Author Toni Tapp-Coutts has just released her third book.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
It is a story that is often left untold, she said.
“There is very little of this type of Australian story available for children, Top End stories about the bush that involve Aboriginal people,” Ms Tapp-Coutts said.
“It is 100 per cent true, 100 per cent my story.”
My Outback Childhood is an adaptation of Ms Tapp-Coutts original memoir, A Sunburnt Childhood.
The book has been adapted for school children, Ms Tapp-Coutts said.
It is about the adventures of living in the bush on a cattle station.
“The story is important for Territory students and certainly students Australia wide,” she said.
“Because of the highly transient population in the Territory, most people know nothing outside of their suburbs.
“There is a whole other culture out there happening right now. There are still a lot of kids living out bush, living the way that I did.
“It is a good historical read that paints a picture of those times living in the outback.”
Ms Tapp-Coutts, an alderman on the Katherine Town Council, has always been a writer, it is something she has always loved, she said.
“I grew up with storytellers,” she said.
“Aboriginals and stockmen are really good story tellers, so I grew up knowing the importance of sharing stories.
“I was encouraged by people telling me that my story was an important one to share.”
My Outback Childhood was first released on May 31 this year, and already Ms Tapp-Coutts has had readers of the story visiting the Top End.
“I hope those reading it learn a bit more about the Territory, what it was like to live on a cattle station, and hopefully they visit,” she said.
Ms Tapp-Coutts has published three successful books so far: A Sunburnt Childhood, My Outback Life and now My Outback Childhood.
My Outback Childhood is available at Top News and the Museum Bookshop, in Katherine.
Ms Tapp-Coutts is currently working on a much anticipated historical fiction based in the Territory.
