📙🧡Hooking First Nations readers🧡📙
At the core of our work, we were inspired by the opportunity to hook First Nations readers. Readers who traditionally haven’t seen or read their stories told with diversity, complexity and nuance like some readers from other backgrounds. Readers who have a long history of vibrant and engaging oral history, iconography, dance, movement and sound- but that hasn’t always been reflected in the written works published in this Country.
Readers now are in a time with access to a widening range of powerful books.We are now part of an amazing community of creators- the icons who pushed forward First Nations publishing and writing to where it is today, and those new writers creating inspiring and engaging work- and the body of amazing First Nations works now continue to grow. So in theory it should be easier than ever to hook First Nations readers.
But we are also in a time of AI slop books, celebrity books, a cost of living crisis impacting access to books for some, a time of deep inequality when we think access to books in remote or regional areas (not to mention housing, health services and many other factors), and with many things competing for readers attention such as social media, streaming services and more.
So how do we hook First Nations readers?
🔸Read books by First Nations creators with your child 🔸Champion First Nations role models who read and promote books 🔸Be a role model as a reader- read First Nations books yourself, keep books visible in your ‘to-be-read pile’, in your bag, read at bus stops or at the playground 🔸Display a range of engaging texts on bookshelves with a range of entry points- including SPELDSA Aboriginal books, hi-lo options, diverse books 🔸Provide time to engage with books (Drop Everything and Read (DEAR) time for example), reading for joy, guided reading opportunities, bedtime books 🔸Celebrate books and reading such as book week, reading breakfasts, Premier Reading Challenge etc. As well as books related to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers- such as NAIDOC, Reconciliation week, Sorry Day 🔸Get to know children’s interests so you can recommend books 🔸Visit the library together, chat with librarians, read together, go to their events 🔸Visit bookshops and book events (author talks, illustrator workshops, writing festivals) together 🔸Find ways to get books into First Nations children’s hands- through programs such as Indiegnous Literacy Foundation, Aboriginal Literacy and Numeracy Foundation Share a Book program, Magabala Books Small Seeds program, Books and Boots Tiny Treasure program, Fremantle Press Bookaburra program. 🔸Be mindful not to pigeon hole First Nations readers as well. Provide them with a wide range of books by a diverse range of authors. Show them life and cultures and countries beyond their own. Jobs beyond their community, opportunities, places to explore.
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