Sam loves visiting and staying with his nanna, but the bush that surrounds her house makes him anxious. ‘I don’t like the bush,’ Sam tells his nanna. ‘I’d be happy if it disappeared.’ Nanna takes Sam on walks to show him the good things about the bush, too. But mosquitoes bite him, falling branches threaten him and spiky shrubs scratch him. In a dream, Sam encounters his fears and discovers the answers can be found in the very same places that he has come to dread.
Artist Bronwyn Bancroft’s imagery reinforces and enriches a sensitively told, child-centred text that celebrates the special bond across generations. Bancroft’s patterned landscapes sing with an almost musical energy, providing the ideal stage for Sam’s deeper understanding of the natural world and his place in it.
Sally Morgan, and Ezekiel Kwaymullina are both descended from the Palyku people of the eastern Pilbara region of Western Australia. Illustrator Bronwyn Bancroft is a descendant of the Djanbun clan of the Bundjalung nation.
Aboriginal and or Torres Strait Islander Resource
