When I interviewed Australian Indigenous author Anita Heiss recently, she brought the Indigenous Literacy Project to my attention. I am hoping to help my children organise a Great Book Swap to benefit this organisation later this year, but I thought I might also start a reading challenge with the list of Indigenous books and authors offered in the ILP reading list.

There are 134 books on the list, so I will make this a perpetual challenge. Many of the books are picture books or children’s books, so the list isn’t quite as daunting as it seems. I’ve listed all the titles below, but you can also download a pdf list from the Indigenous Literacy Project website or follow this link for the Indigenous Literacy Project Reading Challenge spreadsheet.

If you would like to join in with this challenge, you can sign-up here with your introduction post and you can also leave links to any reviews that you write for books from the challenge.

If you have any other Indigenous authors or titles that you’d like to recommend to others, please leave the details in a comment on this post.

Happy Reading!

NB This reading challenge is not affiliated with the Indigenous Literacy Project. The only association is the use of the ILP book list.

Indigenous Literacy Project Book List Reading Challenge

• A Home for Bilby – Grace Fielding
• A is for Aunty – Elaine Russell
• A New Kind of Dreaming – Anthony Eaton
• Aboriginal Stories of Australia – A W Reed
• About This Little Devil and This Little Fella – Albert Barunga & Stephen Muecke
• Albert – Damien Kamholtz
• An Australian 1,2,3 of Animals – Bronwyn Bancroft
• An Australian A,B,C of Animals – Bronwyn Bancroft
• Angela – James Moloney
• Animals: An Indigenous First Discovery Book – Debbie Austin
• Anna the Goanna – Jill McDougall & Jenny Taylor
• Art, History, Place – Christine Nicholls
• Arthur Corunna’s Story – Sally Morgan
• Bajrigga the Turtle – Trevor Fourmile
• Bardi Counting Book – Lucy Wildagoo Dann
• Bat and the Crocodile – Mung Mung Lirrmiyarri
• Bawoo Stories – May O’Brian & Sue Wyatt
• Big Rain Coming – Katrina Germein
• Bilby and the Bushfire – Grace Fielding
• Binna Binna Man – Pryor & McDonald
• Bip the Snapping Bungaroo – Narelle McRobbie & Grace Fielding
• Bittangabee Tribe – Beryl Cruse et al
• Cocky the Crow and the Hawk – Dolly Daniels Granites Nampijinpa
• Collecting Colour – Kylie Dunstan
• Croc Bait – Leonie Norrington
• Crow and the Waterhole – Ambelin Kwaymullina
• Dabu Grows Up – Selena Solomon
• Deadly Unna – Phillip Gwynne
• Desert Cowboy – Pat Lowe
• Desert Dog – Pat Lowe & Jimmy Pike
• Desert Dreamings – Deidre Stokes
• Djomi Dream Child – Christopher Fry
• Do Not Go Around the Edges – Daisy Utemorrah
• Dougy – James Moloney
• Dunbi the Owl – Pamela Loftus
• Eagle’s Nest Warlawurra Manngutjarra – June Walkutjukurr Richards
• Echidna and the Shade Tree – Mung Mung Lirrmiyarri
• Enora and the Black Crane – Arone Raymond Meeks
• Ernie Dances to the Didgeridoo – Alison Lester
• Even More Tales of my Grandmother’s Dreamtime – Naiura
• Father Sky and Mother Earth – Oodgeroo
• Flying Emu & Other Australian Stories – Sally Morgan
• From Little Things Big Things Grow – Paul Kelly
• Gelam and the Man from Moa – Anne Abednego Gela
• Gracey – James Moloney
• Growing up at Uluru – Stan Breeton
• Gudjal Book of Animals – William C Santo
• Gudjal Book of Birds – William C Santo
• Home to Mother – Doris Pilkington
• How the Kangaroos Got their Tales – Mung Mung Lirrmiyarri
• How the Cassowary Got its Helmet – Trevor Fourmile
• How the Birds Got their Colour – Mung Mung Lirrmiyarri
• Kuiyku Mabaigal Waii and Sobai – Aidan Laza
• Jalygurr – Pat Torres
• Jirrbal Rainforest Dreamtime Stories – Maisie (Yarrcali) Barlow
• Joshua and the Two Crabs – Joshua Button
• Kakadu Calling – Jane Christopherson
• Kangaroo and the Porpoise – Mung Mung Lirrmiyarri
• Kootear the Echidna – Cindy Laws
• Kupi Kupi and the Girl – Daphne Puntjina Burton
• Leaving Barrumbi – Leonie Norrington
• Life in the Great Sandy Desert – Pat Lowe & Jummy Pike
• Little Platypus and the Fire Spirit – Mundara Koorang
• Lizard Gang – Kirra Liscia Somerville
• Loongie the Greedy Crocodile - Lucy and Keifer Dann
• Love Like Water – Meme McDonald
• Lowitja – Lowitja O’Donoghue
• Luumpa The Magical Kingfisher – Bai Bai Napangarti
• Macquarie Aboriginal Words – Various
• Macquarie Atlas of Indigenous Australia – Bill Arthur
• Magic Fire at Warlukurlangu – Matingali Napanangka Mudgedell
• Malu Kangaroo – Judith Morecroft
• Mark of Wagarl – Lorna Little
• Maybe Tomorrow – Pryor & McDonald
• Molly the Grey Kangaroo – John Lewis Clark
• Moonglue – Daisy Utemorrah
• More Tales of My Grandmother’s Dreamtime – Naiura
• My Country – William C Santo
• My Girragundji – Pryor & McDonald
• My Home in Kakadu – Jane Christopherson
• My Place – Sally Morgan
• Nana’s Land – Delphine Sarago-Kendrick
• Nardika Learns to Make a Spear – Chris Fry
• Nargun and the Stars – Patricia Wrightson
• Njunjul the Sun- Pryor & McDonald
• Old Frangipani Tree at Flying Fish Point – Trina Saffioti
• Old Tucker Man – Debbie Austin
• On Country: The Stories of Nyrlotte – Fiona Doyle
• Our Pet Pelican – Carol Mooka
• Outback – Annaliese Porter
• Pangkarlangu and the Lost Child – Molly Tasman Napurrurla
• Papunya School Book of History and Culture – Various
• Patterns of Australia – Bronwyn Bancroft
• People and Places an Indigenous First Discovery Book – Debbie Austin
• Possum and Wattle: My Big Book of Australian Words – Bronwyn Bancroft
• Rabbit Proof Fence – Doris Pilkington
• Rainbow Bird – Eric Maddern
• Sacred Cows – Anita Heiss & Danny Eastwood
• Sally’s Story – Sally Morgan
• Shack that Dad Built – Elaine Russell
• Sisi and the Cassowary – Arone Raymond Meeks
• Spirit of Barrumbi – Leonie Norrington
• Spotted Cat – Molly Tasman Napurrurla
• Stories from the Billabong – James Vance Marshall
• Stradbroke Dreamtime – Oodgeroo & Bronwyn Bancroft
• Tales of My Grandmother series (3 volumes) – Naiura
• Tangara – Nan Chauncy
• Tell Me Why – Robyn Templeton & Sarah Jackson
• The Barrumbi Kids – Leonie Norrington
• The Burnt Stick – Anthony Hill
• The Dream – Rae Harris & Beryl Harp
• The Flytrap – Meme McDonald
• The Magic Colours – Cecilia Egan
• The Other Side – Sally Morgan
• Tiddalik the Frog – Faundez
• Tjarany Roughtail: the Dreaming of the Rougtail Lizard – Gracie Greene
• Tom Tom – Rosemary Sullivan & Dee Huxley
• Turtle Egg Day – Ruth Thompson
• Two Hands Together – Dianna Kidd
• Two Hearted Numbat – Ambelin and Ezekiel Kwaymullina
• Two Wallabies – Henry Cook Jackamara
• Unna You Fullas – Glenyse Ward
• Walking with the Seasons – Diane Lucas
• Wandihnu and the Old Dugung – Elizabeth and Wandihnu Wymarra
• Warnayarra – the Rainbow Snake – Pamela Loftus
• When I Was Little Like You – Mary Malbunka
• When the Snake Bites the Sun – Mung Mung Lirrmiyarri
• White Clay and the Giant Kangaroo – Cecilia Egan
• Who’s That Jumbun in the Log? – Narelle McRobbie & Grace Fielding
• Willy Willy and the Ant – Cecilia Egan
• Winin Why the Emu Cannot Fly – Mary Carmel Charles
• Yolngu Aboriginal Spirit – Mununggurr & Yunupingu
• You and Me, Marrawee – Kerri Hashmi
• You and Me, Our Place – Leonie Norrington & De Huxley
• Yumba Days – Herb Wharton

Additional Recommendations

• Who Am I? The Diary of Mary Talence, Sydney 1937 – Anita Heiss
• Lenny and the Big Red Kinan -Faith Baiden (RUD review)
• Fair Skin Black Fella – Renee Fogorty (RUD review)