It’s hard for me to imagine my childhood without books, and almost harder to imagine being a mum to Rowan without them. It’s a shameful fact that health and educational disadvantages prevent many Indigenous children in Australia from developing skills in literacy. Simply not having books and other educational resources at home is a factor linked to lower achievement at school. Combine this with isolation, poor nutrition and poor health, and the life opportunities of these Aboriginal children are severely compromised.

Indigenous Literacy Day is being held this Wednesday 3 September, put on in partnership between the Australian Book Industry and the Fred Hollows Foundation. Funds raised will help to support efforts to promote cultural, practical and English literacy of Indigenous children as well as improving the health and well-being of members of their community.

Individuals can participate in the day by donating directly to the project or by purchasing books on the day at participating booksellers. These booksellers (and participating publishers) will donate 5% (or more) of their takings on the day to the project. If you can’t make it to a bookshop, there are some online stores participating: Seekbooks and Boomerang.

On Wednesday I’m planning to buy a copy of When I Was Little Like You, which shares the story of Mary Malbunka’s childhood playing with friends, building cubby houses, collecting sugarbag, digging for honey ants, and learning about the seasons, animals and plants. It also interprets recurring symbols used in traditional Aboriginal painting.

See my previous post for some more favourite picture books by Aboriginal Australian authors.