Ten Little Aussies: Why your kids should read this book

After enduring one of Australia’s darkest chapters, a Sydney mum turned to picture books to remind parents and kids that multiculturalism is something to be celebrated.

When Michelle Derrig and her young family moved to the Sutherland Shire in Sydney’s south, they had no idea of the powder keg that was about to explode in their neighbourhood.

The Cronulla riots of 2005 exposed deep cracks in Australian race relations, which 20 years later are still simmering.

The mother-of-four said the Cronulla riots “made me acutely aware of how important it was for me as a parent to teach my kids about the beauty of our multicultural society and the need to be respectful and tolerant to all people”.

Michelle Derrig, author of Ten Little Aussies. Picture: Supplied

“My kids are a quarter Lebanese, but given that we’re living in an area that isn’t very culturally diverse, they don’t get much exposure to a lot of different cultures … so it was really important to me that I help them understand that beauty and that richness of cultural diversity that (Australia has),” she told news.com.au.

That need for understanding manifested in the form of a picture book called Ten Little Aussies.

The short, endearingly illustrated book, born from a place of frustration and an acknowledgment of a need for change, bears a simple message: that Australia’s diversity should be celebrated from the ground up.

And nobody is closer to the ground than our little ones.

The front cover of Ten Little Aussies depicts a near-perfect cross-section of Australian kids, with all manner of ethnicities, abilities and genders clearly visible.

Ten Little Aussies explores and celebrates the diversity of Australian society. Picture: Supplied

The only named character is an Indigenous boy called Jack – a choice Ms Derrig made because she felt it was important to place a strong focus on acknowledging Australia’s first peoples.

“As a parent, while I want to teach my kids about all manner of different cultures, I think it’s also really important that we recognise the original peoples of our land, and that was a really important part of the book for me,” she said.

“I was speaking to a few different parents and they told me about how when they go to the library, there’s Indigenous books on one table and on another there’s books about multicultural issues, but there’s none that connect them.”

“I was really excited that I was able to produce something that did both.”

Ten Little Aussies will officially launch on March 21st to coincide with Harmony Day 2025.

To purchase a copy: www.dewfallbooks.com.au