A beautiful and gentle way to introduce the concept of residential schools. Touches on topics of indigenous culture such as connection to land, and tobacco as offerings.

This book is about a young Native girl who is about to be sent away to residential school. What I liked about this book is it mentions some of the hardships of Natives but that is not the highlight of the book, it focuses on Native joy which I think is important. She goes through this goodbye process with her family and the land. I would say that this book would be good for middle elementary school classrooms. Depending on maturity of the class it would be beneficial to have a conversation with the class about residential schools. ( )

I read this for the "By An Indigenous Author" part of my 2020 reading challenge. A story about a young girl memorizing her surroundings and heritage before being sent off to school, moving and beautifully illustrated. ( )

Shi-shi-etko by Nicola I. Campbell is the story of a girl who in four days time must leave her family to attend residential school. We follow Shi-shi-etko as she soaks up all of the beauty and wonder of her home and her family so she can fill herself up until she is able to return home again.
As an adult, reading this book is heart wrenching since we know where and what will potentially become of Shi-shi-etko. However, for our children, it provides a beautiful outlet to discuss family, favourite places and people, and why these things are so important to us. The lyrical text by Nicola I. Campbell and the rich and liquid illustrations by Kim LaFave are completely welcoming, drawing you into the story from page one. As with many books about the topic of residential schools, there is a perfect note from the author at the beginning to help lead a discussion with the younger generation about Residential School and the inherent problems with the system. I would share this picture book with preschool children and older.
This critically-acclaimed book is published by Groundwood Books. Shi-shi-etko is another fantastic book for every child. ( )

I didn’t know much about residential schools before reading this book. Residential schools are no longer around, but it still sad to read that children were forced away from their families. The author’s note at the start even states that it will be many generations before the native people will recover from the effects of this forced government schooling. Shi-shi-etko does such a beautiful job of taking in everything around her before she must leave though. Instead of spending the last few days and nights in sadness, she makes the most of the time she has. This book could be used for studies of the history of Indians of North America.