Roam the water with me. We are here to learn.
Here to spin wisdom, to grow …

From award-winning Gunai author Kirli Saunders and seven-time CBCA-winner Freya Blackwood comes Afloat, a story told in a time of climate crisis. Against a backdrop of a changed environment, an Elder leads a child along the waterways, sharing her People's knowledge and gathering community along the way.

Afloat is an uplifting and inspiring picture book that uses the practice of weaving as a powerful metaphor for the honouring and teaching of First Nations wisdom, and the coming together of all people to survive, thrive and create a more hopeful future.

Praise for Afloat:

‘Hope is the ultimate takeaway from this moving story about community, First Nations wisdom and climate change.’ The Guardian

‘[Afloat] delves into themes of creating a future of balance and community with the natural world, while a slow, rhythmic tone and loose-lined illustrations emphasize saving what’s most important’ Publishers Weekly, starred review 

‘Saunders (Gunai) uses weaving as a metaphor for community-building, demonstrating that Indigenous knowledge can be a source of connection and power as we work toward creating a better world. Blackwood’s art underscores hope and opportunities to help cultivate the land.’ Kirkus Reviews

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

Kirli Saunders is a proud Gunai Woman who rarely stays in her lane. She's an award-winning multidisciplinary artist, writer, singer-songwriter and consultant. Kirli creates to connect, to make change. In 2022, she was awarded an Order of Australia Medal for her contribution to the arts. Kirli's books have been celebrated by multiple literary awards, such as the Prime Minister's and the Queensland, Victorian, and Western Australian Premiers' Literary awards, the Children's Book Council Australia awards and the Australian Book Industry awards. Her titles include Afloat (Hardie Grant, 2024), The Land Recalls You (Scholastic, 2024), Returning (Magabala, 2023), Our Dreaming (Scholastic, 2022), Bindi (Magabala, 2020), Kindred (Magabala, 2019) and The Incredible Freedom Machines (Scholastic, 2018).

Freya Blackwood is an award-winning illustrator of children's books, who draws with a distinct style that is warm, perceptive and immediately recognisable. Since publishing her first picture book in 2003, she has has won multiple awards, including the prestigious Kate Greenaway Medal, and worked with writers such as Libby Gleeson, Margaret Wild, Jan Ormerod, Nick Bland and Danny Parker. Freya lives in Orange, New South Wales, with her daughter, Ivy.