Review

Bindi is a multi-award winning verse novel by Gunai woman and poet Kirli Saunders. It’s told from the first person perspective of a lively 11 year old Aboriginal girl (Bindi) whose community faces and survives a catastrophic bushfire caused by environmental change. Saunders uses the motif of a black cockatoo with a broken wing that Bindi’s family has rescued to symbolise that nature is broken but healing. It also has beautiful monochromatic illustrations by Dub Leffler (Bigambul and Mandandanji) that visually echo Saunders’ cockatoo motif with feathers, wing and flying birds. Saunders emphasises Aboriginal cultural and spiritual relationships with the land, underlying their traditional management and care: “sprouting the land with/careful back burns” (p. 48). It ends on a hopeful note.

A short, beautifully written book, suitable for upper primary students.

*

Saunders, K. (2020). Bindi (D. Leffler, Illus.). Magabala Books.

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