Kirli Saunders' "Bindi" teachers' review

Posted: August 25, 2023

Categories: Literacy, Talking Texts

Tags: literacy, classroom suggestions, book review

Author: Jane Sherlock and Deb McPherson

Talking Texts with Deb & Jane: a review of Kirli Saunders' "Bindi" for teachers

3 March 2024: added NESA syllabus references.

Brief description and distinctive features

Brief description of Bindi:

Bindi is a delightful verse novel written by Kirli Saunders - a proud Gunai woman with ties to the Yuin, Gundungurra, Gadigal and Biripi people of Australia. Bindi combines engaging characters, a compelling narrative which will resonate with many communities, and a rich layer of First Nations Connection to Country. Although the main character, Bindi Hoskins, is eleven, Years 7 and 8 students will enjoy the text. Written from the point of view of Bindi, the reader can directly engage with Bindi’s descriptions of riding her horse Nell, playing hockey and painting murals on her bedroom wall as well as the terror of the bushfires. Bindi’s extended family share stories of Country and this is especially relevant as their town and community is suffering a prolonged drought and bush fires are feared and then calamitously arrive. In the aftermath of the fires the community draws together in support and comfort. Bindi has won many awards and Reading Australia has a free resource.

Distinctive features of Bindi:

A collaboration by two Indigenous creators – Kirli Saunders and Dub Leffler. Saunders is also a poet and a painter and was the 2020 NSW Aboriginal Woman of the Year. Leffler is a highly acclaimed Indigenous illustrator of 25 different titles.
The form of the verse novel quickly propels the reader through the narrative to help engage readers of all abilities. The amount of space on many pages facilitates reading.
Dub Leffler’s black and white pen and ink illustrations are often delicate and always evocative.
A wide range of Indigenous topics will increase awareness and understanding and will also celebrate important features of Indigenous culture including traditional use of fire, totems, plants and healing, elders, caring for country.
The narrative is divided into three parts: Seedlings, Cinders and Sprouts and within each part are short chapters each with its own title which capture some of the chapters’ content e.g. Horse Ride, Evacuation, Back at School.
Saunders incorporates Gundungurra words into her narrative. This Gundungurra language enriches the Indigenous experience and perspective and broadens student knowledge about culture and identity and does not detract from the narrative’s clarity. The Gundungurra Word List at the back of the book is a valuable guide.
The poetry is free verse and includes some beautiful and yet simple imagery:
- Mum
  Is warm butter sliding down toast:
  She melts people
  With her kindness.
- And ….
- We watch our community
  Leave gifts of homecoming
  On freshly laid doorsteps
  Useful things
  To replace
  That which was taken

**Ways to use Bindi in the classroom**

Bindi paints murals on her bedroom wall: locate these on pages 22, 43, 63, 69.
Allocate one to each small group to discuss how these verses connect other parts of the story.
Share each group’s insights and use their details to write about 500 words either individually or in pairs: With close focus on the detail from each group what function do Bindi’s poems serve and how effective are they?
How does the mural on the school wall (p. 123) contribute to the narrative’s key ideas?
Revisit the poems and in small groups write two more in a similar style. Create an illustration or find an image to suit your two poems. Make copies of Bindi’s poems and make a class display of her poems and your own poems.
On pages 78 and 81 we are given two perspectives on canbe. “Canbe” is the Gundungurra word for “fire”. How are the two perspectives on fire represented in these two extracts?
Read the Gundungurra Word List at the back of the book. Choose 2-3 Gundungurra words and write your own short chapter which would suit Seedlings, Cinders or Sprouts. Include an image for your chapter.

Relevant details in relation to the new English 7-10 syllabus

Text requirements: Bindi is a verse novel, by an Australian Indigenous author, which explores how Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander authors convey connections between Culture and identity. As an Indigenous author, Kirli Saunders presents a range of experiences and perspectives of Indigenous people and culture and specifically through figurative language, meaning is shaped.

Concepts could include Narrative • Context • Imagery, symbol and connotation

Syllabus links:

Reading, viewing and listening to texts

Uses a range of personal, creative and critical strategies to read texts that are complex in their ideas and construction EN4-RVL-01

Explore the main ideas and thematic concerns posed by a text for meaning
Engage with the ways texts contain layers of meaning, or multiple meanings
Explain personal responses to characters, situations and issues in texts, recognising the role of written, oral or visual language in influencing these personal responses
Explain how the use of language forms and features in texts might create multiple meanings
Using a range of texts, describe how Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander authors convey connections between Culture and identity
Read texts selected to challenge thinking, develop interest and promote enjoyment, to prompt a personal response
Read a variety of texts that present a range of perspectives and experiences, including those of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, and respond in a range of ways, including sustained written responses where appropriate
Discuss and reflect on the value of reading for personal growth and cultural awareness
Reflect on how reading promotes a broad and balanced understanding of the world and enables students to explore universal issues
Reflect on own experiences of reading by sharing what was enjoyed, discussing challenges to strengthen an understanding of the value of reading

Understanding and responding to texts A

Analyses how meaning is created through the use of and response to language forms, features and structures EN4-URA-01

Analyse how figurative language and devices can represent ideas, thoughts and feelings to communicate meaning
Explain how Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander authors use figurative language and devices to shape meaning
Analyse how engaging characters are constructed in texts through a range of language features and structures, and use these features and structures in own texts
Understand narrative conventions, such as setting, plot and sub-plot, and how they are used to represent events and personally engage the reader, viewer or listener with ideas and values in texts, and apply this understanding in own texts

Understanding and responding to texts B

Examines and explains how texts represent ideas, experiences and values EN4-URB-01

Consider the influence of cultural context on language
Explore how specific elements of languages and dialects, including Standard Australian English, Auslan, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Languages, and Aboriginal English, can shape expressions of cultural context in texts

(English K-10 Syllabus 2022 © NSW Education Standards Authority for and on behalf of the Crown in right of the State of New South Wales, 2023)

Connecting texts

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Jane Sherlock and Deb McPherson

Teachers

Jane Sherlock and Deb McPherson are experienced and passionate English teachers. They have also been involved in the education sector as authors and presenters at teaching conferences.

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