Yinti is a young Walmajarri boy, growing up in the Great Sandy Desert. His early life is told through the ‘Yinti’ series.

In Desert Child we see Yinti training to be a good hunter and a brave fighter. His classrooms are the sand hills and water holes of the desert. His teachers are his mothers, cousins and the older boys of his people. He learns to make spears and boomerangs, to read tracks, to defend himself as well as finding and capturing food. He hears the stories of his people handed down through generations.

Desert Dog sees life through the eyes of Yinti’s family’s pet dingo. It shows the important relationship with the dingo. He helps hunt with and protect his humans.

In Desert Cowboy, Yinti meets the kartiya, or white man, for the first time. He and his family move from the desert – the last of their generation at the time – and onto farming stations. He learns the ways of station life, how to ride a horse, how to muster and brand cattle as well as repairing and replacing fences. He continues to use his desert skills on the stations, making him a skilful worker.

The ‘Yinti’ series is an insightful collaboration between Jimmy Pike and his wife, Pat Lowe. The stories are ones that Jimmy recalls from his childhood and gives a rare insight into the traditional life and culture of First Nations people.

Reviewed by Cathy d’Apice
Age Guide 5 to 100