Discovery Press Books

The Indigenous First Discovery Series was created to help raise awareness of the importance of using Australian symbols to teach stories to all Australian children, just as they have been taught to Indigenous children for over 60,000 years.

‘Animals’, ‘People & Places’ and ‘At the Billabong’ are the first three titles from Indigenous First Discovery Books for infants and toddlers.

Created by acclaimed local artist and author Debbie Austin, these innovative books invite parents to share the symbols of Indigenous Australian culture with their children.

The first two books in the series use universal Aboriginal symbols in a traditional style. The design reflects research that newborn babies respond to strong contrasting colours, especially when there is a single image per page to focus on. Our experience shows that babies as young as seven weeks can sustain concentration and curiosity for up to 12 minutes when shown these books by their parents.

The third book, ‘At the Billabong’, introduces a simple story using the symbols to describe how the thirsty animals arrive at the billabong for a drink.

The books can be used in conjunction with other Indigenous resources and Australian animal books to create story-play scenarios.

Prices for these books can be found here.

Resource Guide

The Indigenous First Discovery Book Resource Guide includes instructions for activities in conjunction with the books, fun activities such as Stone Story Telling, Matching Games and Combination Stories, and more. This 14-page resource guide has been developed in accordance with the Early Years Learning Framework with activities for all children of all age groups. More information about this resource can be found here.