When the World Was Soft

NOTABLE BOOK: 2025 CBCA Eve Pownall Award
WINNER: 2025 NSW Literary Awards, Indigenous Writers' Prize
WINNER: 2025 Fiction Prize, Karajia Award for Children's Literature

SHORTLISTED: 2025 Children's Book of the Year, WA Premier's Book Awards

Yindjibarndi believe all creation is written in our landscape and was sung long ago, filling our Ngurra (Country) with sacred meanings and deep religious significance. At the dawn of time, Ngurra Nyujunggamu, the world was soft as clay and the sky was very low. Our Creator, Minkala, sang the songs from which all life and Ngurra evolved. These are some of our stories.

Our grandmothers and grandfathers sing our songs and tell our stories every day, just like our old people long ago sang songs and told stories to their children.

And now we are sharing them with you.

Dynamically illustrated by Alex Mankiewicz with striking artwork by members of the Juluwarlu Art Group, When the World Was Soft is a powerful gift of culture for young and old.

'An extraordinary project, an invitation to share in a deep and sacred understanding of Country. When the World Was Soft imparts a sense of responsibility towards the young, and to Country, and is a testament to the power of communities telling their own stories.' Books+Publishing

'Set to become a graphic literary classic.' Laura La Rosa, The Big Issue