Books published by Magabala Books

Bruce Pascoe has collected a swathe of literary awards for Dark Emu and now he has brought together the research and compelling first person accounts in a book for younger readers. Using the accounts of early European explorers, colonists and farmers, Bruce Pascoe compellingly ar...gues for a reconsideration of the hunter-gatherer label for pre-colonial Aboriginal Australians. He allows the reader to see Australia as it was before Europeans arrived - a land of cultivated farming areas, productive fisheries, permanent homes, and an understanding of the environment and its natural resources that supported thriving villages across the continent. Young Dark Emu - A Truer History asks young readers to consider a different version of Australia's history pre-European colonisation.
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Age range 9 - 12 Gradually, Yinti and Wara grew accustomed to station life. They no longer ran and hid when they saw a motorcar coming along the road towards them. The third book in the Yinti series of three books. Desert Cowboy is the story of Yinti's return to the cattle statio...n and of his life as a stockman. Over these years Yinti experiences joy, excitement, loss and tragedy, but never loses his sense of fun and inclination to mischief. All of the stories are based on actual people and events as told to Pat Lowe by Jimmy Pike and other members of his family.
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Black Cockatoo is a vignette that follows Mia, a young Aboriginal girl as she explores the fragile connections of family and culture. Mia is a 13-year-old girl from a remote community in the Kimberley. She is saddened by the loss of her brother as he distances himself from the fa...mily. She feels powerless to change the things she sees around her... until one day she rescues her totem animal, the dirran black cockatoo, and soon discovers her own inner strength. Black Cockatoo is a wonderful small tale on the power of standing up for yourself, culture and ever-present family ties.
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Calypso Summer is a story told by Calypso, a young Nukunu man, fresh out of high school in Rastafarian guise. After failing to secure employment in sports retail, his dream occupation, Calypso finds work at the Henley Beach Health Food shop where his boss pressures him to gather ...Aboriginal plants for natural remedies. Growing up in urban Adelaide and with little understanding of his mother's traditional background, Calypso endeavours to find the appropriate native plants. This leads him to his Nukunu family in Port Augusta and the discovery of a world steeped in cultural knowledge. The support of a sassy, smart, young Ngadjuri girl, with a passion for cricket rivalling his own, helps Calypso to reconsider his Rastafarian facade and understand how to take charge of his future.
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Great-Grandpa Liman lives in a small house by the sea. There are no lights - just stars as far as the eye can see. Brother Moon is a powerful story lovingly told by a great-grandfather to his great-grandson. Beneath the dark sky of the Northern Territory, Hippy-Boy is captivated ...when Great-Grandpa Liman tells him the mysterious story of his brother and how it guides his connection to Country. Great-Grandpa is a masterful storyteller and, as the tale unfolds, he finally reveals his brother is the moon - a wonder of the universe. Hippy-Boy learns how his greatgrandfather uses the phases of the moon when he goes hunting and fishing, and why it is important for us all to have an understanding of the natural world. Liman (Harry Morgan), the author's grandfather, was a respected Wadjigany man - a leader amongst his people and the community. Liman was born at Manjimamany in the Northern Territory in 1916. He was a canoe maker, hunter, community mediator, and a family man who lived off the land and travelled the seas. Liman spoke Batjamalh, his first language, and other languages from the Daly River area.
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