BRISBANE - Against the backdrop of Rainbow Beach, a small seaside town three hours from Brisbane with a population of around 1250, Elisa Mele and Alessia Castiglioni first crossed paths.
Since then, the two have established a working relationship as well as a deep friendship that allows them both to flourish creatively.
“The universe brought us together. I bring words while Alessia brings colour,” shared Mele, a Sardinian who moved to Australia in 2013.
“I was an au pair in Cooloola Cove, about 20 kilometres from Rainbow Beach where I went every day I had off.
“I fell in love with it,” she added.
Mele fell in love with more than just the beach, however, as the Italian met the man with whom she would build a family. The couple now have a little girl, Sofia, who is seven years old.
Then, history repeated itself. It was now Mele’s turn to seek an au pair and Castiglioni’s to take the role.
Castiglioni moved from the province of Mantua to Rainbow Beach, a place she now calls home with her own partner and Matisse, their two-year-old daughter.
Rainbow Beach represents the setting of their new lives, and it’s also the place where, while walking together, they imagined a story with their little girls as protagonists.
From that thought came The Rainbow Land of Sofia and Matisse, a book written by Elisa Mele and illustrated by Alessia Castiglioni, in which they explore the friendship between their daughters, their connection to that land and their identities.
“Italian language and culture are particularly close to our hearts, but we are also very respectful of our Indigenous cultural heritage,” Mele emphasises while introducing the book, which is about Sofia and Matisse’s meeting with Auntie Karen, “a Butchulla, a First Nations person from this part of Queensland”.
The girls, who at first mistakenly believe that Auntie Karen is not Australian, will soon come to understand, through her story, the history of her ancestors.
“A historic meeting of reconciliation,” Mele described it. The conversation between the characters was inspired by a real moment of confrontation during which Karen Hall explained to a group of children gathered on Rainbow Beach how the Aboriginal people cared for the land.
Flipping through the pages of The Rainbow Land of Sofia and Matisse, one reads an ancient story with a timely message to care for the environment around us. Delicately illustrated by Castiglioni who, after long and careful research, used a brush to depict the flora and fauna in this part of Australia. She perfectly encapsulates local nature with its flowers, plants, birds and insects.
“The biggest challenge for me was fitting these important messages into only 600 words,” shared Mele, adding that she didn’t want to lose children’s attention with too much text, while at the same time “giving due importance to Alessia’s wonderful illustrations and pictures”.
The book, which began in English with some words in Italian and Butchulla, was then completely translated into Italian, “to let our families and friends in Italy know something of our Australian life and to open a deeper dialogue,” added Mele.
“What we do with our daughters is so important to us that we thought we would spread this message of joy, of harmony, of reconciliation.
“As one nation, we must not forget our multicultural identity. The book is an acknowledgement of history, which is a personal history and the history of Australia,” she continued.
“Speaking to children means speaking to future generations, and it also means speaking to their parents, who read for them and with them.”
The Rainbow Land of Sofia and Matisse has also received support from the Gympie Regional Council, “for which we are very proud,” the authors concluded.
