Aunty Jill Dodd holds a unique place in Australian publishing; with two box collections of children's books and a full set of educational tools produced in an Aboriginal language.
A proud Birri, Wirri and Kaanju woman, Aunty Jill's work to preserve and share Birri Language is centred in her small business Birri BookShop in Collinsville, North Queensland.
She told National Indigenous Times her first four books were adapted from popular nursery rhymes and children's stories using Birri language and hand-drawn illustrations.
"My first four books are adapted from the popular classic children's stories and nursery rhymes like The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Kookaburra Sits in the Old Gum Tree, Five Little Ducks, Hey Diddle Diddle," she said.
Her grandkids' Barbie crayons were used for the illustrations, and the books were first drawn on a two dollar A3 sketch pad.
"I had a vision of what I wanted and what my books should look like," she said.
Since publishing the first set in 2020, Aunty Jill has released a second box collection of ten board books and developed complementary educational resources including flashcards, memory cards, jigsaw puzzles, crosswords and word search booklets.
"Birri Language Educational Resources... they are tools and resources that go under the Closing the Gap as Indigenous education in child care centers and schools," she said.
Aunty Jill grew up listening to Birri spoken by her grandfather Reginald Dodd Snr, who she said was the primary source for the Birri language data.
"I grew up with that language, with my grandfather speaking Birri language to us. I'd say to him, 'Pop, what is our tribe?' He would always say, 'Birri Birri.'"
One of her most popular children's books, 'Goggine,' is named after her grandfather's sacred tribal name and features the black cockatoo and even features on the Walmart website in the USA.
With growing demand for her resources, Aunty Jill opened both Birri BookShop and a connected coffee shop in Collinsville.
"Now that I bought a shop front on Berry Country at Collinsville, it's just gone from that to an actual shop front shop and a coffee shop," she said.
"That's an enormous step."
During NAIDOC Week in previous years, Aunty Jill sold her books at major markets including Musgrave Park.
"I sold out my box collection of six children's books at the Meanjin Markets at Southbank," she said.
Her grandchildren often join her at events, selling books and engaging with visitors.
"They were happy to talk about the books and everything because they'd been watching me."
This year, she won't be attending Brisbane NAIDOC events due to ongoing renovations at her shopfront.
"I've got big renovations up here that I'm expanding on and fixing up," she said.
Looking ahead, Aunty Jill said she hopes her work helps secure the future of Birri language for generations to come.
"Birri Language is the most comprehensive dialect data in Queensland and language is the verbal expression of our culture," she said.
Aunty Jills books are available via her website now.
