Shi-shi-etko just has four days until she will have to leave her family and everything she knows to attend residential school. She spends her last precious days at home treasuring and appreciating the beauty of her world the dancing sunlight, the tall grass, each shiny rock, the tadpoles in the creek, her grandfather s paddle song. Her mother, father, and grandmother, each in turn, share valuable teachings that they want her to remember. Shi-shi-etko carefully gathers her memories for safekeeping.
LaFave s richly hued illustrations complement Campbell s gently moving and poetic account of...

When they arrive at school, Shi-shi-etko reminds Shinchi, her six-year-old brother, that they can only use their English names and that they can't speak to each other. For Shinchi, life becomes an endless cycle of church mass, school, and work, punctuated by skimpy meals. He finds solace at the river, clutching a tiny cedar canoe, a gift from his father, and dreaming of the day when the salmon return to the river a sign that it s almost time to return home. This poignant story about a devastating chapter in First Nations history is told at a child s level of understanding."

A young girl delights in a visit to her grandpa's farm. She and her cousins run through the fields, explore the root cellar where the smoked salmon and jars of fruit are stored, swing on a rope out the barn loft window, visit the appaloosa in the corral and tease the neighbor's pig. The visit is also an opportunity for this child to ask Grandpa what her grandmother, Yahyah, was like, and explore the -secret room, - with its old wooden box of ribbons, medals and photos of Grandpa in uniform.
There is a wonderful blend of fun and family history in this visit to a grandparent, but also the...