The Song Within My Heart
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- $10.99
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- $10.99
Publisher Description
Renowned Cree painter Allen Sapp's inspired and stunning artwork beautifully complements this sweet story of a young First Nations boy preparing for his first pow-wow. The young boy's Nokum—his beloved grandmother—guides him through the exciting day and watches over him as events unfold. David Bouchard's rhythmic and informative text is based on remembrances from Allen Sapp's childhood.
Winner of the Governor General's Literacy Award, The Song Within My Heart is a beautifully crafted picture book that reflects the wonders of life on a reserve, the importance of the pow-wow, and ultimately, the love between grandmother and grandson.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Executed over a 17-year period, paintings by Cree elder Sapp (I Heard the Drums) inspire this often confusing verse narrative in which a Native American boy pays tribute to his Nokum (grandma). On the opening page, Bouchard (Qu' Appelle) addresses readers in two stanzas of rhyme ("Listen to the beating drum/ It tells a hundred stories"). Four lines of smaller gray type run along the bottom of the same page, using a single word to suggest drum beats ("BOOM boom boom boom" repeats seven times). Other pages pair narrative with chant instead of drum beat ("HI hey hey hey..."). The speaker recalls how his grandmother taught him to value his heritage; this part is clear, but as Bouchard fluctuates among direct address, quotes from Nokum and descriptions of a pow-wow, the structure is somewhat obscure (it seems that the speaker, now grown, is recalling preparations for his first pow-wow). The paintings depict scenes of Sapp's boyhood on a reservation in Saskatchewan. Thickly applied paint daubs and lines richly texture canvases that portray pow-wow scenes: a bright red shirt, Nokum's white braids or the vivid, blue sky punctuate the mostly earthy hues for a striking contrast. However, additional illustrations of Nokum (usually with her grandson at her side) feeding chickens or solemnly peeling potatoes may compound readers' difficulty in ascertaining the story's time and place. Ages 6-up.
