Biindigen! Amik Says Welcome

Written by Nancy Cooper

Illustrated by Joshua Mangeshig Pawis-Steckley

Owlkids Books

 978-1-77147-515-0

32 pp.

Ages 3-7

March 2023

 

It may be a reunion of beavers, but Amik's little sister Nishiime is a little anxious. What should she expect from all these beavers coming from far and wide?

From Biindigen! Amik Says Welcome by Nancy Cooper, illus. by Joshua Mangeshig Pawis-Steckley

From the East and the far West, from the North and the South, Amik's cousins arrive and are welcomed. They bring gifts from their regions, whether a woven headband or berries in a basket, all generous and all received with gratitude. But Nishiime is nowhere to be found.

From Biindigen! Amik Says Welcome by Nancy Cooper, illus. by Joshua Mangeshig Pawis-Steckley

As the beavers go looking for Nishiime, Amik asks the deer, fish, fox, and otters if they've seen her. Though none have seen her, they all acknowledge the help that the beavers' activities have fortuitously provided them. Whether it's being able to reach the leaves of felled trees, or channels to swim in, a bridge to cross, or feeding in shallow waters created by dams, all the animals are appreciative.

From Biindigen! Amik Says Welcome by Nancy Cooper, illus. by Joshua Mangeshig Pawis-Steckley

It's not until the cousins are preparing to head home that Nishiime comes out of hiding, revealing the reason for her apprehension, and recognizing it as unfounded.

Using beavers to tell her tale, Nancy Cooper reminds us that, though we might come from different places and have different families, we are more alike than we might expect. Nishiime almost misses out on meeting her beaver cousins because of her fears; fortunately, she finally recognizes that though they might wear different markings, jewelry, and clothes, and all have different names–Amik is Anishinaabe, Amisk is Cree, Gopit is Mi'kmaq, Amicos is Algonquin, Kigiaq is Inuktitut, Qowut is Ayajuthum and Tsyennìto is Kanyen-kéha Mohawk–they are all beavers. Moreover, Amik and her family have been making everyone feel welcome, including the different species of animals. In a story about diversity and acceptance of differences, Nancy Cooper also reminds us of the interrelationship of living things. The message of connectedness and acceptance may be subtle and very organic, but it is convincing. 

 

The Woodland illustrations of Joshua Mangeshig Pawis-Steckley, an Ojibwe artist, take us into that woodland to see these stylized animals in lush beaver habitats of land and water. From forests of birch and poplar, to dammed waters below striking sunsets of orange and turquoise, the artwork of Joshua Mangeshig Pawis-Steckley, whose earlier book Mii maanda ezhi-gkendmaanh/This is How I Know made an enormous splash with its Woodland style, brings an appreciation of the natural world of the beaver and other animals. Still, Joshua Mangeshig Pawis-Steckley always reminds us with small details like beaded bracelets, a Mi'kmaq peaked cap or a medicine pouch that this is a story based in Indigenous cultures and its teachings are even more profound because of its heritage.

 

Biindigen! Amik Says Welcome is a fresh picture book in language (a glossary of Anishinaabe and other words is included) and art, and its messages about acceptance and gratitude will make it a welcome addition to any bookshelf.

Rescue at Lake Wild: Guest review

 

This review was written by teacher Elizabeth Cook.

 

 

Written by Terry Lynn Johnson

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

978-0-358334859

208 pp.

Ages 8-12

April 2021

I am a big animal lover.  My friends know to send me cute animal videos from the internet, my trips are often centered around animal experiences (e.g., diving with sharks, trekking with gorillas), and I volunteer for a local cat rescue organization. When I was young, our house was the stray cat and dog sanctuary of the neighbourhood.  It seemed that all local cats knew we couldn’t say no to helping them find forever homes (which usually was our own).  So, it should be no surprise that I was immediately taken in by Terry Lynn Johnson’s Rescue at Lake Wild. Between the cover image of a girl on a paddle board alongside two beavers and a boat with two boys and a dog, and the first page alluding to an animal whisperer, I was captivated. 

Twelve-year-old Madison Lewis and her friends Aaron and Jack, accompanied by Jack's tracking dog Lid, have been watching a beaver house where they'd earlier heard kits crying. Having found the adult beavers shot, the kids are worried that the adults may have been the kits' only family and are trying to decide if they should rescue the little ones. Madison, well known as an animal whisperer, knows it's best for wild animals to remain in the wild but, as night draws near, Madison follows her personal motto: "If you see something, do something.”  So she ends up diving down into the depths of the darkened beaver dam to save two orphaned beaver kits she affectionately names Cooler and Phragmites (Phrag). Together the trio of young people work to secretly save the beaver kits and discover those responsible for killing the adult beavers and for flooding the roadways in town, knowing the beavers weren't responsible for the damage seen around town. 

Using the knowledge she learned from her grandmother on raising and caring for beaver kits, Madison sets up a secret habitat in her clubhouse, determined to safely release the kits later into the wild. But Madison has to keep this secret from her older sister and mother, especially as her mother has told her that Madison could go and see her hero, Jane Goodall, speak only if she can resist rescuing more animals. Madison may dream of being the next Jane Goodall but she's already too dedicated to Cooler and Phrag to give up on them, and she's willing to risk it all to save them. Meanwhile, Aaron, Jack and Lid work to solve the mystery of the flooding around town, which is harder than expected because most adults won’t listen to a couple of kids who are sure that humans are responsible for the destruction, not the beavers.  

Terry Lynn Johnson’s Rescue at Lake Wild is a great novel for middle grade readers. The story focuses on how children learn to do what is right and help others while solving a town mystery. Because the theme of animal stewardship permeates the whole story, Rescue at Lake Wild is a great book for any animal lover you might know.  I especially liked the “Dos of Wildlife” at the back of the book which will help guide animal champions to properly care for wildlife and where to go for more reliable information on the topic.  This will be a great book to read during the upcoming cottage season!   

~ Reviewer Elizabeth Cook is a teacher in the Halton District School Board. She is an avid reader and fan of Canadian literature.

Level 13

Written by Gordon Korman

Scholastic Press

978-1-338-28620-5

241 pp.

Ages 8-12

July 2019

Cameron Boxer is a middle-grade slacker. He acknowledges this and is happy with a life style that allows him to play video games, hang with his friends Chuck and Pavel, and eat junk food. Of course, most parents and schools aren't supportive of slackers and so Cam has had to find a way to appease them with a façade of effort (see Slacker by Gordon Korman; Scholastic 2016) and he's done this by establishing P.A.G. a.k.a. Positive Action Group. But things tend to get out of hand when Cam is involved and his community service club has ballooned to 874 kids who think Cam, president of P.A.G., is a stand-up kind of guy who wants to do good work. So while all the paggers are working on a fundraiser for the public library, Cam is trying to avoid getting involved in anything that would take him away from his gaming and potential money-making endeavour as a live streamer.

Being the slacker he is, Cam comes up with a plan that would give him all the time needed for gaming and still look good. He lies to all, except Pavel and Chuck, that he's failing in his schoolwork because of his commitment to P.A.G. and allows Chuck's new girlfriend Daphne to take over as an interim president. To cover up his gaming, Cam creates a new account as GameFox229 and wears a disguise of an old Zorro mask and stuffs gummy worms in his mouth. When Chuck brings Elvis, the beaver the kids helped out in Slacker, over to Cam's house–Daphne is worried how thin he is–the number of followers and subscribers watching Cam explodes. Seems the rodent is mesmerized watching Cam play, getting into the game with sounds and expressions that suggest he knows exactly what's going on. Moreover, when Cam discovers an old version of the Guardians of Geldorf game with a banned Level 13 and is determined to make history with it, Elvis is all in.

But the Awesome Threesome, Cam, Pavel and Chuck, are struggling to stay a cohesive group while Chuck tries to balance his commitment to Daphne and Pavel struggles to keep up his stellar grades while always helping to transport Elvis to join Cam for his streaming sessions.

You know things have to go wrong. Soon all the paggers, without letting anyone else know, are taking over Cam's schoolwork to ensure that his marks improve so he can once again lead them in P.A.G. Elvis is not getting any fatter and Daphne is starting to worry about his health and the frequency of his absences from his habitat. Chuck and Pavel, knowing the truth of Cam's successes, are dismayed to see him held up as a hero of good works and marks. Even Cam's sister Melody gets into things by blackmailing him. Cam and his schemes are a runaway train and he has to get things back on track before he loses everything: his reputation, his friends, and even his health.

When he got mixed up in things–even dumb things–they could balloon to Hindenburg size in the blink of an eye.

     Then again, remember what happened to the Hindenburg. (pg. 122)

Gordon Korman gives kids a story they'll laugh at while envying Cam. Think about how many children would admire Cam for his artful scheming, continued luck, and ability to avoid scandal. He may call himself a slacker but he puts so much effort into his plans and their realization that he becomes a slave to his hobby. Level 13 could be considered a cautionary tale about the dangers of addictive behaviour and taking advantage of others but it's more a laugh on how the best laid plans can go wrong, even for those like Cam who were born under a lucky star. Regardless of the glitch in Cam's plan to becoming a professional gamer, he keeps leveling up, learning more about himself and others and appreciating a life beyond that of a slacker. For the Win!