 Hi everyone, my name is Steph, this is Little Bookish Teacher, and welcome or welcome back to my channel. Today I am here to review Walk With Us by Adam Goodes, Ellie Lang, and illustrated by David Hardy. This is the fourth book in the Welcome to Our Country series that they have been writing over the last couple of years, and it is one of my favourite picture book series that is currently being published, and this was one of my most, if not the most anticipated picture book for 2023 for me, and I'm so glad that I have a copy of it. It releases today on the 31st of October, and it is a gorgeous story that explores the connection to country that all Australians can feel, especially if we listen to the Indigenous people who have looked after the land for thousands and thousands of years. So this is the story of Harvey who comes home and shares an acknowledgement of country with his mum that he's learnt at school, and then Harvey and mum also get the opportunity to go on a walk with Uncle Boris, who is a local Indigenous elder, who takes them through their local area and shares Indigenous history and culture with them as they're walking and shows them the plants and the animals, and all the stories that are associated with them. This story is set on Camarago land, and that is in New South Wales in Australia, and the book itself encourages you to learn what you can about the land that you are on. I live and have grown up on Burundry land, which is part of the Cullin Nations here in Victoria, and a book like this is really great for encouraging people to just learn a little bit more, as Harvey and mum learn more about the place where they live. This story has been inspired by the Uluru Statement of the Heart, which encourages us to learn more and to appreciate more the rich culture and history that Australia has, and it's such a gorgeous book for that. It is incredibly joyful. You just have to look at the illustrations. I know I've said it before, but David Hardy's illustrations are just so warm and inviting and joyful. The storytelling in here is just beautiful. It's also really relatable, I think, for kids, because you would be hard pressed to find a school in Australia now that does not acknowledge country. I know that when I have a class, that's something that we do every morning. And one of the best ways to help us move forward as a country is to help our younger generations recognize and understand the rich cultural history and to celebrate that with them, because they're going to carry us forward into the future. Something else that I really loved about this book is there's a couple Easter eggs on every page that you can find. So on every page, there is a black cockatoo and a pelican, and you just, you go hunting for them in the story, and it's great. This is a must have in any school, classroom, library, personal collection. It is just absolutely beautiful and gorgeous. And just one of those books that you can read over and over again and appreciate every time. So thank you very much to Ellen and Anwan for sending me a copy of Walk With Us. I had the best time reading it. I was so looking forward to it. And when it arrived, I got very, very excited and was just so ready to share it with everyone. So thank you again. Oh, two things I forgot to say. I always, and I can't believe I forgot to say them. The endpapers have a glossary with all of the indigenous language terms that are used within the book. And one of the really cool things about this series is that there is a QR code where you can actually hear the story being read. So this is great for younger readers. Thank you very much for watching. I hope that you have enjoyed this. I will leave links to where you can find out more information about the book below. In the comments, I would love to know if you have read this book or any of the other books in the series. So the first three books are Somebody's Land, Ceremony, and Back on Country. And now we have Walk With Us. If you've read any of those, feel free to let me know in the comments and let me know your thoughts on them. Otherwise, I would love for you to share a First Nations picture book from where you live. That would be amazing. If you just want to let me know that you're here, but you don't want to leave a comment, feel free to leave a leaf emoji down below. 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.