Nimoshom and His Bus

by Penny M. Thomas, Karen Hibbard (Illustrator)

Nimoshom loved to drive the school bus. Every day, on the way to and from school, he had something to say. Sometimes, he told the kids silly stories. Sometimes, he taught the kids a new word in Cree.

"Nimoshom and His Bus" introduces basic Cree words. A glossary is included in the back of the book.

Genres: Picture Books, Indigenous, Childrens, School, Native American, Canada, Language

32 pages, Hardcover

First published November 28, 2017

Reviews

[Tyler Baphomet · Rating 5 out of 5]

A cute little introduction to the Native American Cree language.

[Producervan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This ebook was provided by NetGalley for review.

What a neat book! Both content and illustrations are most wonderful. A great introduction to the Cree Native American language. Highly recommend to child and adult alike.

[Tara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this ARC from Netgalley for an honest review.
Nimoshom is a grandfather and the bus driver. He tells the kids lots of stories and teaches them words in Cree. Enjoyable for kids who want to know more about languages. Lovely illustrations too.

[Ashley Adams · Rating 5 out of 5]

The illustrations build a perfect tone for this children's book honoring a wonderful grandfather. The author remembers school bus rides and a childhood sense of community enriched by the Cree language, and a grandfather's caring nature.

[Storywraps · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nimoshom, whose name means grandfather in Cree, is a dedicated and personable bus driver. All the kids love him and the feeling towards them is mutual. His daily routines are highlighted and enriched by his beautiful Cree language. The kids listen up and in so doing they learn Nimoshom's words as he tells silly stories and banters back and forth with his happy captive riders.

The illustrations look muted and are full of emotion and action. At the end of the book is a glossary of Cree words used within. This story documents a man who has a very special relationship with the students and daily interacts feeding them his wonderful language. I would recommend any classroom or school library to get a copy for their shelves and I look forward to more books like this one being published.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm so glad that books like this are coming out, where First Nation people are peppered into the story so that we learn words, and a little bit about the culture, even at the picture book level. It makes me wish this book was longer, and had more of story, but this is a great first step to making this People's life normal, and their language part of everyday life, such as driving a bus, as is shown here.


Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

[Krystal · Rating 5 out of 5]

This insightful children's story uses the interesting narrative of a bus driving grandfather to teach Cree to the young in this wonderful tale, with heartwarming images on each page.

[Chinook · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sweet story about a bus driver that teaches Cree words in the story. Loved the illustrations.

[Andréa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Note: I received a digital review copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.

[Carla · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a simple yet cute book that introduces the Cree language and a bit of its culture through a bus driver, called Nimoshom (this means grandfather in Cree) and his charges. It tells about his habits while driving the children to school and teaches a few Cree words while doing this. The illustrations are wonderful. They look a bit like pastel, pencil crayon and water colour but I am not positive. They are colourful, show wonderful emotion and life. This is a wonderful book to use when teaching about cultures around the world as well as Native Canadians/Americans. I recommend this book to any and all schools, classrooms and public libraries. It could be used in a variety of ways from read aloud, independent reading and to teach a few words from a new language. The publisher generously provided me with a copy of this book via Netgalley.

[Virginia · Rating 4 out of 5]

won through 49th Shelf giveaways

This was delightful. A wonderful homage to a lovely person, and a really neat way to introduce some Cree words. I appreciated that the translations of the Cree words are integrated into the story, so you idn't have to "pause" to look it up in the the gossary (also helpfully provided, with pronuciations). I didn't like all of the illustrations, but some were really beautiful.

[Juliana Lee · Rating 2 out of 5]

More of s lesson on the Cree language rather than a story with a beginning, middle, and end. There is no problem or solution just words the bus driver would say to the ids in different circumstances and what those words mean in English.

[Maggie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nimoshom, the cree word for grandfather, drives the bus to school. On the way to school he tells the children on the bus funny stories or teaches them new cree words to say. This is a sweet and heartwarming story about a kind bus driver who connected with the children. It is also educational because several words are featured in cree and the back of the book has a glossary of cree words with their english translations. This book is an easy read picture book that holds its beauty in its simplicity.

Class Activities:
Practice the cree words at the back of the book and challenge the students to use them throughout the day.
Practice new languages and have each student present a new word they found.

Thomas, P. M., & Hibbard, K. (2017). Nimoshom and his bus. Winnipeg, Manitoba: HighWater Press.

[Lynn Davidson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice story about a Cree grandfather who drove a school bus and taught a few Cree words to the children.

[Christine Irvin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nimoshom was a bus driver. He was a Cree Indian. Nimoshom means "my grandfather" in Cree. While he was driving the bus, he would sometimes tell silly stories. He always said, "Tansi," when he picked someone up, since tansi means "hello" in Cree. He taught the children other words like "Api" (sit down) and "ehe" (yes).

This isn't so much a storybook as it is a book about how someone from one culture can influence someone from another culture. In this instance, the book serves to teach readers some basic words in the Cree language. The author includes a glossary of the words in the back of the book.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lovely children's book from Penny Thomas, whose previous book won the McNally Robinson Best Book for Young People a few years back. The book not only captures the spirit of the community in which Penny grew up-the strong sense of togetherness-but also serves as a gentle and enjoyable Intro to the Swampy Cree dialect.

One note that I've seen often in other mentions of this book, and other Cree language books: the grandfather's name isn't Nimoshom. Nimoshom means "My Grandpa." Not just grandpa, but my grandpa. Grandpa would be Moshom. The "Ni" makes it specific.

[T.J. Burns]

Nimoshom was indeed a warm, friendly, helpful and entertaining man. My daughter and I would have loved to meet him.

Beautiful illustrations. It was fun learning some words in Cree.

We do have one recommendation, however. For those of us who don’t know about the Cree language, who speaks it and where, we suggest that the author include a sentence explaining who speaks Cree and a map of where Cree speakers live. I had to look it up.

I received a copy of this book from the publishers via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Jillian · Rating 4 out of 5]

A delightful introduction to the Cree language, and the love of a grandfather, who was a beloved bus driver for the children in the community. Each page spread tells of something the grandfather did and said while driving the bus, with a sentence that follows including the translation for what the Cree word means in English. A beautiful #ownvoices story to include in any collection. I just wish the Cree word list at the end included a pronunciation component to ensure I'm pronouncing the Cree words correctly if I use for a read aloud.

[Linda V · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you Net Galley for the ARC to review.

All children would be fortunate to have Nimoshom as their bus driver! With a gentle understanding of his charges, Nimoshom not only picks up and drops off schoolchildren but imparts love and kind discipline while using his Cree language. A relatable introduction to basic Cree, with lovely watercolors. A word guide at the end summarizes the words used.

[Richelle Zirkle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a cute book with nice illustrations. It's an interesting way to explain the daily activities of a bus driver and introduce words from the Cree language at the same time. It works well to introduce the idea of Cree culture and expand the topic to other cultures of the world.

I received an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

[Donna Maguire · Rating 3 out of 5]

I gave this book four stars. It is a lovely little book that uses the story of a driving grandfather to teach Cree to the young people that he picks up each day. Fun story and some learning points too.

[Sandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nimoshom and His Bus by Penny M Thomas introduces the Cree language and the culture. The illustrations are beautiful and the story is perfect.

I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

[J · Rating 5 out of 5]

YAS. So easy to make this book interactive and keep kids' attention. I used it on both preschoolers and first graders. Having them repeat the Cree words and sometimes having them guess what they thought they meant went over really, really well.

[Riley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sweet, everyday sort of picture book that follows a Cree school bus driver, highlighting the Cree words he uses and translating them into English.

[Mabel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a cute book and a fun way to teach children about another culture's language!

[BiblioBeruthiel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really loved this book! It does such a great job of giving a quick glimpse into Cree culture and it's cool for the kids to learn a couple of words. Short and simple but lovely.

[Madison · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book Nimoshom and His Bus by Penny M. Thomas is a really wonderful book that includes Cree words. The fiction book is about a bus driver (Nimoshom) who sometimes talks to the students using Cree words. The book is primarily in English and the Cree words are in bold red font with the English translations in bold black font. This draws the reader's eye to the Cree word and helps the reader to know what the word means in English without having to access the glossary. The book does contain a glossary with both a translation or the Cree word and a pronunciation which is very valuable and allows the book to be read properly by someone who is not fluent in Cree. The author is a writer of Cree-Ojilbway background. Her two children’s books both contain Cree and highlight First Nations’s people and have won awards. The book does appear to reflect anti-bias teaching as the main character Nimoshom is a Cree man. The book is written from a third person perspective and the reader grows attached to Nimoshom through the text. I would love to meet him! He sounds like a kind man. The illustrations are in watercolor and really center around Nimoshom and his personality as well as highlight his friendly features.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I remember some of my nice bus drivers of long ago, but I never had this experience, a sweet bus driver who loved his passengers enough so that he tells them stories, is patient, kind, and teaches them Cree words. In simple text this Nomoshom (meaning grandfather) tale takes the reader through the beginning of the ride, saying Tansi (hello) and Machi kisikaw (It is a bad day - like stormy out), Mino kisikaw (It is a good day) or Ekosani (thank you). The illustrations are full of action and emotion with Nimoshom and the kids. What a great story that will be good to share with readers who will like knowing some words in a new language. Added is a glossary at the end with the words used and their translation. I only wish it also had a pronunciation guide.

[Phobean · Rating 4 out of 5]

I almost didn't pick this book out from the Indigenous People's Month display case at my local library --seemed too simple, boring maybe. But, nimohom's face looking through the glass at me weekly finally charmed me. Glad I read this book. It IS simple, but that's a strength. The illustrations are warm yet lively, the text has a soothing flow and is well formulated to teach simple Cree words in context, and there's equally clear and instructive key to pronunciations at the end.

Extra kudos: the book got a positive review on American Indians in Children's Literature blog:
https://americanindiansinchildrenslit...

[Bethany · Rating 4 out of 5]

School bus drivers can be pretty special people. They haul, shepherd, and schlep, but they also comfort, welcome, remind, and scold when necessary. Nimoshom (that's his honorific--"grandfather" in Cree) has plenty of encounters with the kids on his bus, and always with a quick word to fit the job. Each page features a Cree word in context, along with its definition, blending a vocabulary lesson into bus ride.

There's not much of a story, just a warmly enjoyable framework built around a scene that will be familiar to many school kids.