About the Author

Boori Monty Pryor was born in North Queensland. His father is from the Birrigubba of the Bowen region and his mother from Yarrabah (near Cairns), a descendant of the Kungganji. Boori is a multi-talented performer who has worked in film, television, modelling, sport, music and theatre. He is also an accomplished didgeridoo player who has performed with the Brisbane Symphony Orchestra and appeared in many schools. Boori has written several award-winning children's books with Meme McDonald including My Girragundji, The Binna Binna Man and Njunjul The Sun. His memoir Maybe Tomorrow was re-released in an anniversary edition in 2010 and its message for reconciliation is as relevant as ever. Shake a Leg evolved from pictures of his family dancing, which Boori showed Jan Ormerod, sparking a long and rewarding collaboration between him and Jan. Boori lives in Melbourne, but spends much of the year on the road. His stories are about finding strength within to deal with the challenges without, and his skill is to create positive visions of the future for both indigenous and white people.

Boori Monty Pryor was Australia's Children's Laureate in 2012 and 2013.

Jan Ormerod grew up in Western Australia, and as a child she was constantly drawing. After becoming a mother, Jan turned to children's book illustration. Her first book, Sunshine, won awards around the world. She has since had over 50 books published, including Moonlight, Lizzie Nonsense and Water Witcher.

Reviews

5 stars: The illustrations draw us in to the cultural heritage being narrated by Bertie. There's a lightness of touch in the writing and it keeps the reader absorbed throughout, right to the superb end pages where strength of cultural identity and close-knit family ties come through exuberantly. The boys eat their pizza, get painted up with flour, water and tomato sauce and learn to dance, to warrima, to shake a leg. A super title. Books for Keeps A triumph of a story, illustration and design, in which Omerod's evocation of the movement, ancient mystery and vitality of the dances is remarkable. Ibby Link This book is a quirky combination of Aboriginal folk tale, traditional dance and cookery class with a bit of language learning thrown in to help you pick up some Italian and Yarrabah. There is an original and quirky stance on presentation too, ringing the changes between pages in comic strip format, others with orthodox page setting, some with boxed captions, some with speech bubbles. School Librarian