First Nation Communities Read 2012 Winner announced

Celebrate the onset of National Aboriginal History Month 

with the compelling text with First Nation, Métis or Inuit content

 that has won 

the 2012 First Nation Communities Read program.  

The winner of the 2012 First Nation Communities Read 

program,  as selected by the First Nations public library communities of Ontario, is .  .  .

Shannen and the Dream for a School

by Janet Wilson

 Second Story Press

978-1-926920-30-6

206 pp.

Ages 8+

2011 

This non-fiction text by award-winning author and illustrator Janet Wilson tells the story of thirteen-year-old Shannen Koostachin who in 2007 began her fight to have a new school built in her Cree community of Attawapiskat in northern Ontario.  Since 1979, when the school was contaminated after a fuel oil spill, the community of Attawapiskat had been using temporary portables lacking heat and susceptible to mould as a school.  Shannen and fellow students began the Students-Helping-Students campaign that included a YouTube video, visits to Ottawa, Facebook pleas and letter-writing, and became the largest child rights movement in Canadian history.

~ CONGRATULATIONS TO JANET WILSON 

 AND SECOND STORY PRESS ~

The following PowerPoint presentation, uploaded from YouTube, was produced by Shannen and her fellow students as a plea to Minister Chuck Strahl for a new school.

  

Uploaded by BrendaBozlo on Mar 23, 2008 to YouTube.

This documentary short, also uploaded from YouTube, covers Shannen's story in full as told by HeartSpeakTV.

Uploaded by HeartspeakTV on Jan 23, 2011 to YouTube

          ~             ~               

Do yourself a favour and read Janet Wilson's Shannen and the Dream for a School for a compassionate and informative read about a poignant story of a community's quest for social justice.

First Nation Communities Read 2012 Nominees announced

On May 1, 2012, the titles shortlisted for the First Nation Communities Read annual reading program of the First Nations public library communities in Ontario were announced. Initiated in 2003, the First Nation Communities Read program has as its mandate the promotion of family literacy, intergenerational storytelling, and intergenerational information sharing, of texts with First Nation, Métis, or Inuit content, and involving the participation (writing, illustration, etc.) of a First Nation, Métis, or Inuit creator.

The reading program now alternates between titles for children and titles for young adults and adults.  This year, the diverse list of titles for children include a graphic novel, nonfiction, and picture books.

The short-list for the First Nation Communities Read 2012 program are:

Bear Walker: Adventures of Rabbit and Bear Paws
by Chad Solomon & Christopher Meyer
Little Spirit Bear Productions

This fifth book in the graphic series Adventures of Rabbit and Bear Paws has the two Ojibway boys learning another lesson from their mischief. Additional information can be found at the creators' website: Rabbit and Bear Paws

Call of the Fiddle
by Wilfred Burton & Anne Patton
Illus. by Sherry Farrell Racette
Gabriel Dumont Institute

Final book in the trilogy based on a Métis family which began with Fiddle Dancer (Gabriel Dumont Institute, 2007 ) and followed by Dancing in My Bones (Gabriel Dumont Institute, 2009).  

The Giving Tree: A Retelling of a Traditional Métis Story
by Leah Dorion
Gabriel Dumont Institute

While retelling his discovery of the great giving tree, a young boy shares the customs and traditions of his Métis culture.

Shannen and the Dream for a School
by Janet Wilson
Second Story Press

The Cree community of Attawapiskat in northern Ontario had a school built on contaminated soil, devoid of heat in the winter, and teeming with mold.  Shannen Koostachin, 13, led the fight to build a new school for her community.

We Are All . . . Treaty People
by Maurice Switzer
Illus. by Charley Hebert
Union of Ontario Indians

We Are All . . .Treaty People tells about the nature of treaties.


The winning title will be announced at the end of May/beginning of June, as a lead in to National Aboriginal History month (June).