Karana: The Story of Father Emu by Uncle Joe
Kirk, with Greer Casey and Sandi Harrold, illustrated by Sandi Harrold
(Scholastic Australia)
PB RRP $15.99ISBN 978-1-74362-313-8
Reviewed by Jenny Heslop
Karana
is
the tale of a father emu hatching and raising his chicks. This Indigenous story
is told by Uncle Joe Kirk, a Wakka Wakka elder, and the emu holds much
significance in the Wakka Wakka culture. He symbolises the father figure who
nurtures the whole family.
Each page is filled with soft illustrations, expressing the togetherness of the emu family and the simplicity of life lessons while rhyming couplets create an engaging and lively story.
Up
she jumped and wandered away,
While Karana sat on those eggs for
thirty-two days.
He sat there alone in the rain and the heat,
With no water to drink and no food to eat.
So many facts about emu’s and chicks are
imparted throughout the story as Karana teaches his chicks about when the
waterhole is safest, where the best protection is, what foods to eat and how to
swallow stones to help with their digestion.
Children will relate to learning about
life through the care and teachings of families and the overriding message is
of love and the father/children bond.
‘These
are my chicks. I love them a lot...
I will stay with them NO MATTER WHAT!’
This gentle story about love, families
and the cyclical nature of life is strongly Australian in narrative and
illustrations. It is a lovely read aloud book for the very young.
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