Kep barna: Water creatures by Jayden Boundry & Tyrown Waigana

Kep Barna: Water creatures is a board book with first words describing sea creatures in both English and the Noongar language of the southwestern Australian first peoples. The book introduces seventeen sea creatures. Each new page depicts a new sea creature with an illustration in the centre of the page with the name of the creature underneath in both Noongah and  English. Each creature is accurately represented with clear, dark outlines and soft, natural colourings for little people by Tyrown Waigana, a Wardanadi Noongar from South-west cape country and an Ait Koedhal (Torres Strait Islander) multidisciplinary artist and graphic designer.

Author Jayden Boundry is Wadjak Balardong Noongar and Badimaya Yamatji and a qualified Noongar language LOTE teacher. This is the third book by Jayden Boundry and Tyrown Waigana and the second board book in the new Barna series. Published by Fremantle Press, the easy to hold 15x15cm, 9 page board book is printed by Leo paper products Ltd, Guangdong, China to the highest sustainability and product safety standards. 

It is important and respectful to learn to pronounce the Noongar words correctly. An audio recording of Jayden Boundry's voice providing a pronunciation guide is available online and can be easily accessed through the QR code in the back of the book. This reader would have preferred if the pronunciations in the audio were introduced in the same order that the creatures were presented in the book, to assist the reader. The QR code leads to downloadable activity sheets, videos and other teaching activities relating to Kep Barna: Water Creatures and other books that introduce Noongah words for animals and other first words.

It is valuable for Indigenous and non-Indigenous children alike to connect at a young age with Indigenous language. Kep Barna: Water Creatures and its accompanying important online resources is recommended for babies, toddlers and preschoolers/for teachers and parents. Teacher's resources are available.

Themes: Sea creatures, Dual language Noongar /English first words.

Wendy Jeffrey