The publisher says...

Told in English and Gija, this is the story of Shirley Purdie, famous Gija artist, as told through her paintings, as part of the Ngaalim-Ngalimboorro Ngagenybe exhibition created for the 2018 National Portrait Gallery exhibition So Fine: Contemporary women artists make Australian history. The exhibition will be rehung, in Gallery 1, to coincide with the launch of My Story, along with a series of cultural engagement activities based on My Story. 

This is the first book in the Kimberley Art Centre Series. The series focuses on developing the skills of Kimberley Aboriginal artists in children’s picture book storytelling and illustration. 

The CBCA judges say...

There is strength in the simplicity of these illustrations that belie the profound nature of this autobiographical story. The dot work used as an outline is effective and complements the written text also surrounded by dots. The use of Indigenous language is paramount to telling a story that belongs to another culture. The art style falls into a naive-indigenous genre which is a whole new concept transcending the two cultures. Glorious earth colours convey meaning to the print text. The endpapers exemplify the sophistication of this artist’s design aesthetic and the extra text at the end of the book provides information which allows the reader to understand the author’s story at a deeper level.

The Reading Time reviewers say...