Welcome To Country

An Aboriginal ceremony of Welcome to Country is depicted in a stunning board book from two Indigenous Australians.

Welcome to the lands of the Wurundjeri people. The people are part of the land, and the land is a part of them. Aboriginal communities across Australia have boundaries that are defined by mountain ranges and waterways. Traditionally, to cross these boundaries, permission is required. Each community has its own way of greeting, but the practice shares a common name: a Welcome to Country. Aunty Joy Murphy Wandin, the senior Aboriginal elder of the Wurundjeri people, channels her passion for storytelling into a remarkable and utterly unique picture book that invites readers to discover some of the history and traditions of her people. Indigenous artist Lisa Kennedy gives the Wurundjeri Welcome to Country form in beautiful paintings rich with blues and browns, as full of wonder and history as the tradition they depict.

“Kids may pick up Welcome to Country: A Traditional Aboriginal Ceremony expecting something less abstract, but they won't be disappointed. Murphy's book-length meditation invoking Wurundjeri customs and values is beguiling, and Lisa Kennedy's acrylic paintings--some so multilayered that they could pass for embroidered tapestries--are dazzlers...While Welcome to Country uses the distinctive voice of the Wurundjeri of Australia, it speaks to everyone.”

This is an invitation to readers to embrace a sense of their country that not only puts its long Aboriginal history first, but values what that history can offer to us today. Recommended for readers five to fifty. Reading Time
Welcome to Country is an important narrative for teachers in schools and kindergartens and for families to share. Highly recommended. ReadPlus
A beautifully illustrated portayal of the Wurundjeri People and their connection to Country. Australian Family Therapists' Award For Children's Literature
This beautifully realised picture book...is a lyrical yet simple welcome to the traditional lands of the Gurundjeri People of Melbourne and the surrounding areas. Magpies Magazine
This is an important book for young readers and a boon for educators who are seeking to find really strong examples of Aboriginal culture and tradition. The beauty of the imagery only serves to enhance the gravitas of Aunty Joy’s Welcome to Country message. Creative Kids' Tales

Joy Murphy Wandin is a storyteller and writer who is passionate about using stories to bring people together and as a conduit for understanding aboriginal culture. She is an Officer of the Order of Australia. Welcome to Country is her first book. Aunty Joy lives in Victoria, Australia.

Lisa Kennedy is descendant of the Trawlwoolway People on the north-east coast of Tasmania. Lisa was born in Melbourne and as a child lived close to the Maribyrnong River. Here she experienced the gradual restoration of the natural river environment alongside cultural regeneration and reclamation. Through sense of place she feels connected to the Wurundjeri country and all that entails — the water, the land, the animals and the ancestors. The experience of loss and reclamation is embedded in her work. Welcome to Country is her first title with Walker Books.

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