Indigenous Literacy Day goes virtual on 2 September 2020

Indigenous Literacy Day is a national celebration of Indigenous culture, stories, language and literacy created by The Indigenous Literacy Foundation. This year the ILF invites families, primary schools, libraries and early education centres to join a special Indigenous Literacy Day online event designed for children 3-11 years of age. Check out the webpage for more information.

We also have some wonderful picture books to recommend to you so you can share a celebration of Indigenous culture and literacy at home as well!

Share a story - Baby Business 

Baby Business by Jasmine Seymour is the perfect book to share with your family this Indigenous Literacy Day. Baby Business is a heart-warming story about a Darug smoking ceremony that welcomes baby to country and introduces concepts of Aboriginal culture, including belonging to place and community; the role of women; and significant ceremonies.

Find a copy at your local library or share the story on Story Box Library with your library membership.

Baby Business is a great opportunity to talk about new or unfamiliar words including Smoking place, totem, healing plants and termite, plus learn some words from the Aboriginal language Darug used throughout the book including:

• Nura – Country
• Gurung – child
• Mudjin – family
• Yana - walk
• Wianga – mother

When sharing the book, you could also talk about your own family ceremonies, discuss what’s the same and what’s different from the activites in the story, and highlight some of the things in the book that are important to Aboriginal People such as family and Country.

What things are important in your family? Children love it when you use family photos to talk about how they were welcomed or important moments in their lives. Enjoy the conversations this book creates and for more titles to share on this special day check out:  

• Welcome to Country by Aunty Joy Murphy and Lisa Kennedy
• Why I Love Australia by Bronwyn Bancroft