Yanga Mother

By Cheryl Leavy & Christopher Bassi
Reviewed by Lara Cain Gray

Yanga Mother is a story of motherly love, represented by the unbreakable bond between a kangaroo and her joey. With lifelike illustrations, richly coloured to showcase changes in daylight and seasons, the bond between the roos parallels connection to Country, and seeks to highlight the horror felt by the Stolen Generations, where mothers and children were forced to separate.

Leavy is an award-winning poet who is passionate about language revitalisation. The book represents the important forward motion of Australian First Nations storytelling in print, with the narrative written in the author’s language (Kooma) and translated into English, rather than vice versa. The grammar and story structure, therefore, follow the original language, which appears first on each spread in bold. For some, it might feel different from conventional English-first picture book storytelling, but the spare prose will be wonderful for early readers of English, and can seamlessly introduce some Kooma language into a home or classroom.

The illustrations are full of feeling, without anthropomorphism, clearly showing the playful joey’s explorations and the mother’s watchful eye. There is some ambiguity in the ending which is a space for gentle discussion of separation. Importantly, this bilingual book includes a glossary, and a ‘message for older readers’ providing lots of detail about the creators, the context, and the symbolism.

Teacher’s Notes

UQP 2024

Lara Cain Gray‘s The Grown-Ups Guide to Picture Books is published in September this year.