Showing posts with label Anna Granholm. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Anna Granholm. Show all posts

Tuesday, December 28, 2021

Highly Recommended: THE FIRE by Thomas Peacock

 


The Fire
Written by Thomas Peacock (Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Ojibwe)
Illustrations by Anna Granholm
Published by Black Bears & Blueberries
Published in 2021
Reviewer: Jean Mendoza
Review Status: Highly Recommended

I'm very happy to add a title to our 2021 Recommended Books list: Thomas Peacock's The Fire. This is my "short and sweet" review. As you may remember, "short and sweet" reviews are not in-depth; they cover four reasons for our decision about a particular book. 

Here's how the publisher, Black Bears & Blueberries, describes The Fire.
This story is a fictionalized account of the Great Fire of 1918 based on an interview of Elizabeth (Betty) Gurno, a Fond du Lac Reservation elder. Betty was a little girl when the fire swept the area. The Fire of 1918 destroyed the city of Cloquet, Minnesota and surrounding communities, including the Fond du Lac Reservation, and resulted in the loss of many lives.

Author Thomas Peacock frames Betty's telling of the story within a later-day classroom scene in Minnesota. Betty has come to her grandchild's classroom to share her memories of the fire. 

First reason to recommend The Fire: It focuses on Indigenous people's experience during a catastrophic event, and joins a fairly small pool of exciting and moving historical fiction picture books told from an Indigenous perspective. In The Fire, Ojibwe oral history is at the center. The author uses some words in Ojibwemowin and refers to Ojibwe traditions (such as offering asemaa, tobacco, to an elder who shares wisdom). 

Second reason: It's timely. Wildland fires have affected communities around the country in recent years. Children are wondering how such fires can happen, how people survive them, and what happens afterward. Young readers may want to do further research about the Great Fire of 1918, using sources like the National Weather Service article and a dedicated page on the Library of Congress Web site. 

Third reason: The illustrations amplify the storytelling. There's plenty of drama in the pictures. Burning boards fly through the air; dozens of animals join the people in the river as the fire rages. But there are also some important, more subtle touches. Look closely at the page that shows Betty's grandparents warning her family about the fire. The hazy trees and yellowish sky behind the horse and buggy aren't just meant to be pretty. That's the smoke, already drifting into Fond du Lac, a silent warning. 

Fourth reason: The story manages to locate modest, honest hope and affirmation in the aftermath of the disaster. Readers learn that no Ojibwe people died, but "more than four hundred fifty of our non-Native neighbors were lost in the fire," and several non-Native towns burned to the ground. (For comparison, I checked the estimated death toll of the Chicago Fire of 1871 -- around 300.) Grandma Betty recounts that her grandmother's home escaped the fire, and she shared what food she had with other Fond du Lac families, most of whom had lost everything. I love the final words of Grandma Betty's storytelling: "We help each other. That is what we do." (It reminds me of the values behind Richard Van Camp's little board book, May We Have Enough to Share.)

I also love that when Betty ends her storytelling, the children line up to hug her. Maybe that's a classroom custom. But I think it also shows that the children are moved by this elder's story of the trauma she and their community endured, and they are caring for her in their way, years afterward.

The Fire is a valuable book to have on your shelves, and to share with children you know.



 




Tuesday, November 30, 2021

RECOMMENDED: NENABOOZHOO AND THE ELK'S HEAD


 Nenaboozhoo and the Elk's Head
Nenaboozhoo miinawaa Adik Odishtigwaan
Written by Dr. Giniwgiizhig (enrolled, White Earth) and Niizhobines (Ojibwe)
Illustrated by Anna Granholm
Published by Black Bears and Blueberries
Published in 2021
Reviewer: Jean Mendoza
Status: Highly Recommended

Nenaboozhoo is a prominent figure in the Anishinaabe traditional stories that have been published over the years. He appears in several picture books published in the past couple of years. I hope to review all of them eventually, but today I'm taking a "short and sweet" look at just one: Nenaboozhoo and the Elks's Head/Nenaboozhoo miinawaa Adik Odishtigwaan

Here's my quick summary of the story:

Nenaboozhoo tricks an elk into lending him a beautiful bow and arrow, and then kills the elk for food. The trees that witness this treachery let their displeasure be known, but Nenaboozhoo is quite pleased with himself. Before long, though, he gets his comeuppance, as he often does, showing listeners how NOT to act. 

I'd recommend this story for upper elementary age children, and older. 

First reason to recommend this book: Native people are involved at all levels of its publication. It's an Ojibwe traditional story retold in a collaboration between Dr. Giniwgiishig (a school principal) and Niizhobines, an Ojibwe elder and storyteller. It's bilingual, in English and Ojibwemowin. And the publisher is the Native-owned non-profit Black Bears and Blueberries. 

Second reason:  The book has a mission. Initially the story was part of the Indian Education Curriculum for Red Lake (MN) School District #38. The front matter includes this dedication:

This endeavor is for our children so that they will know who they are and where they come from and to learn our language so they will be strong and proud that they are Anishinaabe and stand up and lead and succeed.

There's another statement in the front matter of this book and several of the others mentioned under my Reason 4, below: "The stories in these books are told only when snow is on the ground and a tobacco offering is made." This tells the reader that even though this story and others like it are engaging, the sharing of them is important enough that there's a protocol for doing so. They were never intended just for amusement.  

Third reason: Kids who aren't Anishinaabe can engage with and learn from the book, too. Just seeing Ojibwemowin in print can affirm for them that specific Indigenous languages exist and have value -- Native people don't just "talk Indian". Like many traditional stories, this one is an opportunity for considering how to treat others, and how a person's self-centered actions can have uncomfortable consequences.  

Fourth reason to recommend Nenaboozhoo and the Elk's Head: It's just one of several bilingual English-Ojibwemowin books published by Black Bears and Blueberries that belong in classroom libraries. They include:

  • by Dr. Giniwgiishig and Niizhobines -- Why the Bear Has a Short Tail; How the Boy and the Rabbit Helped Each Other; Nenaboozhoo Steals Fire; and When the Boy Was Made into a Whirlwind.  
  • by Liz Granholm -- Rabbit and Otter; Rabbit and Otter go Sugarbushing
  • by Tara Perron -- Animals of Nimaamaa-Aki (Dakota version is Animals of Kheya Wita)

You can find out more about the bilingual books put out by Black Bears and Blueberries on their Web site.