Somebody's Land: Welcome to Our Country

A multiple award-winning, accessible picture book for young children that introduces First Nations history and the term 'terra nullius' to a general audience, from Australian of the Year, community leader and anti-racism advocate Adam Goodes and political adviser and former journalist Ellie Laing, with artwork by Barkindji illustrator David Hardy.


WINNER: 2022 Australian Book Industry Awards Picture Book of the Year (Ages 0-6)

WINNER: 2022 Educational Publishing Awards Australia Primary Educational Picture Book

WINNER: 2022 Karajia Award for Children's Literature


For thousands and thousands of years, 

Aboriginal people lived in the land we call Australia.


The land was where people

built their homes,

played in the sun, 

and sat together to tell stories.


When the white people came, 

they called the land 

Terra Nullius.

They said it was nobody's land.

But it was somebody's land.


Somebody's Land is an invitation to connect with First Nations culture, to acknowledge the hurt of the past, and to join together as one community with a precious shared history as old as time.


Adam Goodes and Ellie Laing's powerful words and David Hardy's pictures, full of life, invite children and their families to imagine themselves into Australia's past - to feel the richness of our First Nations' history, to acknowledge that our country was never terra nullius, and to understand what 'welcome to our country' really means.


'Somebody's Land really stands out as a book of meaning and education not just for Indigenous kids to learn but non-Indigenous to learn and understand the history of this country. And it soothes my soul.' Karajia Award for Children's Literature judge Bunna Lawrie


'This book should be in every school library so parents and teachers can read it to their children and begin an important discussion.' Good Reading


'In Somebody's Land, [the creators] repeat a vital message in the hope that every reader closes the book knowing that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are the traditional custodians of the land on which we live.' The Age