The little book of mining by Kate Harvey. Illus. by Mel Corrigan

The little book of mining is written by Kate Harvey (a mum and FIFO worker) who recognises the importance of children (especially children of FIFO workers) knowing a bit about what their parents do when they are at work.  Kate is a mining engineer herself, having grown up in Australia's Pilbara region and now working FIFO (Fly in Fly out) back in the iron ore mine sites.  Melbourne based illustrator Mel Corrigan has created a sweeping red landscape that captures a 24 hour time picture of  two shifts on a mining site. Artistic focus is on the yellow machines that are introduced in the book and these machines sit within the sandy backdrop under skies of different colours. The landscapes have the feel of watercolour with the machinery in sharper relief. Wildlife look on from vantage points and from the periphery on most pages. Perhaps there is a question there. What are you people doing to our land? A wedgetail eagle hovers during the day and bats take over during the night.

Harvey has chosen a  familiar rhyming pattern using the well-known "The wheels on the bus.." tune. Words from the original song are substituted so we begin with, "The boss of the shift says, 'Please be safe, please be safe, please be safe...' " The book is therefore in song format. Each vehicle introduced receives the attention of a double page spread. 

Females are visible in all work situations on the mines and always in leadership at the beginning and end of shifts. This reader would have preferred a balance of male and females in leadership positions so that both little boys and little girls can see themselves taking those roles.

As an introduction to mining machinery and the mining industry this interactive picture book works well. The reading process lends itself to a shared fun experience being a song. Questions at the back are closed but may be useful for a parent or teacher to ask a child to go back and count, look at colours and name machines etc. It would be nice if children have access to these machines in toy model form to play with in a sand pit to accompany this book and consolidate learning with hands on activity.

Themes: Mining industry workers, Australian Pilbara desert animals, Mining machinery.

Wendy Jeffrey