James Vance Marshall, best known for the novel Walkabout, and subsequent film, has collected together 10 Dreamtime stories originally told by storytellers from the Yorta Yorta people. It is a wonderful collection, surely designed to be read aloud, and containing those insights from ancient wisdom we expect from all great folklore. The ‘Rainbow Serpent’ creation story is there, with its reverence for the land and all its creatures, along with (for example) ‘How the Kangaroo Got her Pouch’, ‘Why the Platypus is Such a Special Creature’ and ‘Why Brolgas Dance’.

The illustrations by the aboriginal artist and storyteller Francis Firebrace, and the inclusion of brief explanatory paragraphs about the background of the stories help make them ‘available’ for a non-Aboriginal audience. Frances Lincoln, the publishers, are a UK publishing house who have a commitment to multicultural publishing. A good book for families to share, both here and overseas.