The children’s book ‘Guuluu Gimbaijar’, meaning ‘bush friends’ in Worrimai language from the Worimi people of the mid north coast region of New South Wales. ‘GuuluuGimbaijar’ is a captivating contemporary story of mischievous critters awakening in the night. The story portrays a variety of characters with very different personalities and behaviors.

The book’s beautiful and vibrant illustrations stem from inspiration from land, culture, and children’s art, with author Cherie’s Johnsons 11-year-old daughter, Gabriella influencing the creation of the critter images. ‘Guuluu Gimbaijar’ incorporates Worrimai language throughout, which is the language of Birray, Guringay and Warrimay people and aims to act as a learning resource of language for young learners. This book is suited to OOSH, early childhood and primary school readers and incorporates a quirky sense of humor throughout.

The book contains a step-by-step guide to create the five characters made with easily accessible with coastal bush materials such as leaves and gum nuts.

This book will be accompanied with a teaching resources to outline how to navigate the resource while linking to the Australian curriculum and a focus on the Positive Behaviors for Learning and Problem Based Learning (PBL) pedagogy.

Written by Aboriginal educators Brielle Long, Gamilaroi woman and Cherie Johnson the easy-to-read teacher’s resource is linked to the Australian curriculum with a focus on the PBL program (Positive Behavior for Learning).