Indigenous literature is growing at an amazing rate.

From Alexis Wright's Stella and Miles Franklin prize double to a series of wonderful children's books examining language, history and culture on Country, Indigenous authors have continued to forge a path of brilliance.

However, despite First Nations people accounting for 33 per cent of people incarcerated, a story - for children - on the experiences of visiting a parent behind bars is not a common narrative.

This is where My Dad's Gone Away (Magabala Books), written by former AFL and WAFL star Andrew Krakouer and Jacqueline Dinan, comes in. A story of one child, Tarah, visiting her father in prison with her mother.

Speaking to National Indigenous Times, the quietly spoken Minang and Yingaarda man was forthright in how he wanted the book to come about.

"I thought that it could be a really important tool to help children who have a parent incarcerated, to be able to help give them a voice and express their emotions and feelings," he said.

In the book, Tarah wonders why she can't find her father, wondering if he may have "returned to try his luck as a rider in the rodeos," or "gone Outback again, shearing on some big sheep station".

Instead, her mother tells her that Tarah's father has gone to jail.

The imagery, showing Tarah looking at her father's picture on the fridge, is one many people who have a loved one who spent time in prison would be aware of.

"Has Dad done something wrong, broken the law?" Tarah asks her mother.

"Yes, Tarah. You're old enough to hear the truth. And he has to serve time in prison as punishment."

While contracted with Richmond in late 2006, along with his brother Tyrone, he was charged with assault causing grievous bodily harm after an incident in Fremantle.

He was delisted the next year, after playing 102 games, and in 2008, was found guilty and sentenced to 32 months in jail.

The difficulty faced by his children in having a parent in jail was one Andrew knew well.

His father, football great Jim Krakouer, was jailed during Andrew's childhood for a series of sexual assaults and drug trafficking.

The story, while not about him, nevertheless features Andrew's personal influence.

In the book, Tarah goes to visit her father, sitting there on the long drive as her mother explains the process and how it might be hard. She also talks about the ways Tarah can be more responsible at home.

"If I'm writing this book and I'm having my input on it, I want it to be able to try to be as realistic as it can. Because I haven't really read too many books around that subject, and certainly, I don't think there's any children's books like this."

He said he hopes the book will help break down the stigma of having a family member in jail.

"[It's] about a subject I found…taboo and not spoken about as a young child, with my father's incarceration, and then also with my girls as well," he said.

"I thought this could be a tool, knowing that what I went through as a young child, and then, you've got the trauma that that can cause as well.

The experience of Tarah arriving at prison is talked about in detail, something anyone who has visited a loved one in prison will know all too well.

"Sniffer dogs wander around among the visitors, focused on their job, not looking for a friendly pat like dogs usually do. Like Tarah's dog does."

"Bang! The large door slams shut."

Mr Krakouer said he hoped children who read it would know they are "not on this journey on their own," and there are other people going through it.

"It's no child's fault to be able to go through that [a parent going to prison]. Once they have a parent who does something wrong and makes wrong decisions, it affects a lot of people, and inadvertently and unfortunately…it impacts them in a real negative way," he said.

For Tarah, she is able to meet a friend - Johnny - who is also experiencing the difficulty of a parent in custody. The hope is they can hang out next time their families are visiting whilst mum and dad talk about adult things.

Andrew noted that while it was difficult at times, reliving some of the parts of a past he would like to put past him, he is proud of being able to create a story that will be able to help others.

"It was a little bit difficult to be able to relive those moments…it's a traumatic experience going to prison, to be able to revisit that is not really easy," he said.

"But then to be able to revisit it and know that it's going to have, hopefully, a positive impact and help others through their journey and give them a voice, it does feel good to be able to do that."

My Dad's Gone Away, by Andrew Krakouer and Jacqueline Dinan (illustrated by Paul Seden) is out on October 1.

Teaching notes linked to the school curriculum are available on Magabala's website.