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diaspora_reader's review
5.0
Beautiful and thoughtful and powerful and perfect. Buy it. Read it with the children. Explain to them we are living on stolen land and to always recognise who it belongs to til this day. This island Always was and always will be Aboriginal Land. Amy McQuire is one of the best writers Australia has.
jaclyn_sixminutesforme's review
5.0
Beautifully paired illustrations with this story, perfect for starting conversations with younger readers about living on stolen land, the importance of correcting the way history is taught in schools and celebrated collectively, and why 26 Jan is not a day of celebration.
littlerah's review
hopeful
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
kateybellew's review
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
An incredibly poignant and gentle picture book about what ‘Australia Day’ means to many Aboriginal people and communities, explaining why it is not a day of celebration, but a day of remembering, truth telling, and mourning. Really well done, and the illustrations are stunning. Moving and important.
jessiquie's review
5.0
[b:Day Break|56666477|Day Break|Amy McQuire|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1610637193l/56666477._SX50_.jpg|88563952] by Amy McQuire and Matt Chun is the often silenced side of the great Australian Day debate, it's the voice of our Indigenous people, and it's their story of what the day means to and for them. It's a picture book bursting at the seems with heart and soul, with hurt and sorrow, and love and compassion. It's gentle, though provoking and an extremely powerful book that needs to be better acknowledged.
I am not an Indigenous Australian, as such I do not wish for my words, opinions or reviews to overshadow those written by Indigenous Australians; I urge you to look up reviews of this book (and many others) written by Indigenous reviewers and organisations. Their input and opinions on this book matter more than my own, I just want to do my part in getting this brilliant book out there to as many readers as possible.
[b:Day Break|56666477|Day Break|Amy McQuire|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1610637193l/56666477._SX50_.jpg|88563952] is an Indigenous story. It is a gentle tale told as a multi-generational conversation between child, parent and grandparent. It seeks to educate ALL Australians on the true history of Australian Day and the traditions that matter. It doesn't seek to point fingers, to argue or cause debate, but rather its a way for Indigenous children to see themselves, their communities, their experiences and their ceremonies presented in picture books that are readily available.
The book contrasts 'traditional' Anglo-Saxon celebrations of Australia Day with the Indigenous culture by offering a side by side comparison. It artfully illustrates how our schooling system depicts only one version (the Anglo-Saxon) of the day through early art of the flag and the teachings that "white men discovered our country" despite Indigenous Australians having been here "for tens of thousands of years" beforehand. It furthers this by picturing a day celebrating on the beach, with flags and various other merchandise vs the ceremony held in country, walking barefoot on the earth, with the land and family.
'If we forget what happened to us, Dad Says, 'we lose a part of who we are.'
Although largely centered around Australia Day, [b:Day Break|56666477|Day Break|Amy McQuire|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1610637193l/56666477._SX50_.jpg|88563952] is a book about Indigenous history as a whole, written and penned by Indigenous people for Indigenous readers. It is a way for Indigenous children to see themselves in the story, to see their history told. It speaks about the invasion of white settlers, and touches on the stolen generation. The past hurts are laid bare, so that the future remains hopeful.
And as long as you are here, on this Country, you will remember. It is our land. Always was. Always will be.
I stumbled across this book in my local library completely by accident, and I am so thankful that I did. [b:Day Break|56666477|Day Break|Amy McQuire|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1610637193l/56666477._SX50_.jpg|88563952] is a book that belongs in every classroom around the country. It deserves so much more attention, but more importantly, I hope that it's readers are finding it easily. That Indigenous readers are seeing themselves and their experiences on the page. That they feel seen and heard.
This review was originally published at The Never Ending Bookshelf on 20th March 2021 and can be found here: https://nevendbookshelf.wordpress.com/2021/03/20/review-day-break-by-amy-mcquire-matt-chun/
I am not an Indigenous Australian, as such I do not wish for my words, opinions or reviews to overshadow those written by Indigenous Australians; I urge you to look up reviews of this book (and many others) written by Indigenous reviewers and organisations. Their input and opinions on this book matter more than my own, I just want to do my part in getting this brilliant book out there to as many readers as possible.
[b:Day Break|56666477|Day Break|Amy McQuire|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1610637193l/56666477._SX50_.jpg|88563952] is an Indigenous story. It is a gentle tale told as a multi-generational conversation between child, parent and grandparent. It seeks to educate ALL Australians on the true history of Australian Day and the traditions that matter. It doesn't seek to point fingers, to argue or cause debate, but rather its a way for Indigenous children to see themselves, their communities, their experiences and their ceremonies presented in picture books that are readily available.
The book contrasts 'traditional' Anglo-Saxon celebrations of Australia Day with the Indigenous culture by offering a side by side comparison. It artfully illustrates how our schooling system depicts only one version (the Anglo-Saxon) of the day through early art of the flag and the teachings that "white men discovered our country" despite Indigenous Australians having been here "for tens of thousands of years" beforehand. It furthers this by picturing a day celebrating on the beach, with flags and various other merchandise vs the ceremony held in country, walking barefoot on the earth, with the land and family.
'If we forget what happened to us, Dad Says, 'we lose a part of who we are.'
Although largely centered around Australia Day, [b:Day Break|56666477|Day Break|Amy McQuire|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1610637193l/56666477._SX50_.jpg|88563952] is a book about Indigenous history as a whole, written and penned by Indigenous people for Indigenous readers. It is a way for Indigenous children to see themselves in the story, to see their history told. It speaks about the invasion of white settlers, and touches on the stolen generation. The past hurts are laid bare, so that the future remains hopeful.
And as long as you are here, on this Country, you will remember. It is our land. Always was. Always will be.
I stumbled across this book in my local library completely by accident, and I am so thankful that I did. [b:Day Break|56666477|Day Break|Amy McQuire|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1610637193l/56666477._SX50_.jpg|88563952] is a book that belongs in every classroom around the country. It deserves so much more attention, but more importantly, I hope that it's readers are finding it easily. That Indigenous readers are seeing themselves and their experiences on the page. That they feel seen and heard.
This review was originally published at The Never Ending Bookshelf on 20th March 2021 and can be found here: https://nevendbookshelf.wordpress.com/2021/03/20/review-day-break-by-amy-mcquire-matt-chun/
ozshark's review
4.0
A quiet, thoughtful book about Australia Day from an indigenous perspective, as a family teach their young daughter about their ways and what the day means for them. Gorgeous, water-colour illustrations accompany the narrative. An excellent book to start conversations and to try to get the reader to view someone else's perspective.
lmurray74's review
5.0
Day Break by Amy McQuire, a Darumbal and South Sea Islander woman born in Rockhampton, QLD and illustrated by Matt Chun. Amy McQuire is a renowned and award winning journalist and has worked in a variety of media settings. Day Break is her first children's book and before reading it with children I recommend reading Honouring the resistance of Black families and speaking truth to children published on Indigenous X. From the article: "There is a reason why so many Indigenous children reported feeling silenced. The lies about the ‘settlement’ of this country were not innocent; these lies had a purpose. That purpose was to secure white supremacy in this land, and to erase black presence and black resistance." and "The book is about how First Nations families and children enact their own sovereignties on this day; which represents a national celebration of genocide. When Matt and I were thinking about what we wanted to portray, we kept coming back to the act of remembering as a form of resistance. Australia Day is at its heart about amnesia. Every January 26, Australia tells us to forget and to move on or be co-opted or assimilated into ‘celebrations’. We wanted to contrast Australian displays of amnesia with Aboriginal ways of remembering." The book can be shared with children kinder age and up but not as a stand alone read-aloud, especially not on January 26th or around that date. It's a jumping off point for discussion and a book you can return to. Indigenous X is an excellent place to go for resources and it's celebrating its 10th birthday this year!
gillyreads's review
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
5.0
This is a beautifully written and illustrated picture book that provides clear truth telling about so-called Australia's history and 'Australia Day'. Amy's words are powerful and work perfectly with illustrations to provide both a poignant story of one family's remembrance as well as a clear and direct message to all that is impossible to misunderstand (unless done wilfully). I hope this book is read by every family.
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