Come home, Bibibila by Corey Tutt & Irma Gold. Illus. by Jessica Tedim

Subtitled, ‘A story of an echidna finding its way back to Country’ will excite younger readers, knowing that the will be learning a lot about echidnas and where they live.

The Gamillaraay word for echidna is Bigibila and Corey Tutt is a Gamilaraay man who has written his first picture book about his totem. 

Beautifully illustrated, the story of the lost echidna will enthral younger readers following Bigibila, as he ignores his mother’s command to stay put. They will bring to mind times when they have gone against an elder's wishes, and wonder about how Bigibila will survive.

The red earth speaks to Bigibila of her Country and when she wanders off and loses her way, she finds she must return home to her own place. When Mum goes off to find termites, Bigibila scrambles out of the burrow to see what she can see. But she encounters Maliyan, the wedge tail eagle, and as he swoops to grab his dinner, a ranger steps in and takes the little echidna back to her sanctuary. Here she is sheltered and fed safe from the predators, but she yearns for her Country. So she digs her way out of the enclosure, and walks and walks until the earth beneath her feet feels right, she feels safe, there are lots of termites to eat and the air tastes right. And there is Mum waiting for her. She is home.

An engaging reminder that we all have a place where everything feels right, our home, and a fitting lesson for younger readers to take notice of their elders. 

Illustrator, Jessica Tedim has included animals, birds and insects setting the scene in the red earth country that is home for the echidna. Children will love looking for these as they turn the pages. The sweeps of red earth across the pages will draw readers’ eyes to the plight of the little animal. 

At the end of the book are pages devoted to the Gamilaraay words used for the Dark Emu in the night sky, the eagle that nearly ends Bigibila’s exploring, the ranger who saves her as well as the echidna. There are also several pages with information about the echidna, what it eats in captivity and a plea to keep these animals wild, ending with outlines of the authors and illustrator on the endpapers. 

Themes: Aboriginal themes, Echidna, Survival, Country, Home.

Fran Knight