Crow caws are ringing out in the State Library of Western Australia.
But there’s no need to be alarmed, these birds of a feather come from the creative mind of Embrace Co-Director Professor Helen Milroy.
Artworks from Professor Milroy’s latest children’s book Crow Baby are on display in a free exhibition at the State Library’s Story Place Gallery until Friday 7 June.
The award-winning author of Owl and Star, and the Backyard and Tales from the Bush Mob series said that writing and creating artwork helps her stay balanced.
“When you write stories that give children hope, particularly through Indigenous storytelling, you can influence a whole generation,” Professor Milroy said.
“It is a way of connecting children back with nature, giving them an ecological framework to recognise that we are a part of mother earth, and we are in a relationship with everything around us.”
“Storytelling is about exploring – it is more insight-oriented, it is gentler. It helps children to develop their own views and understanding.”
Professor Milroy’s books have been shortlisted for the Western Australian Premier’s Book Awards (2019, 2020, 2023). She also provided the illustrations for her mother Gladys Milroy’s story Penguin Oh Penguin, released late last year.
Illustrations from Crow Baby are now on display at the State Library. Inset: Professor Helen Milroy.