130,000+ Books, Games & Puzzles in-stock 🇳🇿

Overnight NZ-wide delivery 🚀 Auckland Bookstore • Open 7 days, 8:30am–5pm

Songlines: First Knowledges for younger readers

4.58 goodreads logo

Ratings/reviews counts are updated frequently.

Check link for latest rating.
( 24 ratings, 9 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
Songlines: First Knowledges for Younger Readers by Margo Neale, Lynne Kelly, and Margo Ngawa Neale introduces children to the fascinating concept of songlines, integral to Indigenous Australian culture. The book explores how these pathways connect to stories, landscapes, and ancestral knowledge, offering an engaging glimpse into the wisdom and traditions of Australia's First Peoples. It's a captivating way to understand how history, art, and spirituality are intertwined in the oldest living cultures on Earth.
Read More
Format: Paperback / softback
$2999
AVAILABLE WITH SUPPLIER Ships from our Auckland warehouse within 4-6 weeks

Found a better price? Request a price match

Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

This book may appeal to you if you're interested in exploring how ancient wisdom and Indigenous knowledge are shared through stories and songs. Perfect for younger readers, it provides a captivating insight into the cultural significance and educational roles of songlines in Indigenous Australian communities, blending engaging narratives with fascinating cultural insights.

Book Hero thinking about your next read

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

How do you find your way around, get your food and drink, connect with your friends and family? How do you know the right and safe way to do things, or how to make things? Before the white people came to the continent, all Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples knew how to do all these things - and much, much more.

Margo Ngawa Neale and Lynne Kelly invite you on a journey through the oldest, biggest library of knowledge on Earth. This knowledge isn't held in books: you will find it in Songlines of the land, sea and sky.

Learn about history, art, song, science and more in this engaging and inviting introduction to Indigenous traditional knowledges, how they apply today and how they can help all people thrive into the future.

Series: First Knowledges

View all
  • Caring for Country: First Knowledges for younger readers
    What do you need to know to prosper as a people for 65,000 years or more? Join writer and farmer Bruce Pascoe and historian Bill Gammage as they generously share their knowledge about the amazing way that First Nations people cared for Australia and how closely humans have been connected with nature for tens of thousands of years. From the...
    Paperback
    $2999
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • First Knowledges Country
    What do you need to know to prosper as a people for at least 65,000 years? The First Knowledges series provides a deeper understanding of the expertise and ingenuity of Indigenous Australians. For millennia, Indigenous Australians harvested this continent in ways that can offer contemporary environmental and economic solutions. Bill Gammage and Bruce Pascoe demonstrate how Aboriginal people cultivated the...
    Paperback
    $3299
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • First Knowledges Innovation
    ‘Deeply insightful, sensitive and passionate. An inspiring, meticulous picture of the innovations that have made us the world's oldest living culture.’ - Larissa Behrendt ‘Another fascinating volume in this landmark Australian publishing series.’ - Richard Flanagan What do you need to know to prosper as a people for at least 65,000 years? The First Knowledges series provides a deeper understanding...
    Paperback
    $3299
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • First Knowledges Law
    'Our Laws are forever present and provide the pathways for all Australians to truly learn how to belong to this continent.' - June Oscar 'No other current work has been able to so comprehensively explain the significance of traditional law in all its manifestations.' - Henry Reynolds Law is culture, and culture is law. Given by the ancestors and cultivated...
    Paperback
    $3299
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • First Knowledges Songlines
    Let this series begin the discussion. - Bruce Pascoe An act of intellectual reconciliation. - Lynette Russell Songlines are an archive for powerful knowledges that ensured Australia's many Indigenous cultures flourished for over 60,000 years. Much more than a navigational path in the cartographic sense, these vast and robust stores of information are encoded through song, story, dance, art and...
    Paperback
    $3299
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • First Knowledges Astronomy
    What do you need to know to prosper for 65,000 years or more? The First Knowledges series provides a deeper understanding of the expertise and ingenuity of Indigenous Australians. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are the oldest scientists in human history. Many First Peoples regard the land as a reflection of the sky and the sky a reflection of...
    Paperback
    $3299
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • First Knowledges Plants
    What do you need to know to prosper as a people for at least 65,000 years? The First Knowledges series provides a deeper understanding of the expertise and ingenuity of Indigenous Australians. Plants are the foundation of life on Earth. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have always known this to be true. For millennia, reciprocal relationships with plants have...
    Paperback
    $3299
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • Songlines: First Knowledges for younger readers
    How do you find your way around, get your food and drink, connect with your friends and family? How do you know the right and safe way to do things, or how to make things? Before the white people came to the continent, all Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples knew how to do all these things - and...
    Paperback
    $2999
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • First Knowledges Design
    Aboriginal design is of a distinctly cultural nature, based in the Dreaming and in ancient practices grounded in Country. It is visible in the aerodynamic boomerang, the ingenious design of fish traps, and the precise layouts of community settlements that strengthen social cohesion. Alison Page and Paul Memmott show how these design principles of sophisticated function, sustainability, and storytelling, refined...
    Paperback
    $3299
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • First Knowledges Ceremony
    What do you need to know to prosper as a people for 65,000 years or more? The First Knowledges series provides a deep understanding of the expertise, wisdom and ingenuity of Indigenous Australians. We perform ceremonies every day. Some are personal, some highly organised, and others are repeated for generations. For First Nations Australians, ceremonies create the backbone of cultural...
    Paperback
    $3299
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • First Knowledges Health
    What do you need to know to prosper as a people for 65,000 years or more? The First Knowledges series provides a deep understanding of the expertise, wisdom and ingenuity of Indigenous Australians.For thousands of generations the wellbeing of Australia's First Peoples was grounded in the sacred lands of Mother Earth. Good health occurred naturally because lifestyle and diet were...
    Paperback
    $3299
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • First Knowledges Politics
    First Nations peoples of Australia are among the world's oldest political designers. For them, Country isn't just a place to live, it's part of the network of relationships that shape responsibilities, behaviour and decision-making—a template for living together. First Nations social and political systems balance individual freedom with a strong sense of responsibility and connection to others. By placing relationships...
    Paperback
    $3299
    In Stock
    Ships today

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781760763480

Publisher: Thames and Hudson (Australia) Pty Ltd

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 26 September 2023

Country: Australia

Imprint: Thames and Hudson (Australia) Pty Ltd

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 16.0mm

Width: 157.0mm

Height: 211.0mm

Weight: 310g

Pages: 136

About the Author

Margo Ngawa Neale is the head of the Centre for Indigenous Knowledges, senior Indigenous curator, and principal adviser to the director of the National Museum of Australia.

Lynne Kelly is a science writer working as an honorary research associate at La Trobe University. She is the author of The Memory Code and Memory Craft.

Also by Lynne Kelly

View all
  • The Memory Code
    In the past, the elders had encyclopaedic memories. They could name all the animals and plants across the landscape, and the stars in the sky too. Yet most of us struggle to memorise more than a short poem. Using traditional Aboriginal Australian songlines as the key, Lynne Kelly has identified the powerful memory technique used by indigenous people around the...
    Paperback
    $3500
    Elsewhere:
    $3799
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • First Knowledges Songlines
    Let this series begin the discussion. - Bruce Pascoe An act of intellectual reconciliation. - Lynette Russell Songlines are an archive for powerful knowledges that ensured Australia's many Indigenous cultures flourished for over 60,000 years. Much more than a navigational path in the cartographic sense, these vast and robust stores of information are encoded through song, story, dance, art and...
    Paperback
    $3299
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • The Knowledge Gene
    Over 500,000 years ago, a single gene mutated. It spread over time, becoming critical in the journey that transformed our earliest ancestors into fully modern humans, capable of navigating the entire planet and beyond. A few thousand years ago, humans started outsourcing knowledge to writing, displacing art and music from the heart of learning. This is the extraordinary story of...
    Paperback
    $3999
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • Three Blue Hearts
    From the bestselling author of Song for a Whale comes a moving tale about the life-changing bond between a boy and the octopus he rescues. NATIONAL BESTSELLER. From the bestselling author of Song for a Whale comes a deeply moving story about a boy, an octopus, and the extraordinary bond that changes their lives forever. Max can't seem to escape...
    Hardback
    $3700
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • Three Blue Hearts
    Pre-order
    Three Blue Hearts
    National Bestseller. From the bestselling author of Song for a Whale comes a deeply moving story about a boy, an octopus, and the extraordinary bond that changes them forever — perfect for fans of Remarkably Bright Creatures to share with the young readers in their lives. Max can't seem to escape the big, looming shadow of his politician dad. But...
    Paperback
    $3500
    Pre-order
    Out 5 Jan 2027
  • Song for A Whale
    A stirring and heart-warming tale of a young deaf girl who is determined to make a difference. For fans of Wonder. Iris was born deaf, but she's never let that define her; after all, it's the only life she's ever known. And until recently she wasn't even very lonely, because her grandparents are both deaf, too. But Grandpa has just...
    Paperback
    Sold Out

Also by Margo Neale

View all
  • First Knowledges Songlines
    Let this series begin the discussion. - Bruce Pascoe An act of intellectual reconciliation. - Lynette Russell Songlines are an archive for powerful knowledges that ensured Australia's many Indigenous cultures flourished for over 60,000 years. Much more than a navigational path in the cartographic sense, these vast and robust stores of information are encoded through song, story, dance, art and...
    Paperback
    $3299
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • Feminine Power
    Divine women in many guises have featured in every world faith from deep history until the present day, inspiring people and cultures across the world. In a cross-cultural and global approach, this book discusses Eve alongside Inanna, Radha, and Aphrodite in the context of sex and desire. In the chapter on evil, witches and Hecate are compared with other deities,...
    Hardback
    $6999
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks

More from Children's Books

View all
  • New Release
    Fight or Flight: Diary of a Wimpy Kid (21)
    When the going gets tough, what’s a wimpy kid to do? In Fight or Flight, Greg Heffley faces his biggest challenge yet as he becomes a target for the school bully. Luckily for Greg, his best friend, Rowley Jefferson, takes karate, so at least Greg’s got someone in his corner. But an unexpected twist makes Greg realize he’s facing an uphill...
    Paperback
    $1699
    Elsewhere:
    $2100
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • New Release
    Gruffalo Granny
    The brand new Gruffalo picture book from Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler. The Gruffalo said to his daughter one day, "Your Gruffalo Granny is coming to stay." Return to the deep dark wood with the first new Gruffalo story in over 20 years, and meet Gruffalo Granny as she visits the Gruffalo family. This fresh and exciting new Gruffalo adventure...
    Hardback
    $2499
    Elsewhere:
    $3000
    (2)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • New Release
    The Sixth Faction
    Beatrice Prior stands on the brink of a decision every person in her world must make: five factions, five futures, five lives. She has a plan: she's going to make the bravest choice, and leave Abnegation behind to join Dauntless, even though it means leaving her family behind. But when tragedy strikes at her Choosing Ceremony, everything changes—her world, her...
    Paperback
    $2999
    Elsewhere:
    $3499
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Detective Beans Colouring Club
    New Release
    Detective Beans Colouring Club
    Help Detective Beans solve the case of the missing colours! Join the Colouring Club now! Join the Detective Beans Colouring Club! Inside you'll find 40 removable colouring pages featuring scenes from all over Cat Town. Filled with all the characters you know and love from the Detective Beans graphic novels like Biscuits, Beans' mum, Mr Brickle, Bear, Detective Baby Bird...
    By Li Chen
    Paperback
    $1799
    Elsewhere:
    $2100
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Wahine
    New Release
    Wahine
    From a majestic mermaid to a clay woman, the creator of glaciers to the mother of gardening, discover powerful wahine and how their stories shaped the world around us. Wahine introduces readers to twelve purakau of brave, bold, and inspiring women of Aotearoa. A beautifully illustrated collection that will delight the whole whanau, from award-winning illustrator Isobel Joy Te Aho-White....
    Hardback
    $3199
    Elsewhere:
    $3999
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • New Release
    Lottie Brooks’s Twelve Disasters of Christmas
    From hilarious MEGA bestselling author, Katie Kirby, comes a new story collection from the world of Lottie Brooks! But this time... it's not about Lottie! From hilarious MEGA bestselling author, Katie Kirby, comes a new story collection from the world of Lottie Brooks! And it's CHRISTMAS! In The Completely Chaotic Christmas of Lottie Brooks we spent the holiday season with...
    Paperback
    $1799
    Elsewhere:
    $2100
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Matihe! Achoo! Matihe! Achoo!
    On Sale
    21% off
    New Release
    Matihe! Achoo!
    What happens when a grumpy tupua has to sneeze? Matihe! Achoo! is a bilingual story about the tupua Mataoho and his connection to the volcanoes of Tāmaki Makaurau, Auckland. It comes with an action song to engage young readers! He pūrākau e pā ana ki a Mataoho me ngā puia o Takamaki Makaurau. He tupua pukukino a Mataoho e noho...
    Paperback
    $1500
    Elsewhere:
    $2100
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • The Sweet As Looky Book
    Can you find all the chocolate fish? Is it possible for kiwi to fly? Can you spot the difference? See Aotearoa New Zealand through the eyes of award-winning artist Donovan Bixley in The Sweet As Looky Book. Use your finest skills to seek out pirates in the Bay of Islands and birds in Rakiura Stewart Island. Get in a car...
    Hardback
    $2299
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    Backorder
    Ships Unknown - Contact Us
  • Pocket Observology
    New Release
    Pocket Observology
    Pocket Observology is a practical field guide designed for those who love to explore and understand the natural world around them. Slip this guide out of your pocket to identify, measure, compare, or find clues to the things you encounter every day in nature. This pocket guide is a useful tool and a fun reminder of how to engage with...
    Paperback
    $2399
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • New Release
    The Day of the Dinosaur Disaster
    Angry anacondas, blizzarding blobs, carnivorous cactuses ... what kind of twisted curse will Glam-Evil think up this time?!Only it's not just Glam-Evil's curse the gang needs to worry about; they've got a few other problems, too. Swooping Pteranodons, a hungry T-Rex, a missing mother, and ... is that ... an ASTEROID?!Join MILES AND JONES as they face their biggest challenge...
    Paperback
    $1400
    Elsewhere:
    $1499
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • On Sale
    15% off
    New Release
    The Neverfear
    A world of richly-imagined wonder Cressida Cowell It’s the Midsummer Feast on the Islet of Glimt and on this magical moonlit evening, the word on everyone’s lips is bandits. Reports of masked men burning villages are spreading throughout the Archipelago, but worse is still to come: Christopher and Anya are ambushed and one of the people they love most is...
    Paperback
    $1700
    Elsewhere:
    $2299
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • New Release
    Mari the Unwonderful Witch
    A charming, cosy and thought-provoking tale about a wonderfully unconventional little witch, by bestselling author of BUTTER, Asako Yuzuki. Perfect for fans of WICKED, KIKI'S DELIVERY SERVICE, and THE HATMAKERS series by Tamzin Merchant - and anyone who likes an enchanting adventure with just a hint of mischief. Mari the Unwonderful Witch introduces us to Mari, an eleven-year-old witch who...
    Paperback
    $1999
    Elsewhere:
    $2400
    In Stock
    Ships today

Why buy from us?

Book Hero is not a chain store or big box retailer. We're an independent 100% NZ-owned business on a mission to help more Kiwis rediscover a love of books and reading!

Service & Delivery

Service & Delivery

Our warehouse in Auckland holds over 100,000 books, toys, board games and puzzles in-stock so you're not waiting for your order to arrive from overseas.

Auckland Bookstore

Auckland Bookstore

We're primarily an online store, but for your convenience you can pick up your order for free from our bookstore, which is right next door to our warehouse in Hobsonville.

Our Gifting Service

Our Gifting Service

Books make wonderful thoughtful gifts and we're here to help with gift-wrapping and cards. We can even send your gift directly to your loved one.