Our Australian Heart by Just Write for Kids and Friends

Title: Our Australian Heart

Author: Just Write for Kids and Friends

Genre: Fiction

Publisher: Daisy Lane Publishing

Published: January 2024

Format: Hardcover

Pages: 32

Price: $32.99

Synopsis: Our Australian HeART” by Just Write For Kids Australia and Friends is a special edition hard cover anthology celebrating the diversity, life and colours of Australia, as showcased by various local artists and illustrators of children’s books.

In this beautifully illustrated and lyrical anthology, our artists share their own tributes to a piece of Australia, from the sensations of glistening rocky landscapes to magical underwater reefs; the awe of our unique flora and fauna; the significance of historical memorials and childhood memories; and reflections on current cultural and environmental nuances. An inspiring, joyful and heartfelt treasure of language, art and culture for young readers and artists who can express their own response to, ‘What’s in YOUR Australian heArt?’

We are honoured to be sponsoring our charity of choice by donating a percentage of book sale proceeds to The Indigenous Literacy Foundation – assisting with funding and literacy opportunities for Indigenous children and families living in remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. We thank you kindly for your generous support.

 CREATORS

We are proud to work with various Australian creatives and children’s book illustrators to produce this stunning book.

Anthology contributors include:

Bridget Acreman. Suzanne Barton. Melanie Corrigan. Kim de Haan. Michèle Dodd. Alisha Dyer. Naomi Eccles-Smith. Hannah Friend. Daniela Glyntzos. Imogen Hartland. Jacqui Hewlett. Carla Hoffenberg. Jennifer Horn. Lorraine & Jessica Miller. Rhonda Ooi. Rachael Robertson. Jeanette Stampone.

~*~

Just Write For Kids, a book promotion company, and Daisy Lane Publishing has collaborated to create a picture book anthology about what Australia means to the contributors through words and images in an array of colour palettes, themes, and styles throughout the book. Each landscape is represented, from the mountains to the sky, the sea and beach, and colourful birds, as well as a nod to ANZAC Day and the importance of poppies as a symbol in Australia. Each double page spread is accompanied by a short piece of text that evokes the mood and theme of the picture.

Each story captures something unique about the diversity of Australia, from a celebration of the land, to conserving the environment, Australian animals and their place in the environment, fairy gorges, and life under the sea in the Great Barrier Reef amongst some of the themes explored. Each story is short but evocative, filled with heart and emotion as the contributors explore what Australia means to them, and what they see when they look around Australia through images, colour and words. These stories from across the country showcase the diversity of what people see and feel, and the way they live and interact with the country in all its forms and everything about it. I loved that the colour throughout was so varied, as were the styles of illustration – it was hard to choose a favourite one, but I was quite impressed with the ocean scenes and the poppies.

When it came to the words, they were all powerful, yet it was the words that joined the poppy images that had immense power and history behind them, conjuring images of ANZAC Day and Remembrance Day, two very important days in Australia. This two-page spread did so much with so few words, showing the importance and sombreness of these days without delving too deep. The book also celebrated diversity in many forms – natural, cultural and disability – through the images in the book. Doing so showed that Australia has so much to offer, that there are so many ways of being a part of this country and celebrating it, and I think this is the perfect book to do so. It celebrates the diversity and beauty of Australia for readers of all ages, and I am so pleased to have been sent a copy to review by Romi, who helped put it all together. It is a beautiful book, and one that I am sure will be treasured for years to come.