Coming home to country by Bronwyn Bancroft

Little Hare, 2020. ISBN: 9781760501921. 24pp., hbk.
The saying "there's no place like home" has never been expressed so poignantly as in this new book from leading indigenous artist Bronwyn Bancroft who always creates a visual feast accompanied by lyrical text. The young girl is coming home across the old wrinkled hills, through the palette of "leaf green, red rust, yellow ochre, deep blue and crimson" to draw in the breath of the valley, listen to the bird orchestra, slip into crystal clear waters and be held in the embrace of her ancestors.
"This is peace" and even with its bright colours and traditional busy patterns, that is exactly the feeling that is evoked by the gentle words as they envelop the reader. With the tumultuous summer we are experiencing with such weather extremes and the insatiable fire dragon, this is the book that we and our children need so we can retreat to somewhere safe and know that there is the evidence that Mother Nature will prevail if we would only listen to those who have cared for the land for generations. In her dedication she urges her "three warriors" to keep rallying for change so that "all children can have hope for the future" and know that the fire-ravaged, desecrated landscape that they are seeing right now can heal.
A timely release as we seek to comfort those for whom everything currently seems bleak and black and silent so they know that there can and will be colour and noise and life again soon.
Barbara Braxton