunt and fish, collecting sugarbag just as she had. When he died she was sad, but in her grandchildren she sees the interest they hold for things she learnt from her grandfather and is pleased that she can pass on what she learnt from him.

This beguiling tale of growing up in Arnhem Land with a respected and loved grandfather will bring nods of recognition from children who have a close relationship with their parent's parents. But overall they will see a cherished relationship, as the older man passes on his knowledge to the younger child and she in turn repeats and loves the elder for his expertise and wisdom.

A homage to a loved grandfather the book evokes the world of Roger's childhood and what she learn from the older man and is now able to pass on. In so doing she captures the stories, culture and environment of Arnhem Land, impelling us to care for it as her grandfather did.

Themes: Aboriginal themes, Northern Territory, Arnhem Land, Kriol, Grandparents, Dreaming.

Fran Knight