World Kid Lit Month 2024: Colonisation & History

Because, it's not all fun and games. And, sometimes, children's books have a way of cutting through all the crap and obfuscation, and get to what matters. 

Freedom Soup by Tami Charles & Jacqueline Alcántara. 

History through family, traditions, and food. And joy. So much joy! 

(And, let's leave it at that, because searching for the Haiti Independence Debt will not do anything positive for your mental health. Because f*** colonialism.) 

Somebody's land by Adam Goodes & David Hardy. 

This is part of a series of picture books, focusing on First Nations / Australian Aboriginal culture and history. Although a picture book, this is an introduction to the concept of 'terra nullius' - the Western concept that the land was nobody's, and they had the 'right' to claim it. 

Young dark emu by Bruce Pascoe. 

The history in this is tied in with the concept of 'terra nullius' - that the Australian First Nations people didn't farm the land. As Pascoe has shown in Dark Emu (his adult book), they did - just not in Western European ways. 

The house that Jack built by Gavin Bishop. 

This is a tale told in pictures, and fine details. You need to read the illustrations - and every single piece, every little side picture. 

Patu by Gavin Bishop. 

Gavin Bishop has been at the height of his powers for years, which means he is stratospherically / astronomically brilliant. 

True Story by Robyn Kahukiwa. 

Robyn Kahukiwa is a taonga (treasure) and has not been backward in fronting with historical realities and violence, but it has been rare for her to be so upfront in a children's book. This is self-published which, I think, gave her the freedom to truly express herself and the history she needed to share.