Mangabala Books is described by their web page as:
Magabala Books is Australia’s leading Indigenous publisher. Based in the pearling town of Broome in the far north of Western Australia, Magabala Books is one of the most remote publishing houses in the world.
Since its incorporation in 1990, Magabala Books has been recognised as a producer of quality Indigenous Australian literature receiving accolades in prestigious literary and national achievement awards.
As one of the most respected small publishing houses in Australia, Magabala Books works to celebrate the talent and diversity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voices through the publication of quality literature. Magabala Books has released more than two hundred titles from a range of genres.
I thought I’d have a poke around our State Library to see what indigenous publishers they stocked on their shelves. I have been slowly exploring them. This came up first off and as I checked it out I saw some beautiful children’s books. I noticed that one of them, Mad Magpie, written and illustrated by Gregg Dreise, won the 2017 Speech Pathology Australia Book of the Year in the Indigenous Children’s category. That is an association that was very dear to my heart years ago when I was working and I sat on their national committee as Vice President Finance for several years in the 1990’s. I remember when the book awards were established by the association but later forgot about those awards in my retirement years and was happily surprised to see it again. I had to check it out and see what it is about.
Mad Magpie is a story about dealing with bullies.
“Way back before Once-Upon-A-Time time, there was the Dreamtime,
and during this period there lived an angry magpie called Guluu.
Guluu was so angry that he would swoop down and peck the other animals on their heads.”
Anyone who is familiar with Australian birds will know that several species of our birds are bullies. The magpie is known for swooping people who get in its way. This is the story of how the magpie deals with the butcher birds who bully him.
The Butcher birds tease him, they chase him away when he is trying to eat worms on the riverbank. They laugh at him. This makes him very angry. He thinks if he is angry and tough enough they will leave him alone but they don’t. The other birds in the area, the cockatoos, the Mopoke Owl, the Emu, tell him being mean and angry will not get him what he wants. He needs to stay calm like the river that roars through the mountains and then is calm again. He begins to work on becoming calmer, walking away and being strong on the inside like the water’s current. He begins to sing so loudly he can’t hear the taunts of the butcher birds anymore. Of course it begins to work and the Magpie becomes a happier bird who is no longer bullied. It is a very relevant, timeless tale.
The book is beautifully illustrated with Indigenous art and I am sharing a few pages with you. Gregg Dreise has written and illustrated other books for children and I see that Silly Birds won this same award in 2015. I have placed two more of his books on my wishlist at the library and will look at them after I return from my March travels. I enjoy the stories of the Dreamtime as they explain the Indigenous versions of nature. They are beautiful tales.
I will continue to explore this publishing establishment as they have a range of books for children through to adults. Our library seems to have quite a few of their books.
What a week this has been. I have had a quiet week messaging back and forth with photos, information and encouragement with my brother and sister as our mother died. It was peaceful and we are all comforted by the wonderful care she received. She would have turned 92 next month so she had a long life. We also caught up with many relatives I have not heard from in years and new, younger ones I did not know. Family deaths tend to do that. That has been lovely.
The short story I drew in the Deal Me In Challenge (2 of Diamonds) was The Rainmaker from the Tibetan Folk Tales book. The timing of this story was lovely as it is quite a spiritual book of stories in the Buddhist tradition and was a gentle read. Zor is an orphan taken in by a monk for life training. The story told of their life in the cave, with their meals from herbs as rain falls around them. (comforting right?). The old monk is a wise Rainmaker and is able to control the clouds and the weather. At times he is called to the Dalai Lama’s palace to monitor the storms as to protect his beautiful garden. The story revolves around the lessons he teaches to Zor and how Zor copes with his own successes and failures as he inherits this responsibility once the old Lama dies. I enjoyed it immensely.
On the other hand, I began the book Lincoln in the Bardo as a Kindle read/audio. It is irritating me beyond belief and I’ll be lucky to finish it. I know, I know. Man Booker prize winner of 2017 and all that. I really should stay away from this prize. I heard a review about how wonderful all the voices were on the audio version. There are around 100 actors reading various parts of the ghosts. For those unfamiliar, it is a story of Abraham Lincoln and his young son Willy who died at a young age. Lincoln in his grief visits him at the cemetery and there are all of the ghosts who live there with their comments. Lots of flashbacks to Willy’s life.
On another lovely note…yesterday was a beautiful summer’s day and I took the dogs to the beach. We call it the Big Beach as it is bigger than the dog beach we normally go to. As it was a weekday, there was hardly anyone there. The airport runway ends at this beach at a 90 degree angle so the planes were going overhead in front of us as we walked.
New books, even if one is second hand, are always a joy to receive and hold. I thought I would share these three with you. I have also included a couple of magazines that are published here in Tasmania that I find interesting.
Travellin' Penguin 