Reviewed by Wendy Lipke
This hard-covered children’s picture book is about a young girl becoming aware of another language that her grandfather could speak. Myra is staying with her grandfather and enjoying his company. One day she hears him on the phone speaking in a language she has never heard before. When she asks him about it, he becomes very evasive and changes the subject. This piques her interest and she keeps referring to it. Just before she leaves, he gives her one word – ‘Gumera’. This is the Yugambeh word for love.
This story is accompanied by pictures of Myra and her grandfather enjoying their time together, but they also show the grandfather’s concern about Myra’s interest in the different language. He finally tells her about being punished for speaking that language. When he was younger.
The author has provided a full-page note after the story which explains why this grandfather was so fearful and how now many of the descendants of First Nations People are trying to revive some of the languages of their ancestors.
Simple sketches of flora and fauna can also be seen on some of the pages.
This is a well-presented book providing a truth-telling to the early history of Australia and showing how language is so important to culture. It provides a sense of belonging.
Just one word was all it needed for a young girl to discover an alternative history from one she had probably grown up with and to give her a closer link to her own ancestry.
One Word
(2026)
Written and illustrated by Melissa-Jane Fogarty
Lothian Children’s Books
ISBN:978-0-7344-2333-7
$24.99; 36pp