Charlie’s Swim
Illustrator: Charmaine Ledden-Lewis
Publisher: Magabala Books
Published: March 2022
Genre: Children's
Some stories need no embellishment, no hyperbole. They are the truest kinds of stories – the ones that tell of ordinary people doing extraordinary things in unimaginable circumstances.
Charlie’s Swim is such a story, a lovingly matter-of-fact account of the heroism displayed by Bardi man Charlie D’Atonie during the bombing of Broome by Japan in 1942. In a maelstrom of flying bullets and fighter planes swooping over Roebuck Bay, Charlie leapt from the seaplane he was working on and dived into the shark-filled waters to rescue a drowning woman and her child – refugees from the Dutch East Indies.
Brought to life by a stunning sequence of paintings that vividly capture Charlie’s brave and selfless act, this important book is equally representative of the many untold stories of courage displayed by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples during times of war and foreign attack.
Teacher notes enable a deeper truth-telling experience for children, who will find themselves thinking about their own capacity to do extraordinary things in the moment.