‘Words can hurt your heart and your spirit ... a wound to your body can heal and the scar goes away, but a wound to your heart or your spirit may never heal.’
Aunty Rhonda Collard-Spratt is a Yamatji-Noongar elder and Stolen Generations survivor. An accomplished author and artist, Aunty Rhonda is the co-author and artist behind Bobtail's Friend, the third instalment of the Spirit of the Dreaming series, which bring ancient Dreaming stories into today, showing that the Dreaming never ended.
Inspired by her grandchildren, Aunty Rhonda aims to inspire First Nations children to be proud of who they are through the heart-warming storytelling and beautiful illustrations of Bobtail's Friend.
Balharda the bobtail felt pretty in her necklace of wildflowers. But the Bidi-bidi butterflies laughed and said she was ugly. Who will be bobtail's friend? In this Aboriginal Dreaming story, follow Balharda downriver from the desert to the sea and learn how words can hurt or heal, and how making friends can open up whole new worlds.Bobtail's Friend is Book 2 in the Spirit of the Dreaming series. Yamatji-Noongar artist, storyteller and Stolen Generations' survivor Aunty Rhonda Collard-Spratt shares vibrant images of Yamatji Country and words from the Wajarri and Nhanda languages of Western Australia.
Aunty Rhonda Collard-Spratt is a strong Yamatji and Noongar woman from Carnarvon, Western Australia, who now lives in Ipswich. A visual artist, storyteller, poet, singer-songwriter, dancer and art teacher, Aunty Rhonda speaks out against injustices against her people and Mother Earth. Aunty Rhonda conducts cultural and art workshops at high schools and has worked in prisons with young women around suicide prevention, helping them reconnect with their Aboriginality. As a representative of the Stolen Generations, Rhonda officiates at National Sorry Day events in Brisbane and Ipswich. Aunty’s book is available at all leading book shops or online.