 Hi everyone, my name is Steph, this is Little Bookish Teacher, and today I'm really excited to share a compilation of videos and reviews that I have been sharing over the last couple of years on my main YouTube channel. These are the reviews for the Welcome to Our Country Picture Book series by Adam Goods, Ellie Lang, and illustrated by David Hardy. This is a gorgeous First Nations picture book series that celebrates First Nations culture. And the fourth book is coming out later this year. I'm very, very excited about that. And I thought it would be great to have these three reviews amalgamated on this channel as well, so that when that one comes out and I do share a review of it, everything's in the one place. I did originally receive all of these books from the publisher for review, so thank you very much to Ellen and Unwin. These still remain to this current day some of my favorite recent releases in children's picture books here in Australia, and I stand by that. So we're gonna jump into the reviews. I will have timestamps down below so that you can jump between the books. First up, we are going to talk about Somebody's Land. This is the first book in what will be a five book picture book series around teaching children and their parents, carers, and educators around First Nations culture and history here in Australia. And I am so excited to share this with you. I've had this now for nearly six weeks, and I haven't been able to talk about it because it's been under embargo, so it does release today on November the second, and it has just been something I wanted to shout about to everyone for the longest time. I'm actually filming this in the middle of October, and I recently attended a teacher's conference, the PETA conference, which is the Primary English Teachers Association of Australia. And they had a little book launch for this. There was an interview with Adam and Ellie around this book, and I was really, really pleased to be able to watch that because it did give me a little bit more insight into how this book came to be and the process of getting here. Before I go any further, I'm going to read you the back of the book. It says, for thousands and thousands of years, Aboriginal people lived in the land we call Australia. When the white people came, they called the land Terranullius. They said it was nobody's land, but it was somebody's land. This is a vibrant conversation started to help young and old understand the importance of acknowledging country and the rich cultures of the traditional custodians of the lands where we live. And that's exactly what it is. So this entire book is themed around that idea of Terranullius, that when Australia was invaded, that they claimed that there was no one here despite the fact that there were people with a rich, long culture already here. And this book really seeks to redress that and to really give us a new starting point with talking about that with kids. Whether or not you are a teacher or a parent, this book is enticing for kids, but it also has a really strong message for the adults who are engaging children with this book as well. While I was listening to the interview with Adam and Ellie, they were talking about how Ellie's youngest young son came home one day and was able to recite an acknowledgement of country, which is the first time that she had heard him do that. And it was just something very profound and powerful for her. And she got in contact with her friend Adam and asked him if he was ever considering writing books. And it turns out he was. And so together they collaborated to create somebody's land. And you'll notice that these illustrations are absolutely stunning. This book is just visually very appealing from the end papers with all the Australian animals to a really great opening for adults and anyone who is reading the text. But I mean, just look, these are so gorgeous. It is a book that is meant to be shared. And it is a book that is meant to celebrate our Aboriginal culture. I don't know how much I can gush about this because I love it. So it does go through aspects of Aboriginal life. And then it goes through how when the white people came, they called it Terranullius. They said it was nobody's land, but it was somebody's land. So it does engage kids in that way because they would be able to join in with the repetitive part of the story. But there are also parts where they'll be able to relate directly from their own experiences regardless of their cultural background. And I just, I want everyone to read this. And I wanna read the rest of the books in the series because these are gonna become a hugely important part of my classroom library. I cannot express how excited I am to go back and read this with my class because we have an acknowledgement of country that the kids know. And to be able to read this and explore it with them in such a kid-friendly way that's non-threatening, but informative is just, it's amazing to have a resource like this. So if you are looking to start or extend your Aboriginal First Nations library collection, this is definitely one to consider because it is absolutely amazing. And there are so many wonderful things to look at and talk about within this book. Next, we're gonna talk about ceremony. Today I am really very excited to share with you a brand new picture book that is the second book in a series. It is Ceremony by Adam Goods, Ellie Lang and Illustrated by David Hardy. It is part of their Welcome to Our Country series, which is a series of five picture books I believe that all center around Aboriginal First Nations stories. And these books explore a lot about Aboriginal culture and make it very, very accessible for their audiences. Now, you guys might remember last year, if you've been following along my channel, that I did a review of Somebody's Land, which was the first book in the series and I adored it. It is just a beautiful, stunning, very important picture book text. And ceremony is no different. It is absolutely glorious. So I'm gonna read you the blurb on the back. It says, welcome children, nanga nanga yakari. Tonight will be the ceremony. Our family gathers as the fire burns. The smoke rises up as we take it in turns. Then clap sticks, tap one, two, three. But a stick is missing, where could it be? Joyful and full of fun, ceremony invites you to celebrate the rich traditions of dance, family, community and caring for country from the world's oldest continuous culture. And that's exactly what this book does. It is one of the most warm and inviting and fun picture books I have read in a long time, especially one that celebrates something so important to Australia's Aboriginal culture. So straight away from the start, you can see from the front cover, David Hardy's illustrations are just glorious. They just draw you in. And I mean, just look at that face. Don't you just want to know what's going on in the story? I know I certainly did when I first saw the cover. I was just so excited. Another really cool feature of this book that will help through the story because this book does use words from Adam's language group. They've included a visual glossary on the endpapers and you have all of the pictures from the story as well as the Aboriginal word and the translation. So that's a really great resource. If you're using this with kids, I'm thinking myself in the classroom, that's going to be super important because it will really help them to understand exactly what is going on. As I said, the illustrations are just beautiful and invite you in. And this is really about a family and a community gathering to celebrate and to have one of their ceremonies the whole way through the story. We go through meeting the different characters, seeing the kids get up to mischief and having fun and how they interact with their adults and how they emulate and join in with the ceremony, which is so important. And I just, I adore it so much. I cannot even express how happy this book makes me to read. But I'm so excited to be able to share it with my students. So yes, this book celebrates the wonderful, rich culture of dance and family and celebration and coming together, it draws you in. The language is lyrical. The illustrations are just gorgeous. At the very back of the book, there is a QR code. So you can hear the authors reading the story as well, which I think is a really fantastic addition. And I love that so many books are now including that, especially these ones. So if you're looking for a bright, warm and inviting picture book story, one that shares information about the culture of Australia's first people, this is definitely something to check out. It does come out today. I will leave links to where you can purchase it down below. I cannot wait for the next books in this series. They're gonna be one of my most treasured to picture book collections. I can tell you that now, I'm just so excited. And finally, we're going to talk about Back on Country. Today I am here to talk about Back on Country by Adam Goodes, Ellie Lang and David Hardy. This is the next book in their series all about Australia's First Nations people. If you haven't seen my reviews for the two previous books in the series, I will leave them both linked on the screen. They are absolutely stunning. And I am always so excited to see when a new one comes out. I believe at the moment there are five books planned and I'm really hoping to continue with Ellen and Unwin to help promote and share these books because they are just beautiful. So I did receive this review from Ellen and Unwin. It is releasing on the 1st of November. It's gorgeous. Before I say anything else, that's exactly what I need to say about it. As I said, it is the third book in the series and this book is really about going back on country and reconnecting to family and culture and history and the importance that has for Australia's First Nations people. Lucy and David, these two young children are on their first trip back on country with their mother and they get the chance to meet their cousins, their family members, their elders and to experience the culture of their family when they are back on country and they get to know the places that are sacred and special to their people and see the land where their family is from and to get to know the stories and the language and the culture. As I said, it's absolutely gorgeous. Their mother is an Ajumatna woman and I hope I pronounced that correct, which is the country that Adam is from. Both Adam Goods and David Hardy are Aboriginal men and this story was crafted based on their experiences going back on country and then turned into a story that is accessible and gorgeous for children. This book has a really, really wonderful community and family and connection feel to it. And some of the things that I absolutely loved about this one are David's absolutely stunning illustrations in the book because every page is just utterly joyful. I mean, he has a very distinctive illustrative style. It is bright, it is colorful, it is full of feeling and emotion and I just, I adore looking at all of these pages. The book also uses dual language. So it is told part in English, part in the language native to the Ajumatna people and to help readers as with all the other books, you have the glossary on the endpapers. So all the words that are used, you then have the translation at the front and the back of the book as well. And I really enjoyed going back through and exploring that because when you're reading in context, you understand what the word is, but then to see it and to show kids that this is how you would work it out and how you would make sense of it is highly, highly valuable. And you know, it's educational in a really gentle way. It is helping to teach people about the rich history and culture and the importance of going back on country, the importance of family and connection and knowing the stories and the history of your people and it's just, like I have no words for this series because I thoroughly enjoy every book. I enjoy reading and rereading them. I've shared them with my class. I share them with everyone. Like I throw them at everyone who's like, oh, what should I read? Here, go read this. This is amazing. And I just love that we have these kinds of books coming out now because they are so important. They are so valuable as not only just an book for entertainment, but a book to teach understanding and empathy and I can't wait to see what the next book is. I'm so excited because these books just bring me so much joy to read and to share with others. Thank you again to Alan and Anwen. Congratulations again to Adam, Ellie and David for another fantastic book. I will have links for all of these books listed down below. Thank you very much for watching these reviews. I hope that this has inspired you to pick them up. If you wanna let me know that you're here but you don't wanna leave a comment, feel free to leave a flag emoji that shows where you are from around the world. Otherwise, I hope that wherever you're on the world you're staying safe and healthy and I will see you in my next video. Thanks so much for watching. Bye everyone.