As she lies dying, Grandmother, the Koori Warrior gives Wylah, the artist, her boomerang in the hope that she will take on the mantle and find the warrior within, to become the new Koori Warrior and thus save her tribe and their animals.
Authors Jordon Gould and Richard Pritchard tell the story of Wylah, the young Peek Whurrong girl from Maar Nation, who must save her family from an invading dragon army. Set in a fantasy alternative history world, the story of ‘Wylah The Koorie Warrior’ has been 40,000 years in the making,
When her students started becoming disruptive Wylah, their indigenous art teacher, decides to distract them by taking them out of the cave to enjoy a ride on a kangaroo. However, she soon notices that Po, one of her more troublesome pupils is missing, so she returns to the cave.
Before she and Po can leave the cave there is a sudden rock fall and they become trapped inside. After being dug out they realize that their world has changed; the conquering dragons have stolen all the village people including her family; her grandmother lies dying on the ground.
It is Wylah’s task to rescue her people and animals in order to bring them home. She can’t do this by herself. In order to defeat the powerful dragons, she has to find and reunite the five great Guardians of the tribe; this will be challenging. She has to transform into a warrior, so she must think strong and be strong, which will take time and effort.
As young readers will be entranced not only by the sensitively captivating illustrations, but also by the adventures of Wylah they will learn and understand more about the different cultural aspects, history, language and story of Australia’s First Nation people. Book two of Wylah’s heroic acts is on the horizon.
Note to teachers and Parents: The publishers have provided ‘Teacher Tips’ and tie ins to the Australian curriculum on their website. There is also a list of English and Peek Whurrong words contained in the story in a glossary at the end of the book.
