Books published by publisher Magabala Books

Written with gentle humour and a beautiful interpretation of landscape, this adventure story about Jack and his family is reminiscent of endless summers, azure seas and sandy white beaches. Jack, his dad Vince, sister Tanya, and mum Carla, escape to Seahorse Bay whenever they can. Idyllic days are spent exploring the waters of the bay, diving, fishing and cooking up feasts on the beach — and, for Jack, daydreaming of long-gone shipwrecks and forgotten treasure. Jack cannot believe his luck when he comes across a sunken boat not far off the coast. When he shows his father, they discover it is in pristine condition and decide to take on the challenge of salvaging it. But what is the story behind this mysterious boat? How long has it been in the bay? How did it get there? And who is the man on the cliff with the binoculars? When the boat is finally raised, the adventure begins…

History has portrayed Australia's First Peoples, the Aboriginals, as hunter-gatherers who lived on an empty, uncultivated land. History is wrong. In this seminal book, Bruce Pascoe uncovers evidence that long before the arrival of white men, Aboriginal people across the continent were building dams and wells; planting, irrigating, and harvesting seeds, and then preserving the surplus and storing it in houses, sheds, or secure vessels; and creating elaborate cemeteries and manipulating the landscape. All of these behaviours were inconsistent with the hunter-gatherer tag, which turns out to have been a convenient lie that worked to justify dispossession. Using compelling evidence from the records and diaries of early Australian explorers and colonists, he reveals that Aboriginal systems of food production and land management have been blatantly understated in modern retellings of early Aboriginal history, and that a new look at Australia's past is required -- for the benefit of us all. Dark Emu , a bestseller in Australia, won both the Book of the Year Award and the Indigenous Writer's Prize in the New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards.

Once There Was a Boy is a poignant, universal story of friendship, temptation and reconciliation. The disarmingly sweet, simple language in this whimsical children’s picture book belies an emotional depth that allows the author to reach out to both the young, and the young at heart. This stunning picture book is transformed into a gently touching grown-up story by the use of sophisticated allegorical elements, such as the heart as love or friendship and the sapotes as forbidden fruit.

Calypso Summer is a story told by Calypso, a young Nukunu man, fresh out of high school in Rastafarian guise. After failing to secure employment in sports retail, his dream occupation, Calypso finds work at the Henley Beach Health Food shop where his boss pressures him to gather Aboriginal plants for natural remedies. Growing up in urban Adelaide and with little understanding of his mother’s traditional background, Calypso endeavours to find the appropriate native plants. This leads him to his Nukunu family in Port Augusta and the discovery of a world steeped in cultural knowledge. The support of a sassy, smart, young Ngadjuri girl, with a passion for cricket rivalling his own, helps Calypso to reconsider his Rastafarian façade and understand how to take charge of his future.

From ‘Dinky the Dingo’ to ‘Finding My Way Home,’ Jane Christophersen presents an engaging collection of short stories for young readers. Jane reveals the wonders of daily life in the bush and includes messages about caring for the environment and retaining culture. Kakadu Calling is an excellent book for children developing their reading skills. Jane’s style makes it easy reading for young people. Jane includes moral points and addresses issues such as independence, identity, remoteness and cultural connection, that are related to children today.

Rise of the Fallen is a young adult paranormal romance, the first in a series of novels with demons, angels and elementals at war for power. This contemporary, super-sharp story with sardonic humour features a feisty main character in Emilie and a love triangle. The battles take place in familiar settings: shopping malls, street corners, the Australian bushland and up and down the Queensland coast. Emilie, fire elemental, and Cael, water elemental, are wanted by the entire demonic realm. Lying low in the human realm – as students at a Brisbane school – Emilie encounters the mysterious and charming Soul, and soon finds herself lost in the very world she’s been running from for centuries.

Age range 3 to 6Mad Magpie is the third book in this successful series of morality tales from Gregg Dreise. Inspired by wise sayings and the knowledge of his Elders, Mad Magpie tells the story of Guluu, an angry magpie who is being teased by a gang of butcher birds. The more he is teased, the angrier he becomes. When Guluu seeks advice, his Elders tell him to stay calm like the river, ignore the butcher birds and to be strong on the inside. Guluu tries this, but the cheeky birds just laugh at him. One day, when Guluu is at the river looking for worms, the butcher birds arrive and steal his food. He remembers the words of his Elders and he tries again – and this time Guluu has a different outcome. He stands proudly at the riverbank and remembers how he used to sing when he was having a bad day. Guluu sings so loud he cannot hear the birds laughing at him and they eventually give up and fly away. From that time on, the animals learnt to use music to create a happy mood and they worked together to stop bullying.

Age range 3 to 6Steve is a gorilla who lives at a zoo in Rio. In the evenings, he listens to jazz on the radio with his friend, Antonio the zookeeper. One night, Steve is feeling a little lonely and so he lifts the latch of his cage door and goes off to search for Antonio. At the tram stop outside the zoo, he finds a hat — the perfect disguise. Steve climbs aboard a tram and rides down the hillside, past the favelas and into the city. It is carnival time in Rio! Fireworks explode in the sky and sequinned dancers shimmy along the avenue. ‘Feliz Carnaval’ cry the sambistas. Steve follows the sounds of a saxophone and discovers his friend Antonio playing in a quartet at the Blue Jaguar Jazz Club. When a beautiful dancer steps on to the dance floor, Steve takes her by the hand. They twirl and twist to the music until suddenly, Steve’s hat falls off to reveal he is a gorilla! Calmly, the dancer puts Steve’s hat back on his head and they spin this way and that way, this way and that way, all the way to dawn.

Age range 3 to 10 Alfred’s War is a powerful story that unmasks the lack of recognition given to Australian Indigenous servicemen who returned from the WWI battlelines. Alfred was just a young man when he was injured and shipped home from France. Neither honoured as a returned soldier or offered government support afforded to non-Indigenous servicemen, Alfred took up a solitary life walking the back roads – billy tied to his swag, finding work where he could.Alfred was a forgotten soldier. Although he had fought bravely in the Great War, as an Aboriginal man he wasn’t classed as a citizen of his own country. Yet Alfred always remembered his friends in the trenches and the mateship they had shared. Sometimes he could still hear the never-ending gunfire in his head and the whispers of diggers praying. Every year on ANZAC Day, Alfred walked to the nearest town, where he would quietly stand behind the people gathered and pay homage to his fallen mates.Rachel Bin Salleh’s poignant narrative opens our hearts to the sacrifice and contribution that Indigenous people have made to Australia’s war efforts, the true extent of which is only now being revealed.

There once lived a sad lady whose only friends were the flowers in her garden. By chance she discovers a mysterious plant growing by her house and decides to water it. So begins the magical and unexpected adventure of a plant that changes the very essence of people’s lives. Starting with a spotty dotty flower, to a spotty dotty kettle, to spotty dotty walls and the journey down the footpath, the sad lady begins to paint her way to happiness and is soon joined by many new friends. A children’s tale full of charm and gentleness paired with stunning watercolour illustrations, The Spotty Dotty Lady offers a glimpse of how the natural and emotional worlds can connect in making the ordinary extraordinary.

Eleven-year-old Dylan has to move from Mt Isa to Brisbane and he’s not happy. But as soon as he gets to Flatwater State School he finds a former Mount Isa Miner’s footy supporter in his principal and a ‘Broncos tragic’ as a teacher. He also makes a friend in Justice Jones and an enemy in Jared Knutz. Dylan is cursed with an abnormality transforming him into a fully-grown man whenever he gets angry. Always a worry, the ‘curse’ proves to be a blessing in the city when his alter ego attracts the interest of the Broncos during a class excursion to watch the team train. Dylan becomes ‘Deadly D’ – a star player with the fire to rival even the great Prince! But how will he continue to keep the ‘curse’ a secret?