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Shin-chi's Canoe
When they arrive at school, Shi-shi-etko reminds Shinchi, her six-year-old brother, that they can only use their English names and that they can't speak to each other. For Shinchi, life becomes an endless cycle of church mass, school, and work, punctuated by skimpy meals. He finds solace at the river, clutching a tiny cedar canoe, a gift from his father, and dreaming of the day when the salmon return to the river — a sign that it’s almost time to return home. This poignant story about a devastating chapter in First Nations history is told at a child’s level of understanding.
40 pages, Hardcover
First published July 28, 2008
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 86 reviews
March 2, 2021
An important, a necessary but also a really and truly majorly painful and in many ways infuriating account is Nicola I. Campbell’s sequel to her Shi-shi-etko, is her Shin-chi’s Canoe. For yes, while Shin-chi’s Canoe does of course and also fortunately not present and depict the worst and the most horrifying of the abuses Fist Nations children often and actually seemingly usually had to endure during residential school, Campbell’s presented text certainly and clearly demonstrates how at the very least inherently degrading and bigoted these so-called boarding schools tended to be, with the attending First Nations students not permitted to use their native tongues, with siblings deliberately kept apart, with Native Canadian culture being routinely and specifically denigrated by heartless residential school teachers and staff, horrible but also true and realistic, and indeed most essential to be shown not only to adults but also to younger children. And in my opinion, Shin-chi’s Canoe is thus also a good vehicle for the so-called picture book crowd, for children between the ages of four to about seven to be introduced to residential schools and to how dehumanising and abusive (both physically and mentally) being forced to attend generally was (although there is also hope presented in Shin-chi’s Canoe and that both Shin-chi and Shi-Shi-etko’s strong sense of family and support will hopefully help them survive and overcome the scars and trauma of the residential school experience).
Combined with the fact that Kim LaFave’s accompanying artwork is both glowingly imaginative and also visually expands on the fact that residential school is to only be seen as something inhumane and absolutely degrading (for yes, LaFave’s pictures certainly do show how on their way to school and while at school First Nations students are approached as not really human but more as masses of livestock to be moulded into one type of shape), while Shin-chi’s Canoe has not really been a reading and visual experience that is joyful, it is certainly an important and successfully engaging marriage of Nicola I. Campbell’s narrative and Kim Lafave’s images and indeed a picture book which I do find that along with Shi-Shi-etko should be essential and mandatory reading for both Canadian and American children.
Combined with the fact that Kim LaFave’s accompanying artwork is both glowingly imaginative and also visually expands on the fact that residential school is to only be seen as something inhumane and absolutely degrading (for yes, LaFave’s pictures certainly do show how on their way to school and while at school First Nations students are approached as not really human but more as masses of livestock to be moulded into one type of shape), while Shin-chi’s Canoe has not really been a reading and visual experience that is joyful, it is certainly an important and successfully engaging marriage of Nicola I. Campbell’s narrative and Kim Lafave’s images and indeed a picture book which I do find that along with Shi-Shi-etko should be essential and mandatory reading for both Canadian and American children.
April 28, 2017
This story is a about a girl and her brother who are sent to a residential school for Native American children in Canada. Like the residential schools for Native Americans in the U.S., these schools were designed to "Americanize" the children, separating them from their families, language, and culture. Campbell takes the children from their home on the reservation to their journey to school in the fall, through their months of separation, loneliness, cold, and hunger, to the summer, when they can finally go home to their parents. Unfortunately, the emotional trauma which one would expect these children to experience, was superficially described, though the reader can certainly imagine how they must have felt. The story does provide a good introduction to what life was like at these schools. I wish this had been made into a novel, told from alternating points of view between Shi-shi-etko and her brother, so that their thoughts and feelings could have been described. Recommended as an introduction to life at these schools.
June 9, 2019
In this follow-up to her earlier
Shi-shi-etko
, children's author Nicola I. Campbell, who is of Interior Salish and Metis descent, returns to the residential school experience of Canada's First Nations peoples - a heartbreaking process in which native children were forcibly removed from their homes and families, and placed in abusive church-run boarding schools. As Shi-Shi-etko prepares to return to school for her second year, her younger brother Shinchi must confront his own first year away, and his impending separation from his family. Riding to school in a dusty cattle truck, he is reminded by his elder sister of the things he "must always remember," and, once at school (where they are not permitted to speak to one another) given a little canoe to remind him of home, and of their people's traditions...
Unlike the previous title, which confined itself to Shi-shi-etko's experiences leading up to her removal from home, Shin-chi's Canoe actually follows the children to school itself, gently setting out some very un-gentle realities. The inhumane practices of such institutions - the fact that the children were punished for speaking their own language, were forbidden from communicating with their families at home, or even with family members also at school; the insufficient food they were given, while the adults in charge feasted on the produce of the farms run on the children's labor - is set out in the story. So too is the students' effort to hold onto what was good and comforting, in the face of what can only be called abuse.
Although it addresses some painful aspects of history - and, although set in Canada, it is a history that also has relevance here in the USA, where similar institutions flourished - Shin-chi's Canoe is not unremittingly dark. True, it is a record of hardship and cruelty visited upon children, but it is also a story of surviving such experiences. I recommend it to anyone, teacher or parent, trying to introduce this difficult topic to younger readers.
Unlike the previous title, which confined itself to Shi-shi-etko's experiences leading up to her removal from home, Shin-chi's Canoe actually follows the children to school itself, gently setting out some very un-gentle realities. The inhumane practices of such institutions - the fact that the children were punished for speaking their own language, were forbidden from communicating with their families at home, or even with family members also at school; the insufficient food they were given, while the adults in charge feasted on the produce of the farms run on the children's labor - is set out in the story. So too is the students' effort to hold onto what was good and comforting, in the face of what can only be called abuse.
Although it addresses some painful aspects of history - and, although set in Canada, it is a history that also has relevance here in the USA, where similar institutions flourished - Shin-chi's Canoe is not unremittingly dark. True, it is a record of hardship and cruelty visited upon children, but it is also a story of surviving such experiences. I recommend it to anyone, teacher or parent, trying to introduce this difficult topic to younger readers.
February 27, 2012
Shin-chi’s Canoe was written by Nicola I. Campbell and illustrated by Kim LaFave. The book was published in 2008 by Groundwood Books. This text tells the story of a sister, Shi-shi-etko, and a brother, Shin-chi, who leave their families to attend a church-run boarding school. Attending the school was required by law and meant the children would not have contact with their families again until summer. At the Indian residential school, the children would be taught European culture, and would not be allowed to have any links to their home lives including speaking in their native language, being called by non-European names, or speaking to siblings also attending the school. Shi-shi-etko and her family try to prepare Shin-chi for his first year at the school, even though they do not want to be separated from each other. Shin-chi tries to cope with the harsh realities of school life, but turns to his memories of home for comfort when he feels overwhelmed. Shin-chi eventually makes a friend and learns how to survive away from home until he is reunited with his family.
Shin-chi’s Canoe explicitly educates readers about the hardships faced by Native families who were forced to send their children to boarding school. The text begins with an author’s note, detailing the history behind these schools and explaining some of the experiences children had at these schools. Nicola Campbell makes clear the emotional and cultural devastation caused by the boarding schools in her note to her readers. The text itself takes a gentler tone, but still communicates the toll taken by the experience. The children’s mother clearly states, “My children, if we could, we would keep you here at home. We would never, ever let you go, but it’s the laws that force us to send you away to residential school.” The children struggle to savor last looks at their favorite landmarks, and Shin-chi turns to his grandfather’s prayer song and his toy canoe when he can no longer stand the isolation. Through her story and the characters’ actions, Campbell clearly shows us how removed students at the school feel, and how their greatest comfort comes from their connection to home and to each other. The plot itself is not overly tense or suspenseful, but the emotional tension and drama of the children’s experiences pull readers through the story.
Kim LaFave’s illustrations support the emotional content of the text by contrasting light and color with shadow and gloom. When the children are home, even as they prepare for a sad time, they are surrounded by bright colors and warmth. Children being herded onto the cattle truck, on their way to school, are shrouded in shadows and shades of brown. Nature remains in full color throughout the text, as do the protagonists who weather the storm, but everything associated with the institution itself remains muted and drab. No characters are drawn with such singular features that they stand out dramatically from the rest – LaFave helps us understand that many, many children and families are represented on these pages.
Shin-chi’s Canoe takes on a difficult topic in an upfront way. The pain and loss felt by the affected communities are clearly communicated. Readers do get a “happy ending” in the children’s reunion with their families at the end of the text, but they understand that the journey to this happy moment was not an easy one. The protagonists are resilient, but they have endured much. Due to the emotional content of the text, I would recommend that it be used with 3rd-5th grade students. Younger students could understand the story, but might not be able to engage with the underlying history that brings the greater gravity and meaning to the text itself.
Shin-chi’s Canoe explicitly educates readers about the hardships faced by Native families who were forced to send their children to boarding school. The text begins with an author’s note, detailing the history behind these schools and explaining some of the experiences children had at these schools. Nicola Campbell makes clear the emotional and cultural devastation caused by the boarding schools in her note to her readers. The text itself takes a gentler tone, but still communicates the toll taken by the experience. The children’s mother clearly states, “My children, if we could, we would keep you here at home. We would never, ever let you go, but it’s the laws that force us to send you away to residential school.” The children struggle to savor last looks at their favorite landmarks, and Shin-chi turns to his grandfather’s prayer song and his toy canoe when he can no longer stand the isolation. Through her story and the characters’ actions, Campbell clearly shows us how removed students at the school feel, and how their greatest comfort comes from their connection to home and to each other. The plot itself is not overly tense or suspenseful, but the emotional tension and drama of the children’s experiences pull readers through the story.
Kim LaFave’s illustrations support the emotional content of the text by contrasting light and color with shadow and gloom. When the children are home, even as they prepare for a sad time, they are surrounded by bright colors and warmth. Children being herded onto the cattle truck, on their way to school, are shrouded in shadows and shades of brown. Nature remains in full color throughout the text, as do the protagonists who weather the storm, but everything associated with the institution itself remains muted and drab. No characters are drawn with such singular features that they stand out dramatically from the rest – LaFave helps us understand that many, many children and families are represented on these pages.
Shin-chi’s Canoe takes on a difficult topic in an upfront way. The pain and loss felt by the affected communities are clearly communicated. Readers do get a “happy ending” in the children’s reunion with their families at the end of the text, but they understand that the journey to this happy moment was not an easy one. The protagonists are resilient, but they have endured much. Due to the emotional content of the text, I would recommend that it be used with 3rd-5th grade students. Younger students could understand the story, but might not be able to engage with the underlying history that brings the greater gravity and meaning to the text itself.
November 28, 2018
My kids only made it three pages into this one before it just made them too sad to continue. This is actually a really well-told, age-appropriate introduction to the horror of what was done to indigenous people, but the heartbreak of making a small child leave his family was just too much for my kids to handle. When I told my 6-year old this was a continuation of Shi-shi-etko, he told me that book made him cry and he didn’t want to read this one. 😭 The story is beautiful, necessary, and difficult.
November 24, 2021
Part of my 8 year old History class. Such a great and important topic.
September 25, 2023
good for introducing residential schools to younger students
December 20, 2025
An honest, yet hopeful and age-appropriate portrayal of experiences of children in "Indian residential schools." Students had many questions after this read-aloud.
March 2, 2018
The book, "Shin-chi's Canoe" by Nicola I. Campbell, was a really great historical fiction book about the Indian reservation camps, how harshly Indians in America were treated in the past, and about the Indian residential schools that children in the Indian communities were required to go to (separating the children from their families). This book really reflected on important aspects of American history regarding American Indians; therefore, I think it would be extremely appropriate to use for fifth grade, since they are learning about American history in social studies, but it would also be appropriate for third and fourth graders. I believe that one way in which this text could be used in a classroom setting is to introduce a social studies lesson about Indians in American history. It would be a great read aloud to do as an engage or hook for a lesson. Another way it could be used is for a reading lesson on making text-to-text connections. For example, you could read aloud a biography or informational text about Indians in American history to the class, then have them read "Shin-chi's Canoe" and make connections about things that actually occurred during the time, and things that just occurred in Shin-chi's life. This book would also be a really great book to do a picture walk with since the illustrations are so detailed and good. I chose this as one of my WOW books because I am really interested in all history, especially history of Indians back in the time period where they were oppressed by the government and Americans. Also, I am part Indian and so this really is what intrigued me about this book and made me consider it a WOW book.
July 8, 2021
The illustrations are portrayed beautifully and the prose captures an abbreviated, succinct narrative into the experience, from a young child's perspective, of the terrible conditions residential schools caused and of awaiting to return to his home, which is marked by the arrival of the sockeye salmon.
It does broaden the scope for readers to understand that residential schools were not only an issue in Canada alone but existed in the U. S., Australia and New Zealand as well.
My only complaint (as an adult reader) is this failed to provide much insight into the iniquity that residential schools caused—the realities of the life-long trauma many of these stolen children had to face, alongside the exposure of forced European culture, religion, and language.
Overall, it makes me curious to dive into literature pertaining to the Indigenous culture and to find residential school non-fictional accounts.
It does broaden the scope for readers to understand that residential schools were not only an issue in Canada alone but existed in the U. S., Australia and New Zealand as well.
My only complaint (as an adult reader) is this failed to provide much insight into the iniquity that residential schools caused—the realities of the life-long trauma many of these stolen children had to face, alongside the exposure of forced European culture, religion, and language.
Overall, it makes me curious to dive into literature pertaining to the Indigenous culture and to find residential school non-fictional accounts.
March 31, 2018
Shin-chi's Canoe is a direct sequel of Shi-shi-etko. The art is just as beautiful as in the first book, and the story is just as beautiful as well. We get to see Shi-shi-etko now attending residential school, her younger brother Shin-chi at her side. These books are a beautiful introduction to a horrific topic, without washing out the bad. We see the children struggle to maintain their identities and to remember their family and the love they all share.
I highly recommend this for kids and adults. I hope to read more from Nicola I. Campbell, as her work manages to introduce sensitive topics beautifully without concealing the true nature of what happened.
I highly recommend this for kids and adults. I hope to read more from Nicola I. Campbell, as her work manages to introduce sensitive topics beautifully without concealing the true nature of what happened.
January 21, 2012
Shinchi's Canoe tells about Native American's schooling in the 1800s. It shows how students were able to cope with being taken from their families with the assistance of nature.
November 20, 2014
A Native older sister prepares her little brother to start at a white school by teaching him to retain his heritage and culture.
October 30, 2016
Beautiful poetic language. Important topic. I liked the front matter and the repetition of phrasing throughout the narrative was well-executed.
September 29, 2017
Beautiful story about a boy who has to go to reservation school and his dad gives him a canoe. Explains in a kid friendly way some of the realities of reservation schools.
September 30, 2025
Beautiful and poignant, this book adresses the forced sending of children to residential schools, the loss of their culture and communities that came with this, but also highlights the resilience the communities showed and humanized who it's attendees were outside of schools too. It made the attendees whole, complete people, which I think some other books on the topic miss or don't do in a way that hits as hard for me. I could see myself using this for my own classes.
October 2, 2020
I really loved this picture book. First of all, the illustrations are just gorgeous.
But it’s also found the perfect balance between showing the joy of indigenous customs and the strength the children find in who they are and where they come from alongside the horrors of residential schools.
But it’s also found the perfect balance between showing the joy of indigenous customs and the strength the children find in who they are and where they come from alongside the horrors of residential schools.
March 9, 2021
no it bad >:(
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 2, 2021
J’ai adoré cet album qui parle les pensionnats autochtones et certaines des horreurs vécues tout en restant en surface pour aborder le sujet avec les enfants.
January 17, 2024
Again, heartbreaking.
May 5, 2013
This is the second book I've read concerning Native American treatment by American and Canadian governments within the residential schools. The first being Marlene Carvell's "Sweetgrass Basket" about the two teenage sister trying to keep their cultural ways alive. Each time, I am amazed at how the author is able to tell the story in such simple prose style but in such a way to evoke from the reader empathy and sadness at their treatment. In Nicole I. Campbell and illustrator Kim LaFave's gentle hands in "Shin-chi's Canoe, the combination of their skills leaves the reader appreciating even more the survival and sheer determination of these Native American groups to retain their cultural ways.
The story starts with the reader seeing Shin-chi's whole family going on the cattle trucks to their new destination- Indian residential schools. The father, YaYah, will not return from his work until the salmon run in the summertime, so Shin-Chi and his 6 year old sister Shi-shi-etko must wait for his arrival and begin their acclimation to the residential school. Both siblings have to endure many indignities and changes at the hand of the school's administrators; boys and girls are separated, the sister's braids are cut off, industrial trades of blacksmith and linens are taught, the children sleep in barrack like single cots, and their is never enough food. Meanwhile, Shin-Chi holds on tightly to his father's hand carved boat, and in moment of desperate desire to reunite with his father and family, the child runs out of the school house in winter to float his tiny canoe on the cold river waters. The canoe carries both cultural and personal symbolic meaning as a symbol of delicate and precarious nature of Shin-Chi's attempt to keep his cultural ways alive and his desire to see his father's return.
The fact that Nicola I. Campbell's is a member of the Salish tribe, grew up in British Columbia's Nicola Valley, and that many of her family members and grandfather and mother attended residential school gives her retelling of this historically fictional account a certain genuine feel and sound to it. Kim LaFave, the illustrator, provides tenderly drawn and soft palettes to add to the simple child like story telling of Shin-Chi's journey. The author gives the reader who is unfamiliar with residential schools a one page historical summary which is useful information for an educator. Although a teacher would have to provide students with some necessary background historical knowledge on how Native American residential schools operated, Campbell's picture book would provide the much needed personal children's perspective for 3rd and 4th grade class on little told part of American and Canadian naturalization and educational treatment of Native American children.
The story starts with the reader seeing Shin-chi's whole family going on the cattle trucks to their new destination- Indian residential schools. The father, YaYah, will not return from his work until the salmon run in the summertime, so Shin-Chi and his 6 year old sister Shi-shi-etko must wait for his arrival and begin their acclimation to the residential school. Both siblings have to endure many indignities and changes at the hand of the school's administrators; boys and girls are separated, the sister's braids are cut off, industrial trades of blacksmith and linens are taught, the children sleep in barrack like single cots, and their is never enough food. Meanwhile, Shin-Chi holds on tightly to his father's hand carved boat, and in moment of desperate desire to reunite with his father and family, the child runs out of the school house in winter to float his tiny canoe on the cold river waters. The canoe carries both cultural and personal symbolic meaning as a symbol of delicate and precarious nature of Shin-Chi's attempt to keep his cultural ways alive and his desire to see his father's return.
The fact that Nicola I. Campbell's is a member of the Salish tribe, grew up in British Columbia's Nicola Valley, and that many of her family members and grandfather and mother attended residential school gives her retelling of this historically fictional account a certain genuine feel and sound to it. Kim LaFave, the illustrator, provides tenderly drawn and soft palettes to add to the simple child like story telling of Shin-Chi's journey. The author gives the reader who is unfamiliar with residential schools a one page historical summary which is useful information for an educator. Although a teacher would have to provide students with some necessary background historical knowledge on how Native American residential schools operated, Campbell's picture book would provide the much needed personal children's perspective for 3rd and 4th grade class on little told part of American and Canadian naturalization and educational treatment of Native American children.
May 5, 2013
This is the second book I've read concerning Native American treatment by American and Canadian governments within the residential schools. The first being Marlene Carvell's "Sweetgrass Basket" about the two teenage sister trying to keep their cultural ways alive. Each time, I am amazed at how the author is able to tell the story in such simple prose style but in such a way to evoke from the reader empathy and sadness at their treatment. In Nicole I. Campbell and illustrator Kim LaFave's gentle hands in "Shin-chi's Canoe, the combination of their skills leaves the reader appreciating even more the survival and sheer determination of these Native American groups to retain their cultural ways.
The story starts with the reader seeing Shin-chi's whole family going on the cattle trucks to their new destination- Indian residential schools. The father, YaYah, will not return from his work until the salmon run in the summertime, so Shin-Chi and his 6 year old sister Shi-shi-etko must wait for his arrival and begin their acclimation to the residential school. Both siblings have to endure many indignities and changes at the hand of the school's administrators; boys and girls are separated, the sister's braids are cut off, industrial trades of blacksmith and linens are taught, the children sleep in barrack like single cots, and their is never enough food. Meanwhile, Shin-Chi holds on tightly to his father's hand carved boat, and in moment of desperate desire to reunite with his father and family, the child runs out of the school house in winter to float his tiny canoe on the cold river waters. The canoe carries both cultural and personal symbolic meaning as a symbol of delicate and precarious nature of Shin-Chi's attempt to keep his cultural ways alive and his desire to see his father's return.
The fact that Nicola I. Campbell's is a member of the Salish tribe, grew up in British Columbia's Nicola Valley, and that many of her family members and grandfather and mother attended residential school gives her retelling of this historically fictional account a certain genuine feel and sound to it. Kim LaFave, the illustrator, provides tenderly drawn and soft palettes to add to the simple child like story telling of Shin-Chi's journey. The author gives the reader who is unfamiliar with residential schools a one page historical summary which is useful information for an educator. Although a teacher would have to provide students with some necessary background historical knowledge on how Native American residential schools operated, Campbell's picture book would provide the much needed personal children's perspective for 3rd and 4th grade class on little told part of American and Canadian naturalization and educational treatment of Native American children.
The story starts with the reader seeing Shin-chi's whole family going on the cattle trucks to their new destination- Indian residential schools. The father, YaYah, will not return from his work until the salmon run in the summertime, so Shin-Chi and his 6 year old sister Shi-shi-etko must wait for his arrival and begin their acclimation to the residential school. Both siblings have to endure many indignities and changes at the hand of the school's administrators; boys and girls are separated, the sister's braids are cut off, industrial trades of blacksmith and linens are taught, the children sleep in barrack like single cots, and their is never enough food. Meanwhile, Shin-Chi holds on tightly to his father's hand carved boat, and in moment of desperate desire to reunite with his father and family, the child runs out of the school house in winter to float his tiny canoe on the cold river waters. The canoe carries both cultural and personal symbolic meaning as a symbol of delicate and precarious nature of Shin-Chi's attempt to keep his cultural ways alive and his desire to see his father's return.
The fact that Nicola I. Campbell's is a member of the Salish tribe, grew up in British Columbia's Nicola Valley, and that many of her family members and grandfather and mother attended residential school gives her retelling of this historically fictional account a certain genuine feel and sound to it. Kim LaFave, the illustrator, provides tenderly drawn and soft palettes to add to the simple child like story telling of Shin-Chi's journey. The author gives the reader who is unfamiliar with residential schools a one page historical summary which is useful information for an educator. Although a teacher would have to provide students with some necessary background historical knowledge on how Native American residential schools operated, Campbell's picture book would provide the much needed personal children's perspective for 3rd and 4th grade class on little told part of American and Canadian naturalization and educational treatment of Native American children.
November 12, 2018
A sequel to Shi-shi-etko, now she is returning to school with her younger brother. Although she can give him tips, they will not be able to speak to each other while at the residential school.
Because this follows time at the school, it is a little more specific to the residential school experience, but still very gentle, and should not be too disturbing for young readers. Good example of affection between siblings, waiting, and homesickness.
Because this follows time at the school, it is a little more specific to the residential school experience, but still very gentle, and should not be too disturbing for young readers. Good example of affection between siblings, waiting, and homesickness.
May 14, 2019
I read this book out loud to my students while we were simultaneously studying the Indian Removal Act. This book talks is told from the point of view of a young child who is sent to an Indian Residential School in Canada. It helps children understand what exactly native children were put through after they were forced off their lands and also forced to assimilate. Because it's told from the point of view of the children themselves, I feel like my students truly empathized. It put a human face on a crisis instead of just numbers and statistics. I would recommend this to any teacher who is also looking for a way to teach some of the darker parts of American history in a way children can understand.
October 30, 2018
Nicola I. Campbell has written a historical fiction sequel to her story of Shi-shi-etko, the young First Nations girl who is sent from British Columbia to a residential school far away in Canada. In the second year of her schooling, her brother must join her. Shin-chi is six years old and is told to remember about everything at their home because they will not return until the following summer. He is told to only speak English at the school and they are not allowed to speak to each other. Shi-shi-etko gives her brother a small canoe to help him remember home. The book shows the difficult months at school where they attend Mass daily and work hard at chores because they are at a religious school. Shin-chi is always hungry but he does get the chance to float his canoe in a nearby river. The book ends joyously when they both return home after one year. The book is written in lyrical poetry and it draws the reader along in the story, soothed by the muted environmental colors created by illustrator, Kim LaFave. This book won The Canadian Children's Literature Award. Readers ages 5-8 will enjoy this book.
September 12, 2017
Shin-chi's Canoe by Nicola I. Campbell, illustrated by Kim La Fave and published by Groundwood Books is a beautiful sequel story to Shi-shi-etko.
This story follows the two siblings who are heading off to residential school, Shi-shi-etko for year two and Shin-chi for the first time. When the cattle truck arrives to which them away, Shi-shi-etko tells her brother of all the things he must remember and keep in his heart until he gets to return home again. He wants his father to build him his own canoe and as they get to school, Shi-shi-etko presents him with a miniature canoe made by their father. Their days are spent going to lessons, mass, cleaning, and work but once the salmon run, they will return to the bosom of their family to a joyful reunion and surprise.
Once again, Nicola Campbell weaves the tale of the hardships experienced by our First Nations people being forced to enter residential schools. She describes the pain and the perseverance of these people to remember their homes and themselves in the harshest of circumstances. I love Kim La Fave's bold illustrations! They make such an impactful statement in their uniformity and sameness in certain sections of the story.
This book is perfect to share with your children as early as preschool. The more we share these stories the more we will learn and grow to towards understanding and reconciliation.
This story follows the two siblings who are heading off to residential school, Shi-shi-etko for year two and Shin-chi for the first time. When the cattle truck arrives to which them away, Shi-shi-etko tells her brother of all the things he must remember and keep in his heart until he gets to return home again. He wants his father to build him his own canoe and as they get to school, Shi-shi-etko presents him with a miniature canoe made by their father. Their days are spent going to lessons, mass, cleaning, and work but once the salmon run, they will return to the bosom of their family to a joyful reunion and surprise.
Once again, Nicola Campbell weaves the tale of the hardships experienced by our First Nations people being forced to enter residential schools. She describes the pain and the perseverance of these people to remember their homes and themselves in the harshest of circumstances. I love Kim La Fave's bold illustrations! They make such an impactful statement in their uniformity and sameness in certain sections of the story.
This book is perfect to share with your children as early as preschool. The more we share these stories the more we will learn and grow to towards understanding and reconciliation.
August 29, 2015
When Shi-shi-etko and her brother Shin-chi are forced to attend a Canadian boarding school as part of the nation's attempts to eradicate their identity and culture, they bring with them memories of their home to sustain them during the time away from all that is familiar. In this sequel to Shi-shi-etko, Shin-chi's sister knows the ropes at the school and reminds her brother that they must use English names and will be separated. She also gives him a tiny canoe made by their father. It is hard for the six-year-old boy to be away from his parents, and he sends the canoe back home along a river, symbolically taking him along with it. The book poignantly describes this most cruel of educational practices that attempted to strip children of their language, culture, and family. The text is heart-rending, and the illustrations, sketches that were redrawn in Prisma pencil and then scanned and colored digitally through Photoshop effectively portray the feelings of the children and their families as well as providing snapshots of how they were transported in cattle trucks and how they held onto to memories of the beautiful places they were leaving.
September 26, 2011
"When they arrive at school, Shi-shi-etko reminds Shinchi, her six-year-old brother, that they can only use their English names and that they can't speak to each other. For Shinchi, life becomes an endless cycle of church mass, school, and work, punctuated by skimpy meals. He finds solace at the river, clutching a tiny cedar canoe, a gift from his father, and dreaming of the day when the salmon return to the river — a sign that it’s almost time to return home. This poignant story about a devastating chapter in First Nations history is told at a child’s level of understanding."
This story is a great way to incorporate a history lesson into a reading one, and vise avers a. I love that I could talk about the US history and explain what it must have been like to live through it. I would love to read this book to my students. I feel as though you can not teach anything unless it is on the ISTEP. This would be a great way to do both. Great book!
This story is a great way to incorporate a history lesson into a reading one, and vise avers a. I love that I could talk about the US history and explain what it must have been like to live through it. I would love to read this book to my students. I feel as though you can not teach anything unless it is on the ISTEP. This would be a great way to do both. Great book!
October 28, 2016
This book is in a recommended reading list for Aboriginal Resources for young people. I decided that I would read all the books in the list -- for my own interest and simply to take a look at the reading information available to young readers.
Shin-chi's Canoe is a sequel to Shi-shi-etko. In this picture book, five-year old Sin-chi travels to Residential School with his older sister, Shi-shi-etko. This sequel is a little darker than the earlier book; even the pictures are drab and contain little colour. Thinking of the intended audience of ages 4-8, I felt that the symbolism of the art work would not be realized and subsequently, might deter this age group from enjoying the book.
Sin-chi's Canoe deals with the loneliness and some of the hardships endured by Aboriginal children in Residential Schools. Coupled with the earlier Shi-shi-etko, young children would have a good exposure to this topic and it could lead to further discussions.
Shin-chi's Canoe is a sequel to Shi-shi-etko. In this picture book, five-year old Sin-chi travels to Residential School with his older sister, Shi-shi-etko. This sequel is a little darker than the earlier book; even the pictures are drab and contain little colour. Thinking of the intended audience of ages 4-8, I felt that the symbolism of the art work would not be realized and subsequently, might deter this age group from enjoying the book.
Sin-chi's Canoe deals with the loneliness and some of the hardships endured by Aboriginal children in Residential Schools. Coupled with the earlier Shi-shi-etko, young children would have a good exposure to this topic and it could lead to further discussions.
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April 14, 2018A sequel to
Shi-shi-etko
-- though it could certainly be read on its own. Shi-shi-etko returns to the residential school for a second year, this time joined by her younger brother.
The narrative is explicit about many of the ways in which the children are robbed of their culture and generally mistreated -- their long hair cut, given new "English" names, fed less well than the teachers, etc. And Shin-chi longs for the return of the sockeye salmon -- the indication that it's time for them to return home for the summer. But there are also moments where he and his sister are able to connect, and he also makes a new friend. So it doesn't feel to me like an unrelenting downer of a book, but it's also a serious look at the residential school experience. Other reviewers have noted the muted brown/yellow color palette of this book -- is contrast to the previous book.
The narrative is explicit about many of the ways in which the children are robbed of their culture and generally mistreated -- their long hair cut, given new "English" names, fed less well than the teachers, etc. And Shin-chi longs for the return of the sockeye salmon -- the indication that it's time for them to return home for the summer. But there are also moments where he and his sister are able to connect, and he also makes a new friend. So it doesn't feel to me like an unrelenting downer of a book, but it's also a serious look at the residential school experience. Other reviewers have noted the muted brown/yellow color palette of this book -- is contrast to the previous book.
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