A best-selling children's book stars a new kind of hero — she's a girl, she's an Indigenous Australian, and she's a warrior.
Guardians: Wylah the Koorie Warrior is an illustrated chapter book; a fantasy adventure set 40,000 years ago on the lands of the Peek Whurrong in south-west Victoria.
Australian kids have become instantly obsessed with Wylah, making the book one of the biggest selling children's novels of the year so far, and sending it to the top of the charts at book sellers Booktopia and Readings.
And the good news for kids who have already read the book is the authors have mapped out an entire world of new characters and new adventures to ensure the Wylah series can run for years to come.
Authors inspired by their single mums
Warrnambool-based co-authors Richard Pritchard and Jordan Gould said the book began with the vision for Wylah — a strong, First Nations girl who would embody the kindness and courage Pritchard and Gould experienced from the women who raised them.
Pritchard grew up in New Zealand in a single-parent home with three siblings,
He said he saw the sacrifices his mum made for her kids.
"I've always been in awe and have a very strong respect for women, and have a very strong wife and daughter," he said.
Gould is a Peek Whurrong man who was raised in Warrnambool by a young single mum.
He attributed his success to his mother's strength.
"My mum had me when she was 16 and she did her best to raise me, an autistic child," Gould said.
He said he had very low-functioning autism.
"She just stuck with me and did the best she could - and now I'm here."
Pritchard said their similar childhoods had been a massive influence on their creative work together.
"Jordan has grown up with very strong female role models and so have I," he said.
"I've always thought, if the men don't stand up, then the women will."
A truly Australian hero
Guardians: Wylah the Koorie Warrior is a fast-paced action adventure about a young woman whose courage is tested by an invading force of dragons under the command of greedy humans in search of gold.
Wylah must connect to her matriarchal ancestral knowledge and powers in order to find the strength to fight for her Peek Whurrong people, who have been captured.
The story is set among Warrnambool's natural landmarks, like the Hopkins River and Moyjil (Point Ritchie), where geographically-specific megafauna roam.
Pritchard said he and Gould knew from the start they wanted the book to be more than just a rollicking tale to entertain kids, an intention Pritchard made clear in his preface.
"To all Indigenous and non-Indigenous people of Australia, may Wylah be a vessel to start a conversation of love, acceptance, unity and empathy," he wrote.
Before writing a single word, Pritchard said he "wanted to match what is in New Zealand in terms of exposure to Indigenous culture".
"It's highly celebrated, it's on every corner, it's ingrained in school, in politics, everyone speaks language, it's all embraced," he said.
"I've always wanted that for Australia because I know what they're missing out on.
Pritchard, an animator who has worked with Hollywood film directors including George Miller, said he and Gould needed to create a character "people can grab onto, that all of Australia can attach themselves to".
Wylah was inspired by real-life Peek Whurrong women, who were known to be warriors, as well as the women Pritchard grew up surrounded by in his Samoan culture.
"I know the history of Samoa, the Maori are warrior women, so immediately the image was an Indigenous warrior woman," he said.
"I've never seen that (here) before because I didn't grow up in this culture (but) I definitely haven't seen it in public.
A hero 40,000 years in the making
Gould only discovered that he was Indigenous when his mother marked him as of Aboriginal descent when she enrolled him into a high school.
He was approached to join a cultural program at Brauer College.
"A group called Clontarf, it's for Aboriginal boys, they helped me through all my schooling and got me through to year 12," he said.
After finishing school, Gould got in touch with two of Warrnambool's Peek Whurrong elders, Uncle Robert Lowe and Uncle Locky Eccles, who taught him about his culture and language.
The book is culturally specific and borrows heavily from the language and culture of the Peek Whurrong, who have lived in south-west Victoria for tens of thousands of years.
Pritchard said specificity was important, as he learned from the mistakes seen in popular animated children's films made in recent times.
"You can't mix cultures and come up with an unnamed culture that offends everyone," he said.
"It's just like saying 'You all look the same'.
He said Wylah had to be from a real culture with a language so everyone could celebrate it rather than blending cultures to say "here's one princess for everyone".
The authors said they drew heavily on the knowledge of local elders, as well as a unique book by James Dawson and his daughter Isabella, written in the 1880s, that compiled detailed notes on the language and customs of Aboriginal people in the Western District of Victoria.
Pritchard believed a global shift in race politics had led to Wylah's success.
"I think a lot of things in society have changed over the last number of years," Pritchard said.
"You've got the Me Too movement, the Black Lives Matter movement, Change the Date, there's a lot of controversy and conflict still today with Indigenous and non-Indigenous people.
He said it had resulted in a massive underlying desire to be reconnected with Indigenous culture.
"And Wylah is doing it for them, so that's the strength of it," he said.
