Book Review – Lenny and the Big Red Kinan
An Awabakal Language Children’s Picture Book by Faith Baisden
Awabakal is the language of the Indigenous Australians from the Newcastle, Lake Macquarie and Lower Hunter area of New South Wales, Australia. In Lenny and the Big Red Kinan (Binabar Books, 2008) author and illustrator Faith Baisden takes readers on a simple bushwalk with Lenny, sharing with them Awabakal words related to the many things Lenny finds as he enjoys his adventure.
Lenny and the Big Red Kinan
One day, Lenny sets off to enjoy a walk through the kurang (bush). He takes with him his big red kinan (bag), so that he can bring home some of the things he finds along his way to show his tankaan (mother).
As Lenny walks he finds several different insects hiding under rocks, leaves, sticks and in other places. He puts each insect into his kinan until he finally returns to his koyiyoong (home).
The story is simply told with a gentle repetition that will appeal to children. The illustrations are bright, stylised images of the insects Lenny finds and their hiding places as well as images of Lenny with his big red kinan.
The book includes an Awabakal pronunciation guide and notes on the correct rhythmic stress for Awabakal nouns. The final page lists more than 60 Awabakal words (with their English equivalent) that could be needed on a walk through the Australian bush.
The Awabakal People
The Awabakal people are the original inhabitants of an area on the New South Wales east coast including Newcastle, Lake Macquarie and a portion of the Lower Hunter Valley.
Further information about the Awabakal people and language can be found at The Arwarbukarl Cultural Resource Centre Inc. This organisation is working to bring awareness to both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal children and adults about the culture and heritage of the Awabakal people as well as working intensively to manage the reclamation and revitilisation of the local Awabakal language.
The aim of revitilising the Awabakal language is aided by the promotion of books such as Lenny and the Big Red Kinan as well as the development of computer language tools to aid Aboriginal Language workers such as the Miromaa language software program used to digitise traditional languages and create language tools.
Teaching Young Children About Aboriginal Language
Lenny and the Big Red Kinan is a fun way to introduce children to the Awabakal language and would be particularly useful as a classroom resource for teachers, especially in the Newcastle, Lake Macquarie, Central Coast and Hunter region.
The storybook is also available as Lenny and the Big Red Gullai, which features words from the Yugambeh language region of south-east Queensland.
Lenny and the Big Red Kinan can be purchased online from the Arwarbukarl Cultural Resource Association.
Lenny and the Big Red Kinan (ISBN: 978-0-98053-591-4, 16 pages)
Lenny and the Big Red Kinan by Faith Baisden
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