When a mishap delays Jessie at the end of a school day, she takes a shortcut home. But the shortcut turns into an adventure, as Jessie is transported through time and space, to early 19th-century Newfoundland. There she meets Shawnadithit who, as the last surviving member of the Beothuk, has witnessed the end of a once-great people. Tales from Big Spirit is a unique seven-book graphic novel series that delves into the stories of seven great Indigenous heroes from Canadian history - some already well known and others who deserve to be.

In 1755, on the eve of the Seven Years' War, fifteen-year-old Nola and her Acadian parents face expulsion from Grand Pré by the British. Nola, her friends Hector and Jocelyne, Nola's grandfather, and a band of bold teenagers manage to flee by boat only to encounter challenges tougher than their wildest imaginings. Their destination is French-occupied Fort Louisbourg, but along the way hostile soldiers, a harsh environment, enigmatic Mi'kmaq, and superpowers at war turn their journey into a series of hair-raising adventures. As it turns out, the runaways' route to freedom may be rudimentary technology. Using raw gypsum, limestone, coal, and salt, they forge coal-oil fire bombs that keep their attackers at bay for a short time but not long enough to ensure their survival. Will the resourceful teenagers finally discover what it takes to prevail in a continent poised on the edge of irrevocable change?

It's breakfast time and Donovan knows exactly what he wants this morning! Not eggs, not pancakes, not cereal. No, what he wants is BEAR, just like his grandfather used to eat for breakfast!   So Donovan sets off to bag a bear of his own, going on an adventurous hunt through the woods, where he stalks and is stalked by an ant, a squirrel, and a dog - but they are not bears, so he shoos them away! When Donovan finally meets a real, big and growling bear, he quickly learns that sometimes breakfast tastes best when it doesn't have any teeth! This story was inspired by Donovan, a first-grader in in La Loche, Saskatchewan, a Chippewan community in northern Saskatchewan that Robert Munsch visited in January, 1990. When Robert asked what the kids liked to eat, Donovan said that he liked to eat BEAR!    

For as long as Lawson can remember, his life in a small Northwest Territories town has revolved around “the Treaty” between the Dogrib and the Chipewyan, set down centuries ago to prevent the return of bloody warfare between the two peoples. On the Dogrib side, Lawson and his family have done their best to keep the pact alive with the neighbouring Cranes, a family headed by a direct descendent of a revered Chipewyan war chief. But even as Lawson and his father dutifully tidy the Cranes’ property as an act of respect, their counterparts offer little more than scowls and derision in return, despite the fact that both families are Yahbati—warriors responsible for protecting the treaty. Worse still, it seems that one of the Cranes’ boys is doing all he can to revive the old conflict: the cold-eyed Silver, fresh out of jail, has placed himself in the service of a cruel, ghoulish spirit bent on destroying the peace.

Imbued with passion, creativity and insight, Brandon Reid's debut novel is a wonderfully creative coming-of-age story exploring indigeneity, masculinity and cultural tradition. Twelve-year-old Derik Mormin travels with his father and a family friend to Bella Bella for his grandfather's funeral. Along the way, he uncovers the traumatic history of his ancestors, considers his relationship to masculinity and explores the contrast between rural and urban lifestyles in hopes of reconciling the seemingly unreconcilable, the beauty of each the Indigenous and "Western" way of life--hence beautiful beautiful. He travails a storm, meets long-lost relatives, discovers his ancestral homeland; he suffers through catching fish, gains and loses companions, learns to heal trauma. In Beautiful Beautiful we delve into the mind of a gifted boy who struggles to find his role and persona through elusive circumstance, and-- All right, that's quite enough third-person pandering; you're not fooling anyone. Redbird here, Derik's babysitter, and narrator of this here story. Make sure to smash that like button. We're here to bring light to an otherwise grave subject, friends. It's only natural to laugh while crying. I bring story to life. One minute I'm a songbird singing from a bough, the next, I'm rapture. I connect you to the realm of spirit... Well, as best I can, given your mundane allocation. Follow us through primordial visions, dance with a cannibal (don't worry, they're friendly once tamed) and discover what it takes to be united. Together, we'll have fun. Together, we are one. So tuck in, and believe what you'll believe, for who knows what yesterday brings. Amen and all my relations, all my relations and amen.

Izzy's favourite place to be is in Mama's arms--skin to skin, safe and warm. One night, cuddled up on Mama's lap, Izzy notices something she's never noticed before: her skin is the color of chocolate, but Mama's skin is the color of sand. When Izzy realizes she's different from Mama in other ways, too, she feels sad and confused. She wants to be beautiful like Mama! But Mama addresses Izzy's disappointment with a gentle, loving refrain: You're part of me, and I'm part of you. I'm beautiful like me, and you're beautiful like you.

When matriarchs begin to disappear, there is a choice to either step into the places they left behind, or to craft a new space. Helen Knott’s bestselling debut memoir, In My Own Moccasins, wowed reviewers, award juries, and readers alike with its profoundly honest and moving account of addiction, intergenerational trauma, resilience, and survival. Now, with her highly anticipated second book, Knott exceeds the highest of expectations with a chronicle of grief, love, and legacy. Having lost both her mom and grandmother in just over six months, forced to navigate the fine lines between matriarchy, martyrdom, and codependency, Knott realizes she must let go, not just of them, but of who she thought she was. Woven into the pages are themes of mourning, sobriety through loss, and generational dreaming. Becoming a Matriarch is charted with poetic insights, sass, humour, and heart, taking the reader over the rivers and mountains of Dane Zaa territory in Northeastern British Columbia, along the cobbled streets of Antigua, Guatemala, and straight to the heart of what matriarchy truly means. This is a journey through pain, on the way to becoming. Through writing, reflecting, and dreaming I found my way to the real lessons. I found permission to become whoever I needed to be. I found permission to live a life and not just endure it. I found permission to belong deeply to myself. I found permission to lay to rest the sorrow of the women before me and to cultivate joy for us in its place.

A sweet, beautiful book for children depicting the transformative dreams envisioned by a young Inuk girl, with the help of her loving mother. In Bedtime in Nunatsiavut, a little girl named Nya yearns to fly, swim, and wander like the goose, salmon, bear, fox, and other animals that populate her world. Each night, her loving Ananak (mother) tucks her into bed and gives her a kunik (nose-to-nose rub) to help Nya dream and transform into the animals she longs to be like. In Nya's dreams, she moves with the wonder and the freedom of the natural world, dancing beneath the dark Nunatsiavut skies, empowered and emboldened by her Ananak's constant love. Written and illustrated by first-time author Raeann Brown, Bedtime in Nunatsiavut is a beautiful and joyful tribute to an Inuit childhood.

When the narrator of this fun and silly book is startled by the buzzing of a bee, she sets off on an adventure that sees her running from community to community, trying to lose her buzzing companion. When she has run clear across Nunavut, she finally realizes that perhaps this little bee isn't such a fearsome foe after all!

Behind Closed Doors features written testimonials from thirty-two individuals who attended the Kamloops Indian Residential School. The school was one of many infamous residential schools that operated from 1893 to 1979. These storytellers give voice to the thousands as they remember and share with us their stolen time at the school; many stories are told through courageous tears.

From Sibert Honor–winning author Traci Sorell and Caldecott Medal–winning artist Michaela Goade comes a heartwarming picture book about a Native American family and the joy of moving back to their ancestral land. Today is a day of excitement—it’s time to move! As a young Cherokee girl says goodbye to the swing, the house, and the city she's called home her whole life, she readies herself for the upcoming road trip. While her mother drives, the girl draws the changing landscape outside her window. She looks forward to the end of the journey, where she'll eat the feast her family has prepared, play in the creek with her cousins, and settle into the new rhythm of home. With warm, expressive artwork and spare, lyrical prose, the story of a young girl’s move toward rather than away from home unfolds.

When Uncle Johnny accidentally catches an orphaned sea lion pup in his fishing net, young Roy and his cousin Bussy take responsibility for nursing the tiny creature back to health. They name the pup Ben, short for Teeben--the Tsimshian word for sea lion. With the boys' loving care, Ben eats and eats and grows and grows, getting up to all sorts of fun in Kitkatla, including towing the boys in their skiff and showing local dogs who is boss! Eventually, Ben must return to the wild, leaving his human friends to remember him fondly.

See below for English description. Benjamin aime la pluie. Il adore patauger dans les flaques avec ses bottes jaune vif et regarder les couleurs de l'arc-en-ciel dans l'eau qui ondule sous ses pieds. Mais surtout, Benjamin adore le tonnerre. Pour lui, le tonnerre - piyêsiwak - ressemble au bruit que fait le tambour de son grand-père. Cette musique l'interpelle, comme les chansons que joue son grand-père pendant que son père et d'autres danseurs de pow-wow tournent et bougent au rythme du tambour. Alors que Benjamin entend le tonnerre gronder au-dessus de sa tête, il s'imagine être un danseur de pow-wow. Il tourne, tape des pieds et lève les genoux. Il virevolte de plus en plus vite, ravi et empli du rythme du piyêsiwak. Cette histoire, écrite par la talentueuse autrice primée Melanie Florence, célèbre à la fois les joies de jouer sous la pluie et les liens avec les traditions familiales qui nous centrent et nous enracinent. Des éléments de la culture du pow-wow cri et des mots cris pour désigner les couleurs et le temps qu'il fait sont intégrés à l'histoire, avec un guide de prononciation. Les illustrations vibrantes et accrocheuses de Hawlii Pichette, inspirées par les paysages du nord de l'Ontario, ajoutent à l'intérêt de ce livre. Cet album illustré attrayant constitue une lecture parfaite pour les journées pluvieuses, ainsi qu'une excellente introduction aux traditions culturelles cries, aux communautés locales et à la découverte de la nature. Benjamin loves the rain. He loves splashing through puddles in his bright yellow rain boots and watching the colours of a rainbow in the water as they ripple around his feet. But most of all, Benjamin loves thunder. To him, thunder -- piyêsiwak -- sounds like his grandfather's drum. It calls to him, like the songs his grandfather plays while his father and other powwow dancers spin and step in time to the drumbeat. As Benjamin hears the thunder rumble overhead, he imagines himself as a powwow dancer. He spins, he taps his feet and he lifts his knees. Faster and faster he twirls, delighted by and filled with the rhythm of piyêsiwak. This artfully written story from award-winning author Melanie Florence celebrates both the universal joys of playing in the rain and the connections to family traditions that centre and ground us. Elements of Cree powwow culture and Cree words for colours and weather are interwoven into the story, with a pronunciation guide in the back matter. The vibrant and eye-catching art by Hawlii Pichette, inspired by the scenery of northern Ontario, adds drama to the pages. Original title: Benjamin's Thunderstorm