From award-winnng duo Carl Merrison and Hakea Hustler comes
My deadly boots – a moving, entertaining and visually delightful picture book that explores what it means to be ‘deadly’.
Set in an Australian outback community, the book tells the story of a young boy excitedly receiving a new pair of ‘deadly’ football boots in the mail. Page by page, the book explores the boy’s interactions with family, his teachers, classmates and even the police via their reaction to his new boots. When the boots are thought to be lost, it is up to the boy’s grandfather to help him to understand that he can be deadly with or without his boots.
While appearing as a simple complication-resolution style of narrative, the story alludes to the importance of identity for Indigenous Australians, as well as the racism and discrimination that they may experience, from the classmate who tries to ‘trade’ the deadly boots, to the teacher who tells him not to wear them to school, and the policeman who questions how he got the boots in the first place.
Samantha Campbell’s illustrations represent the setting beautifully while at the same time showing the power relations between the characters in the story. Working together, the pictures and the words provide opportunities for rich discussions about identity, discrimination and the importance of being deadly.
The book has immense value for use across the primary years of schooling. The importance of family, relationships and identity for all young people, but especially young Indigenous Australians may act as a prompt for discussion and self-reflection. It acts as a ‘window’ for non-Indigenous students to see into the world of growing up Indigenous in Australia and prompts us all to think about the inherent bias shown in the book.
For teaching units of work that explore books with similar themes, why not try:
- Sharing by Sue Lawson, Aunty Fay Muir and Leanne Mulgo Watson authentically and respectfully represents the Indigenous practice of only taking what you need in order to care for the land and for each other.
- Dreaming Soldiers by Catherine Bauer and Shane McGrath is a springboard for conversations about discrimination and friendship as well as introducing students to the reasons for commemorative days such as ANZAC Day
- Strangers on Country by David Hartley, Kirsty Murray and Dub Leffler depicts five instances of first contact interactions between Aboriginal peoples and early white colonisers.
- Common Wealth by Gregg Dreise is a book for older readers that explores what it means to be an Australian and examines the exclusionary lyrics of the Australian national anthem and design of the Australian flag.