Children on place
Different types of places feature in this collection of books by children. Through words and art, the authors take readers to many places. Some are what we might call real places, from the authors’ past, and others are about the present. Various other places are imagined. And others still are combinations of lived and dreamt locations, times, spaces and places. Some stories and art tell of moving between places, of travelling, visiting or leaving permanently, and others consider possible futures in various locations.
One of the first books published by Kids’ Own Publishing in Australia is Kids’ Own Journeys (2004). As the title suggests, it focuses on journeys, both small and large. It tells the stories of movement, travel and journeying that children chose to share and were embedded in children’s memories.
Many of the books published by Kids’ Own Publishing are by children and their families who have recently come to live in Australia. Many of these families had to leave where they were living because of war, violence and persecution, and others have come to Australia for family members to work and study. One place that some children wrote and created art about was living in a refugee camp after needing to leave their home.
These books were created in locations around Australia, but all were published in Abbotsford in Victoria, which is on the land of the Wurundjeri people. Some books are specifically about Indigenous knowledge and stories of place, and include RiverBoy and River Boi.