Tjarany Roughtail

by Gracie Green, Joe Tramacchi, Lucille Gill (Illustrator)

Tjarany Roughtail contains eight dreamtime stories from the Kukatja people of Western Australia’s remote Kimberley Region. Each story is complemented by beautiful artworks painted by Aboriginal artist Lucille Gill that visually explain each story using traditional dot paintings. Told in English and Kukatja, the book includes magnificent paintings, maps, kinship diagrams, exercises and language notes. Winner of Children's Book Council of Australia Award.

64 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 1992

Reviews

[LauraW · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are lots of interesting details in this book that make it, yes, a children's book, but much more. For linguists, there are parallel texts throughout the book, English on the left, Kukatya on the right, with a dictionary in the back. For artists, there are Aboriginal artworks, with details noted next to the pictures. For anthropologists, there is a detailed section near the back of the book with explanations of the complex (to this Western person) kinship patterns. And for the person who loves myth and legend, there are the stories themselves. My favorite is the one explaining the Pleides stars. Less favorite are the ones about snakes, since I have a phobia of snakes. But I can see where they might occupy and important place in the culture.

I wonder what Western non-Australian kids would make of these stories?