There are over 250 Indigenous languages, including 800 dialects, across Australia, and the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Islander Studies confirms that ‘Each language is specific to a particular place and people.’ Publisher, Fremantle Press, operates from Walyalup in Western Australia, so acknowledges the Whadjuk people of the Noongar nation as the Traditional Owners and Custodians of that land.
Ebony Froome’s book, I Call the Ocean Wardan follows a young Noongar girl, Kaya, who lives by the ocean. Readers are invited to follow her as she plays in the sand and introduces us to the names of the places and things she sees and knows. In Noongar, the ocean is wardan, the beach is ngabar, sand is goyara, the wind is maar, and rocks are boya.
I Call the Ocean Wardan is a rhyming book, and Froome’s gentle verse is suggestive of the susurration of waves, wind and sand blown across the rock-filled beaches that many beach-goers would be familiar with. The introduction of Noongar words is just as gentle and contextual to help adult and child readers unfamiliar with the Noongar language. Words are also repeated to help build familiarity and ensure readers can follow along as we’re introduced to chip-stealing seagulls (djerinkarra), pelicans (boodalang), dolphins (kwilena) and whales (maamong). The colourful, playful illustrations support the storytelling and learning journey well.
For Noongar peoples, the book positions the girl Kaya as knowing, respecting and enjoying her language, her place and culture as something that is important and worthy of knowing, sharing and remembering; which is affirming for all.
The book includes a QR code to scan and a website to visit, so readers can also choose to hear Noongar spoken, and learn more about the language. It’s not a direct link to hearing the book spoken in Noongar, but there are heaps of resources for parents, carers and educators to access.
