The Lost Teachings by Michael James Isaac
Th is is a gentle teaching story with text in both English and Mi’kmaw. Eagle fi nds a bundle tied with gold that contains seven teachings that will bring peace, harmony and balance if they are shared and practiced. Eagle passes each of the teachings to another animal in the forest but he forgets to pass on the warning that came with them. When Wolf introduces Envy and Greed to the forest, the animals begin arguing and then Eagle remembers. He uses his gift of Truth to tell the animals about the dangers of Envy and Greed. Eventually, balance, peace and harmony return to the forest community. |
Métis Christmas Mittens by Leah Marie Dorian
When it starts snowing, the author’s family follows a Métis tradition of making special Christmas mittens, “to warm the hands and the heart.” This endearing bilingual book will resonate with primary students while it describes numerous cultural aspects of how these beautiful, unique mittens “are made to show we care and to tell others that they belong.” The author illustrates each page with boldly coloured, loving scenes of Métis life. The end pages enrich the story with colour photographs of richly detailed Métis mittens, a reproducible page showing the parts of a mitten, and a CD of the story with narrations in English and Michif (the Métis language originating in Cree and French). This award-winning Métis children’s book author and illustrator is an artist and educator in Saskatchewan. Michif language specialist and storyteller Norman Fleury translated the story. |
Big Bear by Terry Barber
Written in a narrative style, this biography of Big Bear, a Cree chief who lived from around 1825-1888, is part of the First Nations Series. Big Bear played a big role in trying to unite First Nations groups and attempting to create peace between First Nations people and the Government of Canada. The text is easy to read, making this book useful for students looking for basic information and learning to pick facts out of paragraphs. It is also written in a style meant to be easy for English Language Learners to use. A free workbook to go with this title is available on the publisher’s web site. |