I Would Give You My Tail

Written by Tanya Tagaq

Illustrated by Qavavau Manumie 

Tundra Books

978-1-77488-057-9

32 pp.

Ages 3-7

April 2025

 

What is the secret to happiness? For a child sent to bring his grandmother back to camp to help with the birth of his new sibling, Kalluk finds many answers and from those who enrich his own northern life.

From I Would Give You My Tail, written by Tanya Tagaq, illustrated by Qavavau Manumie

On his journey, Kalluk encounters different animals and natural elements and asks each why they are so happy. The first, a pair of hares, find their happiness in being fast and clever but also from protecting the other. One hare even declares, "I would give you my tail if I could." A babbling brook delights in being cold and clean and enjoying the sensation of running over rocks and giving satisfaction to the fish. With each encounter, including with a mother fox and her pups, the boy feels gratitude for the food provided, the fresh water to be had, and the care and love his own mother had always given him. 

From I Would Give You My Tail, written by Tanya Tagaq, illustrated by Qavavau Manumie

When he fetches his grandmother, Anaanattiaq, they travel together back to camp. Kalluk takes time on their journey to ask his grandmother the same question. The wisdom of her words are not lost on the child.

You get peace from inside. Every day, life gives you choices, and when you make the choice to be a kind person, the goodness inside of you grows.

From I Would Give You My Tail, written by Tanya Tagaq, illustrated by Qavavau Manumie

An encounter with a conspiracy of ravens brings forth a discussion of wisdom and sharing, and ends with an airborne journey, a dialogue with the wind, and a swift delivery of Anaanattiaq and Kalluk to a home with a new infant. Now Kalluk has insight about gratitude and making good choices and more to share with his new baby sister.

From I Would Give You My Tail, written by Tanya Tagaq, illustrated by Qavavau Manumie

I defy anyone not to feel a peacefulness while reading I Would Give You My Tail. It's not as simple a story as it may appear to be. It's loaded with the calm that comes with appreciation for what we have and are given and the relationships we have with others and the natural world. Tanya Tagaq, an Inuk throat singer and author from Nunavut, fills her words with weight, the weight of virtue and relevance, generosity and acknowledgement. Through Kalluk's grasp of the messages he hears from the wind, and the hares, the ravens and the brook, he and the reader vicariously are filled with thankfulness for what is given by family and the environment. And Tanya Tagaq does so without preaching or admonishment. Her message is borne on affection and honour.

 

Qavavau Manumie, an Inuit artist in Kinngait, Nunavut, created the artwork of I Would Give You My Tail with coloured pencil. As such, there is a simplicity in the shapes and colours of the illustrations but there is still a complexity of spirit. From the natural touch of a mother upon her child's head to a boy as he watches and inquires, the art of Qavavau Manumie both emphasizes the familiar and the unique in the way of family and Inuit life, respectively.

 

Perhaps there are messages in I Would Give You My Tail about gratitude and happiness, but I also took away a sense of peace, a sense that there is appreciation for life in the natural world and among the Inuit. There is no need for grand gestures or spectacles of PDA when there is honesty and happiness that comes from doing for others, from being good, from sharing, and even from just having breath and food and water. I Would Give You My Tail gives us more than a sentimental tale of family. It gives us hope that happiness is readily at hand.

ninitohtênân / We Listen (Nôhkom series)

Written by Caitlin Dale Nicholson with Leona Morin-Neilson

Illustrated by Caitlin Dale Nicholson

Groundwood Books

978-1-77306-859-6

24 pp.

Ages 3+

April 2024 

Caitlin Dale Nicholson's Nôhkom series honours the Cree grandmothers and elders who share their wisdom, their traditions, and their learning with younger generations. In ninitohtênân / We Listen, Caitlin Dale Nicholson, with translation by Leona Morin-Neilson, a teacher of Cree in BC, reflects on an outing with nôhkom during which the younger people watch and listen and learn.

From ninitohtênân / We Listen, written by Caitlin Dale Nicholson with Leona Morin-Neilson, illustrated by Caitlin Dale Nicholson

There are few words in ninitohtênân / We Listen, though each phrase is told in both standard roman orthography and syllabic Cree, as well as English. The phrases are simple, taking us from "Nôhkom gets ready" and "We get ready"–phrases are paired to reflect what nôhkom does and then what the young people do–to a day out with a picnic and collecting the plant called Labrador Tea. It's a day of following and learning.

From ninitohtênân / We Listen, written by Caitlin Dale Nicholson with Leona Morin-Neilson, illustrated by Caitlin Dale Nicholson

Even though the young people occasionally deviate from what nôhkom does, like playing in the water when their elders rest, the girls usually follow her lead, recognizing the value in her way of doing things. In that way, ninitohtênân / We Listen is very much a tribute to nôhkom and what she imparts to them in her traditional ways.

From ninitohtênân / We Listen, written by Caitlin Dale Nicholson with Leona Morin-Neilson, illustrated by Caitlin Dale Nicholson

The Nôhkom series from Caitlin Dale Nicholson is extraordinary in the depth of its esteem  for the contributions made by elders to younger generations, and the respect afforded them by their sharing of those traditions. As in the earlier books, nipêhon / I Wait and niwîcihâw / I Help, the text is minimal but powerful, even more so for the Cree in both standard roman orthography and syllabic forms. But, it is always Caitlin Dale Nicholson's artwork, acrylics on canvas, that ground the story in family, traditional customs, intergenerational relationships, and Indigenous culture. The family of multiple generations gathers for simple pleasures, but they are profound in their connections with each other and with the natural world as well as their Cree culture. (Recipes for tea and ointment made from the plant Labrador Tea are included.)

 

For young readers, ninitohtênân / We Listen allows us the privilege of a glimpse into a very special relationship and witness the learning that comes from that positive connection. It may not be dramatic or thundering but it is mighty, if you listen.

• • • • • • •

Nôhkom series

nipêhon / I Wait  (2008/2017)

niwîcihâw / I Help (2018)

ninitohtênân / We Listen

Sharing Our Truths/Tapwe

Written by Henry Beaver and Mindy Willett
with Eileen Beaver

Photographs by Tessa Macintosh

Fifth House Publishers

978-1-92708352-9

34 pp.

Ages 9-12

May 2019

We can't tell you what to do with the truths we share in this book, but we hope that reading our story will help you get to know us a little better so that together we can make this nation a place we can all be proud of.

With his opening, Henry Beaver explains his intention for Sharing Our Truths/Tapwe. He and his wife Eileen Beaver live in Fort Smith, NWT and through time have taught their children and now their grandchildren about their culture and their ways.  Sharing Our Truths/Tapwe is an opportunity to teach others the same.

From Sharing Our Truths/Tapwe by Henry Beaver, Mindy Willett and Eileen Beaver, photos by Tessa Macintosh

With their grandchildren visiting, Henry Beaver and Eileen Beaver introduce them to a variety of activities, places and learning that comes from living where and as they and their ancestors have. There is the harvesting of salt from the Salt Plains, and trapping of the beaver as well as preparation of its hide and meat. Henry Beaver shows his grandchildren how to set up a mikiwawhp (tipi) and prepare a scared fire circle. As a retired educator, Eileen Beaver shares her teaching about the medicine wheel, smudging, sacred plants and storytelling including her telling of How the Female Moose Lost her Beautiful Antlers. 

From Sharing Our Truths/Tapwe by Henry Beaver, Mindy Willett and Eileen Beaver, photos by Tessa Macintosh

Amidst the richness of their activities and teachings, the authors also share details about the Salt Plains and Wood Buffalo National Park, the Nēhiyaw or Cree, and the Salt River First Nation, as well as including a glossary and short list of Cree words. Sharing Our Truths/Tapwe may only scratch the surface of the teachings that Henry Beaver and Eileen Beaver and other elders can and have shared with others but it's a wonderful introduction that places young readers into their culture. Co-authored by Mindy Willett, who has been integral to the whole The Land is Our Storybook series, and documented in photographs by Tessa Macintosh, Sharing Our Truths/Tapwe shows us the actuality of what it is to be Cree in the NWT and to live on the land.

Tapwe means "it is so" or "the truth" and so it is in this exemplary non-fiction book for young readers which will surely engage and educate.

From Sharing Our Truths/Tapwe by Henry Beaver, Mindy Willett and Eileen Beaver, photos by Tessa Macintosh

••••••••••••••••

The Land is Our Storybook series, which includes several in French translation, is a great starting point for teaching the culture of Indigenous peoples from a child's perspective. There are now nine titles in this series, written at an early reader-middle grade level and featuring photographs that take readers into the heart of Nunavut, the Northwest Territories and Indigenous communities in Canada.

Gerbil, Uncurled

A Tell-Me-More Storybook

Written by Alison Hughes

Illustrated by Suzanne Del Rizzo

Fitzhenry & Whiteside

978-1-554-55332-7

32 pp.

Ages 4-7

September 2015

Fitzhenry & Whiteside have a new addition to their Tell-Me-More Storybook collection and young readers have a delightful story that will tell teach them about gerbils and working together to formulate the best rules for all.

All the gerbils know the Gerbil Mottos in Gerbil, Uncurled.  They are:

• The Night is Short: Keep Busy
• Always Keep Your Whiskers Clean
• Celery Tops Come To Those Who Wait
• Many Paws Make Quick Work
• Curl Up Nose To Toes

Important rules to follow to live to a good long life like Grandpa Gerbil who is a five whole years old!

But Little Gerbil, try as she might, is not a curl-up-like-a-ball sleeper.  And though she promises Grandpa Gerbil to try, she panics, desperate for fresh air and to stretch out in the sunshine. So when day ends, she scrambles back to her family’s bedding to wake up with the rest, huddled as she should be.  However, Little Gerbil can’t handle the guilt of accepting congratulations while she “was living a gerbil lie.” (pg. 12)  Nonetheless making some careful observations helps Little Gerbil guide her elders and family to rethink the Gerbil Mottos so that all may be successful.

Alison Hughes shares important lessons about cooperation, family and being true to oneself in Gerbil, Uncurled but young readers will be just as charmed by Suzanne Del Rizzo’s polymer art of the little rodents and their environs.  Following in the artistic steps of Canada’s Grande Dame of plasticine, Barbara Reid, Suzanne Del Rizzo fashions warm hues of oranges and beiges, with touches of blue and turquoise as complementary colours, into gerbil life and details.  Her creatures are adorable and jump off the page with their curls and cedar shavings and braided textures.  I can’t possibly enumerate all the details in which children will delight–a teddy bear, a banana, celery, knitting, alphabet blocks–but they’ll be delighted that Suzanne Del Rizzo shares with them how to mold the dough into their own gerbils.  And everyone, teachers and parents included, will appreciate the additional information about different rodents and gerbil behaviour included in this Tell-Me-More Storybook appendix.

Gerbil, Uncurled will amuse and inform while providing a sweet vehicle for teaching about rules and coming together to make better ones that work for all.