New Creation Book Teaches The Importance Of Listening To Elders

“Listen now, stubborn boy. Careful – you might fall. Look now, stubborn boy. Someone’s watching across the shore.”

‍Geigi The Stubborn Boy shares the importance of listening to your Elders, the extraordinary lengths a mother will go to save her son, and a Creation story that explains the behaviour of the Giant Trevally and Triggerfish, which you can still see today in the clear blue waters around Mer, Dauer and Waier.

This beautifully illustrated picture book will take readers into the heart of Meriam Country a long, long time ago. 

Geigi is a stubborn boy who wants to explore islands that his mother tells him are unsafe. Geigi is cheeky, and decides to adventure out anyway and play tricks on Old Man Iriamuris. 

At the end of this adventure, Geigi becomes the Trevally fish, and his mother Nageg becomes the Triggerfish. 

This book is a story that authors Michael and Elliot Passi have been told many times in their lives. 

“The story is an adaptation or retelling of a Traditional Torres Strait story that my grandparents, Aunties and Uncles used to tell me while I was sitting in Zomered village on Mer. While waves were coming in, they would tell me this story. And sometimes you'd even see Geigi coming in and splashing amongst the sardines whilst telling the story. And I shared that with Elliot. And that's how the idea came about to create this book,” says author Michael Passi. 

The perfect storytelling duo 

Michael Passi grew up in northwest Queensland and is a proud Meriam man whose father is from the Torres Strait Island of Mer. His son, Elliot, has grown up in Townsville and is the co-author and illustrator of Geigi The Stubborn Boy. This father and son duo have been hearing and sharing stories for as long as they can remember. 

“This is the first book we've published together, but we've written and told stories our whole lives. Our culture is storytellers, so we’ve been storytellers our whole lives. But this is the first time we have gotten it off our desktop and into a book.” says Elliot. 

Michael wanted to turn this story into a book with the help of his illustrator and storyteller son. 

“I knew the story, but being an old man like I am, I didn't know how to word it so that it was engaging for little kids. So that's where Elliot’s talent came in, to make it engaging and suitable for children to read. I knew Elliot would have a lot to contribute because, being the person that they are, a great illustrator and also a great writer. And that's basically when I got them drawing. We thought – let's have a real crack at this,” explains Michael. 

Michael and Elliot are a unique pair because Michael’s Traditional storytelling style complements Elliot’s illustration work and modern storytelling style. Elliot is studying to become a school teacher and has a lot of understanding of what children and young people like to read, while Michael has a lot of Traditional and cultural knowledge and stories from Mer.

ILF’s opportunity to publish this important story

Michael met ILF CEO Ben Bowen at a conference in Sydney, where they began discussing the book Michael wanted to write. “I posed the question to Ben, because we've been knocked back so many times. And he said, ‘Oh yeah. Well, here's my contact details. Let me know when you have something you want to publish.’ And that’s where it all started,” he says.

When the application came through, the ILF’s Publishing team knew this story was special. 

“The story is special because it pulls you in. It reveals to the reader knowledge of a far‑away place, yet stays with you in moments that chime as familiar – familiar messages about listening to your Elders and what happens when you muck around. From the text to the illustrations, you’ll be hooked,” says Publishing Projects Editor, Nea.

Spreading Torres Strait culture throughout Australia 

Michael and Elliot were inspired to create this book because they never saw Torres Strait Islander children's books growing up.

Having representation was the main reason Elliot was inspired to contribute to this project: to ensure that people like them, who grow up Torres Strait Islanders, have books that represent their culture, languages, and Traditional stories. 

“I remember growing up with books like How The Butcher Birds Got Their Colours, and I love those books. But I wanted there to be more from the Torres Strait Islands. Knowing that a kid who is like me could pick up this book and say ‘Oh, I know this story, this place’ or ‘oh this is the Torres Strait Islands – this is like me’, that fills me a lot of joy. So I'm really hoping that kids can look at this and see themselves in it at least a little bit,” says Elliot.

For Michael, it’s not just about Torres Strait Islanders enjoying this story but also an opportunity for all Australians to learn about this beautiful and important culture. 

“I just want people outside of Queensland to also read this book. That's my big thing. Because in my work, I travel all around Australia doing cultural awareness training. And the one thing that stands out is once you go south of the Queensland border, no one really knows about Torres Strait Islanders, our culture, or anything regarding us. So just having that little seed planted in people's minds about the second Indigenous culture in Australia is what I want. I think people in Queensland, but also outside of the state, will love this story,” says Michael. 

Beyond people reading and enjoying this story, Michael also hopes that this book gives people in remote Australia hope that their stories are valuable. 

Reflecting on his youth, Michael acknowledges that many Indigenous people have their dreams crushed because Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders aren’t always represented in fields like publishing. Knowing that this story was carried by his Ancestors, passed down by his Aunties and Uncles, told by him and his son, and published by the Indigenous Literacy Foundation, is very special to Michael. 

‍“This is 100% an Indigenous project. And that’s what I’m so proud of.”

A Traditional Creation story incorporating modern illustration techniques 

There are many Torres Strait stories that Michael and Elliot know well and could have told for this book. However, it was the experience of standing on the beach at Dauer, Mer, when Geigi (the Giant trevally) popped his head up, when Michael and Elliot decided this is the story they should tell. 

This Traditional story was told through a modern illustration medium. 

Elliot first learnt to draw from their dad. But when they turned 12, Elliot became the teacher. They became interested in digital illustrations at an older age, with Michael always supporting their growth as an illustrator. 

Elliot used a platform called Procreate to digitally illustrate the book's pages and worked closely with the designer at ILF to ensure the book fit their vision. 

The technique of combining Traditional stories with modern art styles is one that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples practice and celebrate in many parts of Australia. Culture, and cultural art, is not static. It’s something that existed before time and continues on forever into the future. It's for these reasons that art does not have to function in a way that our Ancestors shared, and can evolve to incorporate modern colours, techniques and technologies. 

Many lessons to be learned

This book will teach your students, children, or young readers an important lesson about listening to your Elders and the consequences of being stubborn. 

The book will also celebrate and share the great lengths that mothers go to protect their children. 

Michael explains that: 

“That young adolescent boy, he wanted to make his mum proud by being able to catch those fish. This shows that he wanted to grow his maturity; he wanted to prove himself. I know it's not strictly just Torres Strait culture in that message, but it does give you a bit of an insight into what Geigi saw as important. In an island setting, this was something that was going to make him stand out as a man, catching that big fish, but he got sidetracked. And Geigi’s mother, Nageg, doesn't give up. She went to great lengths to find him. She also teaches the reader a lesson in trusting your gut. She didn’t trust that Old Man, and she fought to protect her son.”

This book will also teach and celebrate the concept of Creation stories.

Many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures across the continent believe that animals came from Creation Spirits, thereby sharing and showcasing the sacredness and importance of every animal and the role Country plays in teaching young people important lessons.

‍Geigi The Stubborn Boy is the first book from the Torres Strait Islands that the ILF has published since 2022. We are honoured to have been told this story by Michael and Elliot, and we hold it as a great privilege to now share it with the rest of Australia. 

You can learn more and purchase your copy today on our online bookshop.