Animals on country by Victor Steffensen & Sandra Steffensen

‘Let’s look after the animals with Uncle Kuu’ says the banner over the title of this sumptuous book. Opening, readers will see dawn breaking with an array of birds across the endpapers, and turning to the end, see an owl flying back home during the night. Between these pages, readers will be entranced by the animals they see as they walk with Uncle Kuu through a variety of environments, reflecting Australia’s diversity. Uncle Kuu takes us to the bush, asking us to go softly and quietly to see the animals. As with every other page, children will love seeking out the animals half hidden in the bush, desert, or trees. He shows us how to identify the animals by the tracks they leave in the dirt. At the river, Uncle Kuu points out the water goanna, his totem, and tells how we should care for its environment, ensuring its survival. Caring for their environment has been a priority for Aboriginal people for thousands of years. They have taken care of the rivers and the sea, so keeping creatures healthy and abundant, making sure that they only take enough for their needs. Different animal could be caught in different seasons, the flowering golden wattle, for example, means that there are big juicy fish to catch and share. Knowledge of the country, the animals and their environment is passed down through song and dance. But this seems to have been forgotten as trees are cut down and animals killed out of season, depleting their stock. Uncle Kuu stresses that the land must be rested, to wait a while before hunting can start again. At a different river Uncle Kuu points out the problems with urbanisation, where rivers are dammed, factories pouring out high clouds of pollutants and environments changed. For animals living nearby the rivers are now poisonous. For animals away from the river, destruction comes in the form of bushfires, huge fires which devastate the environment. But says Uncle Kuu this is reversible: we can care again for the animals, and protect the environment in which they live, ensuring they are safe.

What seems to be a simple walk through the bush, leads readers to see a variety of environments and the animals that live there. Uncle Kuu’s sound words show the reader that these special places need our care and protection, showing what happens to them if the caring stops. Supported by brilliant pages of images of the bush, children will love checking out the animals they can spot, trying out the animal tracks for themselves, and singing the song at the end of the text. This is a loving look at the Australian bush, and depicts the effect that bad management has had, encouraging readers to see how indigenous people cared for the land, supporting using this knowledge for the generations to come.

Themes: Aboriginal people, Environment, Australian animals, Australian environment.

Fran Knight