Circles of Life

By Gregg Dreise

Reviewed by Margarite Igras

Indigenous Kamilaroi, Gregg Dreise, is an award-winning author, illustrator, artist, musician, and storyteller. He travels around Australia, giving entertaining and educational talks sharing his culture, traditional art, and music with the younger generation. Circles of Life is an engaging picture book about how to paint and understand the meaning of Thank You Circles or Gabayindah Guroos – asking the reader to reflect on how the modern addictions of greed are ruining our planet and the importance of cherishing this country for the coming generations. He has written and illustrated many books including Silly Birds, Kookoo Kookaburra, Magpie Magic, Hello and Welcome, and My Culture and Me.

Two young girls are given instructions by an elder or uncle, on how to paint the different elements of our world such as Father Sky, Mother Earth, the gifts of water food and animals, and the people on country both past and present; all represented by circles of dots in various sizes and colours. These dots form the Circles of Life which is a proud tradition of recognising and giving thanks to the moments that we treasure, and the connection to our land.

The illustrations start at the end pages, with repeated Thank You circles and a poignant outline of a stencilled hand. The step-by-step instructions of the meaning of each dot is on the left side of a double page. On the right side, we are shown the placement, colour and size of the dots. Bright colourful paint fills the pages and surround the few lines of verse text. There is additional information about the author at the end of the book.

A book that will engage the reader from ages 4 to 14.

Puffin 2024