Wurundjeri Nursery Rhymes
In 2019, we were commissioned by Moonee Valley City Council to design and publish a series of Wurundjeri nursery rhymes in language. We worked closely with Aunty Gail Smith, her granddaughter Tienna Smith and other young people from the Wurundjeri to create a series of 12 booklets.
The books feature traditional children’s songs translated into Woi-wurrung by Aunty Gail Smith: Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, I’m a Little Teapot, Itsy Bitsy Spider, 5 Little Children Jumping on the Bed, 5 Little Ducks and Heads, Shoulders, Knees and Toes. Tienna Smith and Lily Mammone from the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung created illustrations for the books, which we then used as the basis for creating fun and colourful layouts.
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After a highly successful print run, we were engaged to produce an additional six books: Row, Row, Row Your Boat, Rock A Bye Baby, If You’re Happy and You Know It, Hokey Pokey, The Ants Go Marching and This Old Man. Each set of books has now had several sets of print runs. Woi-wurrung language was nearly lost as a result of European colonisation and these projects were an exciting opportunity to not only preserve but also revive and share the language with the Australian community. The next stage of the project involves creating films of the songs.
Client: Moonee Valley City Council & Aunty Gail Smith
Location: Moonee Valley, Victoria
Date: 2019 – 2025
Scope of works: Consultation, editing, illustration (in collaboration with Tienna Smith and Lily Mammone) and graphic design and printing
