Caitlin Dale Nicholson

My early/reluctant-reader grandchild enjoyed reading this book. The repetition made reading easy enough to enjoy, yet the detail in the illustrations provided much interest for her very imaginative and creative mind. The story ends with a simple recipe for making Rose Hip Tea (the story shows the progress of the pair in collecting rose hips).
Each 2-page spread shows grandmother doing something on one side and the child on the other. The same phrase is used for both, with the substitution of "I" for "Nokom", and the phrases are written in 3 languages, giving the reader the choice of which they read while exposing young people to the reality of other languages and alphabets existing in our world. There is no pronunciation guide, so if you are not from that culture you may want to also use some of the other available tri-lingual Cree books to help you read the Cree aloud.
I understand there is a series of these simple books, so we'll be looking for more of them.… (more)

Author/artist Caitlin Dale Nicholson and translator Leona Morin-Neilson, who worked together on the beautiful bilingual Cree-English picture-book Niwechihaw / I Help back in 2008, join forces once again in this new title. Once again we see Nohkôm (or grandmother) leading the way, as she and her daughter and granddaughter all head out to gather some wild yarrow. Everything that Nohkôm does, from walking to praying, is imitated by her younger relatives. Almost...

Having enjoyed Niwechihaw / I Help some years ago, when I first read it, I was quite excited to see that this duo (who seem to be related, to judge by the blurb at the rear of the book) had produced a second title. The first thing I noticed, after picking Nipêhon / ᓂᐯᐦᐅᐣ / I Wait up, is that the Cree text here is represented in both the Latin alphabet and Cree syllabics. Although it is not mentioned anywhere in the book, that I could find, it is Western Cree syllabics being used. Happily, it would appear that the first book was republished last year (2018) in a new edition that also uses the Cree syllabics. Leaving that aside, I found this as appealing as its predecessor. An excellent introduction to some Cree vocabulary, it also offers a gentle look at three generations of a Cree family, as they head out to gather nature's bounty. I loved the little bit of humor here, where Mom isn't picking as she should, instead blowing at what looks like a dandelion. The artwork is lovely - full-page paintings are paired with very minimal text at the bottom of each page - done in acrylic paint in a somewhhat impressionistic style. Recommended to anyone looking for picture-books featuring the Cree language and culture.… (more)