New online resources for Indigenous stories

Reading Australia and WA Indigenous Publisher Magabala Books have released new resources to bring the work of Indigenous authors and illustrators to Australian schools.

The four titles with resources currently available for free use by teachers on the Reading Australia website are:

1. Once There Was a Boy, written and illustrated by Dub Leffler (Year 3)
2. The Lizard Gang, written by Kirra Somerville and illustrated by Grace Fielding (Foundation)
3. Mad Magpie, written and illustrated by Gregg Driese (Year 2)
4. Fox a Dog, written by Bruce Pascoe (Year 6)

The not-for-profit website provides detailed, practical and user-friendly guides for teachers contemplating using the texts. All resources are freely available and written by teachers for teachers.

Magabala Books Chairperson, Edie Wright, says, “Teachers across the country have always been enthusiastic about incorporating Indigenous stories in the classroom. However, teachers often lacked the confidence to do so, feeling they don’t have enough understanding of history and context.

“As a leading publisher of Indigenous stories we know many of Australia’s finest authors and illustrators are Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and we want to make it easy for teachers to access and use books by Australian Indigenous storytellers. This partnership and the wonderful resources being created will see more of their uniquely Australian stories in hands of school children across the country.”