Finalist for the TD Canadian Children's Literature Award, the Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award and the Ruth Schwartz Award
In just four days young Shi-shi-etko will have to leave her family and all that she knows to attend residential school.
She
spends her last days at home treasuring 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. And so Shi-shi-etko carefully gathers her memories for
safekeeping.
Richly hued illustrations complement this gently
moving and poetic account of a child who finds solace all around her,
even though she is on the verge of great loss -- a loss that native
people have endured for generations because of the residential schools
system.