Yamatji-Noongar Elder Aunty Rhonda Collard-Spratt and writer Jacki Ferro aim to bring children hope and joy through their Spirit of the Dreaming series, based on ancient Aboriginal teachings.
A lively storyteller and talented artist and singer-songwriter, Aunty Rhonda is a respected representative of the Stolen Generations.
Community development worker and writer Jacki Ferro believes in keeping the Dreaming alive and in developing pride in our First Nations people — their culture, languages, and lore — and their special kinship with our sacred land and its animals. Aunty Rhonda and Jacki work together in the true spirit of Reconciliation.
Bio – Aunty Rhonda Collard-Spratt
Aunty Rhonda Collard-Spratt is a strong Yamatji and Noongar woman from Carnarvon, Western Australia, who now lives in Ipswich. A visual artist, storyteller, poet, singer-songwriter, dancer and art teacher, Aunty Rhonda speaks out against injustices against her people and Mother Earth. Aunty Rhonda conducts cultural and art workshops at high schools and has worked in prisons with young women around suicide prevention, helping them reconnect with their Aboriginality. As a representative of the Stolen Generations, Rhonda officiates at National Sorry Day events in Brisbane and Ipswich.
Bio – Jacki Ferro
Brisbane writer and editor Jacki Ferro (or Dragonfly Girl) specialises in memoir through her business Raw Memoirs. Jacki co-wrote Aunty Rhonda's life story, Alice's Daughter: Lost Mission Child (Aboriginal Studies Press, 2017). During the pandemic in 2020, they teamed up again to modernise ancient Dreamtime stories for children today, and feature Aunty Rhonda’s vibrant artwork. The Spirit of the Dreaming series aims to strengthen our connection with this sacred land and its animals, and to keep the lore and languages of our First Nations people alive. A strong advocate for Reconciliation, community empowerment and social justice, Jacki is qualified in public relations, community development, and writing, editing and publishing.
NEW RELEASE!
Brave Young Eagle - Boolarong Press, December 2024
Yamatji-Noongar author and artist Aunty Rhonda Collard-Spratt and coauthor Jacki Ferro have a new Dreaming story! Brave Young Eagle is now available for pre-order. A story of love, belonging and the importance of culture and identity, Brave Young Eagle is due for release on December 2, 2024. Adding to their repertoire of Grandfather Emu, Bobtail’s Friend and Old Nana Quokka, Aunty Rhonda and Jacki will bring their fun new Brave Young Eagle puppet show reading to schools, kindys and other venues in south-east Queensland in 2025. Book now!
On Goonya-Wardu Country, Carnarvon, Western Australia, Walgathu the wedge-tailed eagle chick falls from his nest and then is scared to fly. The Nyingari zebra finch family take care of him. Walgathu goes in search of his eagle family — in the sandhills, the water and the claypans.
An ancient law is broken, and the Great Water Snake spirit causes a flood. Can Walgathu save his finch family?
Through Brave Young Eagle, Book 4 in the Spirit of the Dreaming series, Yamatji-Noongar storyteller, artist and Stolen Generations survivor Aunty Rhonda Collard-Spratt shares the ancient language and culture of the Yamatji people, and continues her healing journey. A story of love and belonging, Brave Young Eagle teaches us to believe in ourselves and follow our hearts.
Old Nana Quokka - Boolarong Press, May 2023
Through Old Nana Quokka, Book 3 in the Spirit of the Dreaming series for 4-12 year olds, Yamatji-Noongar Elder Aunty Rhonda Collard-Spratt shares the healing wisdom of her ancestors, and the importance of caring for Country. On the spiritual place of Wadjemup, Rottnest Island, tourists are injuring the animals and making them sick. It’s time to make a stand. In this Aboriginal Dreaming story, farting quokkas, dive-bombing seabirds and protesting snakes teach us how to look after our sacred land and its animals.
Themes and teachings of Old Nana Quokka: All life is sacred. Care for the land and each other, and think of the survival of other creatures. Leave animals be. Don’t touch or feed Australian bush animals. Slow down on your bike or in the car, and care for hurt animals. Take your rubbish with you. Learn about the six Noongar seasons. If you look after Country, Country will look after you.
For fun videos, audiobooks, FREE teacher notes and author-signed books in the Spirit of the Dreaming series, visit www.spiritofthedreaming.com.
Follow Raw Memoirs on Facebook or @spiritofthedreaming on Instagram.
Presentations
Spirit of the Dreaming Presentations
For children aged 5-12 years
Through lively storytelling, puppetry, song and dance, Aunty Rhonda Collard-Spratt and Jacki Ferro teach children about our special Australian bush animals (their characteristics, habits, environment and life cycles), wise teachings based on ancient Aboriginal Dreamtime stories, and words from the Noongar language (Grandfather Emu), and two Yamatji languages (Bobtail’s Friend), namely Wajarri (desert people’s language) and Nhanda (saltwater people’s language) of Western Australia. They sing songs that summarise their story themes of kindness and caring for each other, and get children up to dance like emus, goannas and dolphins, and hop like kangaroos! Each presentation is unique and tailored for the needs of the audience. Spirit of the Dreaming presentations support the goals of Reconciliation Action Plans (RAPs) in schools.
Grandfather Emu is presented with a puppet show by Jacki as Aunty Rhonda reads the book.
Bobtail’s Friend is presented with a 900mm x900mm feltboard on which Jacki presents the scenery and Australian bush animals as Aunty Rhonda reads the story.
Old Nana Quokka is presented with a puppet show by Jacki as Aunty Rhonda reads the book.
All stories are also shown simultaneously on a big screen through a PowerPoint of the book, featuring Aunty Rhonda’s incredible artwork and the story, so that older students can read along.
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The Stolen Generations Presentation
For children aged 15+ and Professional Development
Jacki briefly explains modern Aboriginal history, including who the Stolen Generations are and how Sorry Day came to be, and Australian policies and actions. Jacki then introduces Aunty Rhonda who shares her experiences as a fourth-generation stolen child in her family, and what it was like as a child growing up on Carnarvon Native Mission before being sent to Perth where she lived with three different white foster families until she turned 21 years old when she no longer came under the WA Native Act. Her father died in Broome prison and his case was investigated during the national Royal Commission into Black Deaths in Custody. Aunty Rhonda attended the National Apology in Canberra in 2008, and she shares how she has found healing in Queensland through her art, writing, music, and unbreakable bond with the Dreaming. The talk includes reading poetry by Aunty Rhonda and singing songs that are anthems for the Stolen Generations.
1 hour presentation - maximum 2 sessions per day.
On the day, if a staff member or student/s would like to say an Acknowledgement of Country (or ‘Welcome to Country’ if they are the mob of your land) prior to the talk, that would be wonderful.
Testimonials
Informative & engaging for our young audience. Connected to our families and a great sharing knowledge.
Kambu Health - September, 2024Very authentic and honest approach to Aunty Rhonda's story and an engaging performance with elements of storytelling, puppetry and music.
Petrie Terrace State School - June 2023Jacki and Aunty Rhonda had our Prep and Grade 1s engaged from the get go! They loved listening to stories, learning First Nation language, singing songs and dancing.
Burpengary Meadows State School - September 2022The authors were engaging and interesting and very well rehearsed.
Qld Academy for Science, Mathematics and Technology - August 2022Kids have been telling me all about the performance and the story. They loved the puppets, the sound effects and enjoyed seeing it projected on the screen so they could watch along.
Aunty Rhonda & Jacki Ferro - July 2022
Old Nana Quokka
Bobtail's Friend - From the Desert To The Sea
Gradfather Emu and How the Kangaroo got her Pouch
Alice's Daughter - Lost mission child
Queensland
Speaker type
- Author
- Storyteller / Performer
- Virtual visits
Links
Featured Speakers
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Welome to 2025
Hope that everyone has had a relaxing break.
Don't forget to check out the Touring Speakers page as we have lots of speakers on the move this year.
We look forward to hearing from you soon!
New Releases See all books
Touring Speakers See all tour dates
| Speaker | Location | Tour dates | Book now |
|---|---|---|---|
Brisbane / Gold Coast / Sunshine Coast | 18 Mar - 19 Mar 2025 | ||
Brisbane | 25 Mar - 28 Mar 2025 | ||
Canberra | 27 Mar - 28 Mar 2025 | ||
Melbourne | 26 Apr - 29 Apr 2025 | ||
Sydney | 30 Apr - 02 May 2025 |
What people are saying
We had a lovely Literature Event yesterday. Randa was fantastic, her sessions were thought-provoking, everything went smoothly and we have had great feedback from the staff and students. We are now thinking about next year and would love to have Randa back. We had a great time, thanks so much.
Just quickly checking in to say thank you SO much for taking the time and effort to connect with us on Wednesday. The students loved it! You have a great way of speaking to children at their level, so I hope they’ll always have the benefit of being part of your life’s work.
Sarah was fabulous! Her presentation was jam packed full of useful information and I have had lots of positive feedback from everyone who attended.
We were delighted to host author Kate Foster as presenter of our November 2022 Webinar. Her title was "Why choosing diverse books isn’t enough: it’s all about the representation" and in the presentation, Kate gave so much more information about what makes someone neurodivergent, and how to accommodate their needs in school libraries. Kate was such a warm, relaxed and engaging speaker. Our attendees connected strongly with her compassionate and empathetic style. Her professionalism came through s [...]
It’s hard to find performers who are as cleanly responsive and fearless as Kristian. Agile in body, mind and spirit, Kristian is the type of performer we need to see more.
Sophie was brilliant, informative, tailored to meet what the kids were doing, exploring in class. The writers workshop was also great, kids got a lot out of it and are enthusiastic to write and have their work shared with others. Really enjoyable.
Samantha Smith was the first author to visit Molesworth Street Kindergarten, just as we had finished setting up our new worm farm. Around that time, we discovered her delightful book Harriet's Hungry Worms. We began reading it regularly to the children, helping them learn about worms and how feeding them can recycle organic waste. Sam’s visit was truly special—she was so accommodating, and her natural connection with the children shined throughout. We were amazed at how she included visuals, sin [...]
I just wanted to say a huge thank you for Cameron's visit - our school is still buzzing including the big kids AND teachers! The workshops were certainly imaginative, creative, fun and exciting! All teachers were thrilled and have eagerly been following up Cameron’s visit. WOW Thanks again
We recently held a Literature & Arts Festival at St. Catherine's Catholic College, The Whitsundays for our Secondary students. All the authors that attended were entertaining, engaging and inspiring. I have had so much positive feedback from students, staff and library colleagues. The students have all been raving about how excellent the festival was, and they were disappointed at the thought of returning to classes for the rest of the week. I have had reluctant readers coming into the library t [...]
I am always impressed with the prompt service whenever I ask for recommendations for authors to come to our school. I have used this agency for many years and am very happy with the professionalism displayed.
Epic. AJ Betts was incredible, she was able to build a relationship with our Year 7s and engage them in her talk about being an author and creative writing. Her talk was fresh, funny, and, charming. It even included some rap. Amanda herself fit into the library team immediately and we feel we have made a friend.