Bush Bugs is a colourful array of Australian insects that will captivate young children. From spiky stick insects to hairy spiders, from blood-sucking mosquitos to dung-eating blow flies and feasting wasps, this is a fun and easy-to-read book introducing tiny readers to tiny bush critters.
Crow Baby tells the story of a baby born with two spirits – one human and one crow. The baby grows up to be Daisy Crow, a girl who lives with humans by day and flies with the crows in her dreams. Crow Baby is a bittersweet story of sacrifice, metamorphosis and change. It introduces key First Nations concepts of dream journeys and spiritual gifts to young readers aged 6+ and gives them much to think about and discuss.
In this episode Gregory Dobbs chats to Helen Milroy about creating a shortlist of our amazing bush bugs, finding the beauty in a blowfly, tracing the origins of the Daisy Crow character and how her background in mental health shapes her approach to storytelling.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Dr Helen Milroy is a descendant of the Palyku people of the Pilbara region of Western Australia. She was born and educated in Perth. Australia’s first Indigenous doctor, Helen studied medicine at the University of Western Australia. She is currently Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at UWA and Honorary Research Fellow at Telethon Kids Institute. Helen is also a Commissioner with the National Mental Health Commission. Helen was recently appointed as the AFL’s first indigenous commissioner. Wombat, Mudlark and Other Stories is her first book for children.
