Nicola I. Campbell is the author of Shi-shi-etko, Shin-chi’s Canoe, Grandpa’s Girls, and A Day With Yayah. Nłeʔkepmx, Syilx, and Métis, Nicola is from British Columbia. Her stories weave cultural and land-based teachings that focus on respect, endurance, healing, and reciprocity.

She has been a finalist for numerous children’s literary awards, and her book Shin-chi’s Canoe won the 2009 TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award as well as the 2008 Governor General's Award for Illustration. She lives in British Columbia.

 

Nicola I. Campbell's profile page

Julie Flett is an award-winning Cree-Metis author, illustrator and artist. She has received many awards, including the 2016 American Indian Library Association Award for Best Picture Book for Little You, written by Richard Van Camp (Orca Books), and the Canadian Christie Harris Illustrated Children’s Literature Award in 2015 for Dolphins SOS, written by Roy Miki (Tradewind Books) and in 2017 for My Heart Fills with Happiness, written by Monique Gray Smith (Orca Books), and was nominated for the Governor General’s Award for Children’s Literature for her book Owls See Clearly at Night (Lii Yiiboo Nayaapiwak lii Swer): A Michif Alphabet (L’alphabet di Michif). Her own Wild Berries (Simply Read Books) was chosen as Canada’s First Nation Communities Read title selection for 2014-2015.

www.julieflett.com

 

Julie Flett's profile page

• Short-listed, BC Book Prize

“This is probably the most beautiful “didactic” book I’ve ever encountered—grounded in solid, caring Indigenous family/community relationships, and in profound respect for children's need to interact closely with things that are worth investigating in their world.”

Debbie Reese

“This cheerful story of a spring-day outing ultimately balances instruction and entertainment. Flett's lovely collages add beauty and a fresh, contemporary tone, while the text captures the essence of the young learning from the old. Timeless values, such as gratitude for the earth, are seamlessly integrated.”

Booklist

“By using a story about family and nature as a conduit to share Nle'kepmxcin, Campbell nimbly proves how the way we speak is intertwined with the rest of one's life, and why it is essential to preserve Indigenous languages with a new generation.”

The Globe & Mail

“Campbell and Flett present the power of practicing Indigenous traditions and family values – for shaping strong, patient, smart, and loving characteristics in children. . .The distinct and unbreakable resiliency of Indigenous people is affirmed in this loving portrait of generational courage and fortitude.”

Quill & Quire

“In the Nicola Valley, British Columbia, where Interior Salishan peoples live, Nikki and friends forage for wild plants with relatives, including Yayah (grandmother). Yayah emphasizes the importance of plant identification and naming in their endangered Indigenous language, Nɬeʔkepmxcín. Using the text’s pronunciation guidance and the glossary, interested readers will learn along with the young characters. Quiet collage-like art emphasizes the land’s natural riches. Author’s note included.”

Horn Book Guide Reviews