Shi-shi-etko: Album jeunesse - Sélection Communication-Jeunesse 2011-2012

by Nicola I. Campbell, Kim LaFave (Illustrator)

Overview

La loi l’exige : dans quatre jours à peine, la jeune Shi-shi-etko devra quitter sa famille et tout ce qui lui est cher pour aller à « l'école résidentielle », au pensionnat indien. Ces journées précédant son départ, elle observe et savoure chaque détail de son univers : la lumière chatoyante du soleil, les herbes hautes, les pierres luisantes, les têtards du ruisseau, le chant que son grand-père fredonnait en pagayant. Sa mère, son père et sa grand-mère lui transmettent tour à tour des valeurs identitaires dont ils veulent qu'elle se souvienne. Et elle se fait une promesse, celle de se souvenir.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9782896116676
Publisher:	Éditions des Plaines
Publication date:	10/19/2010
Series:	shi-shi
Sold by:	De Marque
Format:	eBook
Pages:	34
File size:	27 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Language:	French

Editorial Reviews

Gr 2-6-This is a moving story set in Canada about the practice of removing Native children from their villages and sending them to residential schools to learn the English language and culture. An introduction explains that governments believed Native people were ignorant and made laws to "educate" their children. Shi-shi-etko counts down her last four days before going away. She tries to memorize everything about her home-"tall grass swaying to the rhythm of the breeze, determined mosquitoes, working bumblebees." There is a family party to say good-bye. Her father takes her out in a canoe and implores her to remember the trees, the water, and the mountains, and her grandmother gives her a small bag made of deer hide in which to keep her memories. The vivid, digital illustrations rely on a red palette, evoking not only the land but also the sorrow of the situation and the hope upon which the story ultimately ends. This contemplative narrative will help children see how Native people have been treated in both Canada and the United States. A good choice to enhance units on Native North American cultures.-Linda M. Kenton, San Rafael Public Library, CA Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

School Library Journal

A young Native American child prepares to leave home and family for compulsory Indian School in this quietly poetic Canadian import. On each of her last three days, Shi-shi-etko ("She Loves To Play In The Water") goes out with a different adult to gather impressions of her people's ways and the natural world around her: standing in a creek, listening to her mother singing, for instance, she "memorized each shiny rock, / the sand beneath her feet, / crayfish and minnows and tadpoles." On succeeding days she does the same with her father and her Yayah (grandmother), promising herself that she will not forget. Using a palette of saturated blues and rich autumnal reds and golds, LaFave places a child in modern dress (as the author explains in a foreword, the last Indian boarding school in Canada did not close until 1984) within landscapes whose strong, curving lines evoke subdued but intense feelings underlying this poignant tale of taking leave. Except in the foreword, Campbell never mentions where the child is going-so Shi-shi-etko's sadness and determination will also resonate with any child who's had to leave a familiar world behind. (Picture book. 6-8)

Kirkus Reviews