Young Dark Emu: A Truer History is a children’s version of Bruce Pascoe’s incredibly popular Dark Emu – a book that explains that Australian Aboriginals at the time of British colonisation were not only hunter gatherers, but also people who made agricultural use of their land. They were people who settled and built villages – something the British denied in order to establish their own claim over the land.

This book is the perfect jumping board for families to talk about Australia’s historical treatment of our Indigenous peoples. It is full of diary entries of settlers from the time – many of which seem mind-blowingly ignorant. It’s full of ingenious ways Aboriginals worked and sustained the land for thousands and thousands of years. But more than anything, Young Dark Emu is an interesting book. After reading it, your kids will want to know more – about our land, its native fauna and flora, its people and how they fought off the Europeans. Young Dark Emu will give your child a thirst for our Indigenous cultures and I cannot think of a better reason to buy a book.

Dani Solomon is the assistant manager at Readings Kids.