This digital book was commissioned by the Wonnarua Nation Aboriginal Corporation (WNAC) and created by the Jumbunna Institute of Indigenous Education and Research, Indigenous Archives and Data Steward

Tiddalick. The Little Frog that Grew

Murrin did something that murrins never do. He walked backwards bobbing his head up and down, flapping his kilkins (wings) around madly and reeling left and right. But Tiddalick remained tightly lipped and grinningly sounded, hump ,huump, huuump!! Looking slyly down on all the animals with that wicked look on his face.

He had a go at sliding around becan (the platypus) and murrin (the emu) and was nearly flattened by becan’s tail.

Hello and Welcome in the Wonnarua Language.

Hello girls and boys! Welcome to the Wonnarua story of Tiddalick, The Little Green Frog that Grew. It's a story of long long ago when all the animals spoke like we speak today! It's a story of good and bad and laughter and happiness. It's also a sad story of how the land became dry when all the water left and a happy story, when all the water came back. Now you all look and listen real hard because your teacher is going to ask you some questions about what you saw and heard. I hope you like the story of Tiddalick, The Little Green Frog that Grew. Bye-bye now!

Poor little Tiddalick, he couldn’t get to the kukun because his path was blocked all the time, so he hopped to a secluded spot along the beroobri and began to take his first drink.

he began rolling around and around and around, hissing and spluttering like mad!

Then tunibadong turned swiftly around to bite gunaang but ended up biting his own tail and making a hoop out of himself.

The All Father of Wonnarua creation Goign, told Tiddalick that he was too big to go back to the beroobri and turned him into part of the Wattagan Ranges, where he can be seen to this day.

Kookaburra stepped up and told the best joke he could ever think of but Tiddalick rolled his eyes and looking down, mumbled, “huuump”!!.

Tunibadong (the little brown snake) had had enough by now and he slithered across the dry beroobri bottom and was just about to reach the top when he slid over gunaan (the little green ant), who got put out and upset by this and bit tunibadong on the tail.

He then tried to creep between kookaburra (the laughing jackass) and birwan (the bush turkey). They too, pushed him away.

Charlotte Craven-Miller Charlotte Craven-Miller is a proud Wonnarua teenager and full-time artist. The Wonnarua Nation belongs to the Hunter River Valley region of New South Wales. Her artistic skills and works encompass realism portraiture and images, and abstract art. Her artistic works are inspired by her rich Wonnarua cultural heritage drawing upon The Dreamings and the Wonnarua peoples’ connection and belonging to Country. Charlotte is the artist of the seminal Wonnarua portraiture entitled: “Wonnarua Elders” commissioned by the Wonnarua Nation Aboriginal Corporation. She is the illustrator of the e-book “The Frog that Grew” commissioned by the University of Technology and Science, New South Wales, Australia. She is the recipient of the Mil-Pra Aboriginal Education Consultative Group Indigenous Art Prize, the Riverwood Youth Art Prize, and her works have been purchased and commissioned by governments, universities, organisations and individuals.

Photo of Wonnarua artist Charlotte Craven-Miller, in front of her artwork "Wonnarua Elders”.

Look at the story developing during one day...

All the animals started jumping for joy and hugging each other as the kukun now flowed, bringing life to the land again.

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IMAGE CAPTION Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit.

Tiddalick’s eyes opened wide and his sly smirk turned into a little smile, which got bigger and bigger...

All the animals became thirsty and there was no kukun to drink anywhere. Tiddalick was so huge, he now towered over the beroobri and seeing all the animals below him suffering from thirst, a big, beguiling smile came across his face and looking down very smug, knowing that he had all the kukun in the land inside his huge belly. The animals all got together. “What are we going to do?" Was the most asked question. “We gotta make Tiddalick open his mouth so all the kukun will flow out and back onto the land”. Was also said: “How?!?!” Some animals called out in unison. “What about making Tiddalick laugh?” A voice came out and said and the kukun will come out of his mouth and we can all drink again. Kookaburra stepped up and told the best joke he could ever think of but Tiddalick rolled his eyes and looking down, mumbled, “huuump”!!. Womboin then jumped up, did a triple back somersault landed on the tip of his tail, bounced along, flapping his ears and looking cross eyed, but Tiddalick again, mumbled, “huuump, huuump”, peeringly looking down, then he looked the other way. Murrin did something that murrins never do. He walked backwards bobbing his head up and down, flapping his kilkins (wings) around madly and reeling left and right. But Tiddalick remained tightly lipped and grinningly sounded, hump ,huump, huuump!! Looking slyly down on all the animals with that wicked look on his face.

The beroobri (billabong) was crowded with all kinds of animals, around its rim, having their first-morning drink of kukun (water).

By now he was fifty times larger than the biggest ever womboin and he wanted to drink all the kukun in the land to get revenge because of the way he was treated at the beroobri. He drank the Wollombi Creek dry and then all the kukun out of the mighty Myan, (the Hunter River). By now Tiddalick was as large as the mountains that surrounded his homelands. All around, the land began to dry up and the trees and plants and grasses withered.

TIDDALICK: The Little Green Frog That Grew

As told by Uncle James Wilson-Miller and illustrated by Charlotte Craven-Miller

Murrin did something that murrins never do. He walked backwards bobbing his head up and down, flapping his kilkins (wings) around madly and reeling left and right. But Tiddalick remained tightly lipped and grinningly sounded, hump, huump, huuump!! Looking slyly down on all the animals with that wicked look on his face. Tunibadong (the little brown snake) had had enough by now and he slithered across the dry beroobri bottom and was just about to reach the top when he slid over gunaan (the little green ant), who got put out and upset by this and bit tunibadong on the tail. Then tunibadong turned swiftly around to bite moonbil but ended up biting his own tail and making a hoop out of himself, he began rolling around and around and around, hissing and spluttering like mad! Tiddalick’s eyes opened wide and his sly smirk turned into a little smile, which got bigger and bigger till his huge mouth opened up laughing like crazy as all the kukun started flowing out of his huge belly and back onto the land filling the beroobri, Wollombi Creek and the mighty Myan. All the animals started jumping for joy and hugging each other as the kukun now flowed, bringing life to the land again. The All Father of Wonnarua creation Goign, told Tiddalick that he was too big to go back to the beroobri and turned him into part of the Wattagan Ranges, where he can be seen to this day.

The Tiddalick rock formation site is located in the area of Wollombi, in the Hunter Valley in NSW (Australia).

This digital book was commissioned by the Wonnarua Nation Aboriginal Corporation (WNAC) and created by the Jumbunna Institute of Indigenous Education and Research, Indigenous Archives and Data Stewardship Hub, University of Technology Sydney (UTS) in collaboration with the WNAC. Copyright and Indigenous Intellectual Property: James Wilson-Miller and Charlotte Craven-Miller.

Uncle James Wilson-Miller James Wilson-Miller is a Senior Elder of the Gringai Clan of the Wonnarua Nation in the Hunter River Valley, NSW. He's spent his life educating, researching and representing his people at local, state, and national levels. He's the retired curator of Koori History, Culture and Design at the Powerhouse Museum. He authored the best-selling ‘Koori: A Will To Win’.

and soon he drank the beroobri dry.

Tiddalick was so huge, he now towered over the beroobri and seeing all the animals below him suffering from thirst, a big, beguiling smile came across his face and looking down very smug, knowing that he had all the kukun in the land inside his huge belly.

The animals all got together. “What are we going to do”? Was the most asked question. “We gotta make Tiddalick open his mouth so all the kukun will flow out and back onto the land”. Was also said: “How?!?!” Some animals called out in unison. “What about making Tiddalick laugh?” A voice came out and said and the kukun will come out of his mouth and we can all drink again.

Tiddalick was not long out of the tadpole stage when he made his way to the beroobri's edge, to have his first drink of the day. He tried to get between womboin (the kangaroo) and ukae (the dingo) but they pushed him aside.

till his huge mouth opened up laughing like crazy as all the kukun started flowing out of his huge belly and back onto the land filling the beroobri, Wollombi Creek and the mighty Myan.&nbsp;

All the animals became thirsty and there was no kukun to drink anywhere.

He was very angry about how he was treated by the other animals, and as he drank, he began to grow larger with each drink that he drank, the larger he became... 

It was a beautiful morning. A big bright yellow sun was rising and as it arose, it lit up an azure blue sky with fluffy white clouds floating across, from horizon to horizon.

Womboin then jumped up, did a triple back somersault landed on the tip of his tail, bounced along, flapping his ears and looking cross eyed, but Tiddalick again, mumbled, “huuump, huuump”, peeringly looking down, then he looked the other way.

DIGITAL BOOK As told by Uncle James Wilson-Miller and illustrated by Charlotte Craven-Miller

We acknowledge the Wonnarua people of the Hunter Valley, New South Wales (NSW), and we pay our respects to Elders past and present

Tiddalick: The Little Green Frog That Grew. As told by Uncle James Wilson-Miller Throughout this story I will be using English and also Wonnarua language. It was a beautiful morning. A big bright yellow sun was rising and as it arose, it lit up an azure blue sky with fluffy white clouds floating across, from horizon to horizon. The beroobri (billabong) was crowded with all kinds of animals, around its rim, having their first-morning drink of kukun (water). Tiddalick was not long out of the tadpole stage when he made his way to the beroobri's edge, to have his first drink of the day. He tried to get between womboin (the kangaroo) and ukae (the dingo) but they pushed him aside. He then tried to creep in between kookaburra (the laughing jackass) and birwan (the bush turkey). They too, pushed him away. He had a go at sliding around becan (the platypus) and murrin (the emu) and was nearly flattened by becan’s tail. Poor little Tiddalick, he couldn’t get to the kukun because his path was blocked all the time, so he hopped to a secluded spot along the beroobri and began to take his first drink. He was very angry about how he was treated by the other animals and as he drank he began to grow larger and with each drink that he drunk, the larger he became and soon he drank the beroobri dry. By now he was fifty times larger than the biggest ever womboin and he wanted to drink all the kukun in the land to get revenge because of the way he was treated at the beroobri. He drank the Wollombi Creek dry and then all the kukun out of the mighty Myan, (the Hunter River). By now Tiddalick was as large as the mountains that surrounded his homelands. All around, the land began to dry up and the trees and plants and grasses withered.