landing with wings - by trace balla

Miri's been on the move and now she's finding her feet, her freedom, her community and her home, treading lightly all the way. This story is about spreading your wings and putting down roots in an ancient land. 

The engaging narrative is told and illustrated in what appears to be a child’s (Miri Blossom’s) handwritten and illustrated diary record of the impact of her mother’s decision to move away from the Goldfields. After their overnight train journey they arrive to begin their new life – a new home, new school. Miri’s first neighbours are a tree and a frog and it takes some time before getting to know human neighbours such as Swee Ling and Wings, a boy about her age who lives over the fence. Gradually Miri gains friends at school, shows her talent for drawing and observation of the natural environment and grows to be part of the community, even though her mother is not yet feeling the same connection. However, after a year passes, they have put down roots and now feel at home, part of a big, family much more strongly connected to the environment and the community around them.

Trace Balla is often found sketching in nature, riding her bike, dancing, and growing vegies in her garden in central Victoria. Her background is in illustration, community arts, art therapy, animation, and writing songs and stories, and she enjoys visiting schools and festivals to talk about her work. She also talks about her book through walking maps here. Trace Balla provides her account of how the book was generated from a story about a Syrian girl in an Australian Detention Centre and its purpose to provide the girl with hope and a way forward into the future.

author: Trace Balla

language: English