The Heartbeat of the Land

Age range: 3+

Cathy ran barefoot every day across the great ancient land,

as her people had done for sixty thousand years before.

And when she ran, she could hear the heartbeat of the land.

Ba Boom Ba Boom Ba Boom...

Then one day, Cathy hears a cry.

She answers this cry and, with one small step at a time, the seeds of change are planted.

Cathy Freeman has always been an inspiration to young people.

Here, she does it again, through storytelling - just as her people have done, for sixty

thousand years before...

Listen, and you too, will hear the Heartbeat of the Land.

About the Author

Cathy Freeman is a proud Kuku Yalanji and Magarr-Magarr Warra woman. She is also an Australian Indigenous Olympic champion. She ran her first race when she was five and realised that she loved the way racing made her feel. Cathy Freeman was a member of the gold medal-winning 4x100m relay team at the 1990 Auckland Commonwealth Games, and in so doing became the first female Australian Aboriginal to win a gold medal at an International athletics event. She was awarded Young Australian of the Year in 1991 and Australian of the Year in 1998. She was also crowned World Champion in the 400m in both 1997 and 1999.

Cathy's most notable achievement, however, came in 2000 at the Olympic Games in Sydney. Her image was beamed into millions of homes around the world when she became the first competing athlete to be invited to light the Olympic flame at the opening ceremony. She then went on to win the gold medal in the 400m, realising a life-long dream. Coral Vass is an award winning Australian children's author with several books published with Scholastic Books Australia, National Library of Australia and Penguin Random House Australia. With a background in Media, Coral has always had a passion for telling stories and inspiring children with a love for literature. Her signature writing style has a splash of rhythm, a dash of rhyme and is stirred with fun!