Counting Our Country

Book excerpt: Counting our Country in Arnhem Land. This is a bilingual counting book from Jill Daniels, an Indigenous artist who lives in SE Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory. Jill's paintings of animals found on her country celebrate her distinctive style and playful use of colour. Children will love counting the animals from 1 to 10. Each page features the name of the animal in Ritharrnu, Jill's Aboriginal language, and in English. A guide on 'How to pronounce the Ritharrnu animal names' appears at the back of the book and encourages readers and young children to see if they can say them. Counting our Country recognises the value of developing cultural literary by introducing Indigenous language and art in the early years. It will be loved in homes and libraries throughout Australia.