Books published by Magabala Books

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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Monster Party is an explosion of fun and pure joy. Children will love the hilarious, naughty desert monsters who come out of the ground to have a party on Dora Lake. Eating chips and monster cake, they go `galumphing' all over the place with a drum and a bass! Of all shapes and s...izes, these monsters create havoc for the children at Rawa Community School who live on the edge of the Great Sandy Desert - `dancing and stomping', `crashing and crunching', `prowling and growling', `happy and smiling'! Jeepers creepers! The monster cut-out illustrations created by the students are delightful. Monster Party will capture the hearts of the very young and the young at heart.
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Benny Bungarra comes to the rescue when Olive Python's head is stuck in a plastic bottle, Colin Crow's beak is entangled in a fishing line, and Kathy Kangaroo's paw has glass in it!Benny Bungarra's Big Bush Clean-Up is an environmental tale for Early Childhood and Lower Primary r...eaders showing how animals are affected by rubbish left in their habitat by humans. Ambelin Kwaymullina's illustrations are an explosion of colour and cleverly show the perils faced by our native animals. When the animals work as a team to come up with ways to look after the bush, they decide to ask the humans to REDUCE, RECYCLE and use RUBBISH BINS. But it is Benny Bungarra who has the bright idea of a BIG BUSH CLEAN-UP so the animals can also help look after the bush.
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Mad Magpie is the third book in this successful series of morality tales from Gregg Dreise. Inspired by wise sayings and the knowledge of his Elders, Mad Magpie tells the story of Guluu, an angry magpie who is being teased by a gang of butcher birds. The more he is teased, the an...grier he becomes. When Guluu seeks advice, his Elders tell him to stay calm like the river, ignore the butcher birds and to be strong on the inside. Guluu tries this, but the cheeky birds just laugh at him. One day, when Guluu is at the river looking for worms, the butcher birds arrive and steal his food. He remembers the words of his Elders and he tries again - and this time Guluu has a different outcome. He stands proudly at the riverbank and remembers how he used to sing when he was having a bad day. Guluu sings so loud he cannot hear the birds laughing at him and they eventually give up and fly away. From that time on, the animals learnt to use music to create a happy mood and they worked together to stop bullying.
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This is the story of Dingo, Wombat, Crow and their friends as they struggle to exist alongside the devastation of mining that is tearing up their beautiful homeland. This powerful childrens parable/cautionary tale on the destruction and havoc that mining causes to the land and to... community is both touching and hard-hitting. Book consists of four chapters: Dingos Tree, The Raindrop, The Tree that Walked and The Last Tree.
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