ninitohtênân / We Listen

ninitohtênân / We Listen by Caitlin Dale Nicholson

By Caitlin Dale Nicholson with Leona Morin-Neilson
Illustrated by Caitlin Dale Nicholson
Groundwood / House of Anansi, 2024
24 pages
978-1-77306-859-6

Ages 5-9

A school-age Cree girl visiting her grandmother, Nôhkom, describes Nôhkom’s measured actions, each of which the girl, her friend (who is Black), and her mother repeat. “Nôhkom prays. We pray. Nôhkom picks. We pick.” The simple story eloquently shows the role this elder plays in teaching by doing, while also giving a lovely sense of family as the foursome walks in the woods to harvest berries and gather food for a meal. An unexpected, child-centered moment of humor comes when the simple pattern is broken (“Nôhkom rests. Mom rests. Not us!”) This is the third book in this bilingual series in which the narrative on each page appears in twice in Y Cree—in roman orthography and then syllabics–before the English text. Full-page acrylic illustrations beautifully capture the light and landscape of the natural world and the distinct characters as they move through it. ©2024 Cooperative Children’s Book Center