A grant of $33,550 from the Copyright Agency's Cultural Fund has enabled Magabala Books to soon deliver comprehensive teaching resources for 15 of our children’s titles, via the agency’s Reading Australia website.

The books were selected in partnership with the Australian Literacy Educators’ Association (ALEA), and chosen for their educational and literary value and appropriateness for different primary year levels.

Magabala Books Chairperson, Edie Wright, says “With increasing demand for Indigenous content as a result of the Australian Curriculum, it is vital that teachers have access to stories authored by Indigenous people.

“You cannot replace the power of reading a story from an Indigenous person’s perspective. The Copyright Agency’s Reading Australia website provides an extraordinary resource for teachers. We are thrilled to be working with Reading Australia and ALEA and we hope that many more teachers will use Indigenous titles in their classrooms as a result.”

Primary School teaching resources will be developed for 15 Indigenous tiles and housed on the Reading Australia website. Resources for the first four titles will available in March 2017, with more resources rolled out in July and December this year.

The first eight titles that have been selected are:

Stage 1 – available March 2017

• Once there was a boy – Written and illustrated by Dub Leffler
• The Lizard Gang – Written by Kirra Somerville and illustrated by Grace Fielding
• Mad Magpie – Written and illustrated by Gregg Dreise
• Fog a Dox – Written by Bruce Pascoe

Stage 2 – available July 2017

• Two Mates – Written by Melanie Prewett and illustrated by Maggie Prewett
• Scaly-tailed Possum and Echidna – Written by Cathy Goonack and illustrated by Katrina Goonack, Marlene Goonack, Myron Goonack
• Stolen Girl – Written by Trina Saffioti and illustrated by Norma MacDonald
• The Girl from the Great Sandy Desert – Written by Jukuna Mona Chuguna, Pat Lowe and illustrated by Mervyn Street

This article originally featured on the Reading Australia website.