Monique Gray Smith

As a white person, I really appreciated reading a book grounded in contemporary native life. I loved the characters. I’m loved their individual struggles and their different connections to their community and to their spiritual heritage. I loved that there were frank discussions of the traumatic damage that residential schools did to the children who were forced into them. I loved that there was healing, and that the healing was different for each character. It was funny, moving, and a show more very compelling read. The short, declarative sentence style worked well with the way the story was told, but I can see how the author might grow and polish this as she continues in her career.

Advanced Readers Copy provided by Edelweiss. show less

An Indigenous botanist offers powerful guidance and inspiration for a sustainable—and sustaining—future in this young readers’ adaptation of her 2015 adult bestseller.

Sweetgrass—its planting, tending, picking, braiding, and burning—forms the organizing structure for this work in which scientific discovery and traditional wisdom form a harmonious, interconnected whole. Sweetgrass is important to many Indigenous nations as well as a potent example of the limitations of traditional show more Western notions of people existing in opposition to the natural world, as evidenced by the fascinating results of the graduate research project Kimmerer (Potawatomi) oversaw. Rather than humans’ presence inherently threatening nonhuman living beings, the Indigenous worldview persuasively and vividly offered is one in which we live by the guiding principles of the Honorable Harvest, enumerated here as: never take the first, ask permission, listen for the answer, take only what you need, minimize harm, use everything you take, share, be grateful, and reciprocate the gift. Smith (Cree, Lakota) skillfully adapts the original, including text boxes with definitions, thoughtful prompts for reflection and discussion, and pithy quotes featured within exquisite images of a circle of braided sweetgrass by illustrator Neidhardt (Diné). Additional art beautifully enhances teachings and tales from many nations, personal reminiscences, fascinating natural history, and other enriching content. Readers will feel as if they are in conversation with a caring, respected expert guide who offers a hopeful, nourishing vision.

Both an urgent, essential call to action and an uplifting love letter. (author’s note, notes, bibliography, index, photo credits) (Nonfiction. 12-18)

-Kirkus Review show less

We hold each other up, the simple narrative in this Canadian First Nations picture-book informs us, by being kind and sharing with one another, by laughing and learning with one another, and by playing with, and listening to and respecting one another. By doing all these and other things, we embark on what the author describes, in her brief note, as a journey of healing and reconciliation...

Canadian author Monique Gray Smith, of mixed First Nations (Lakota and Cree) and European (Scottish) show more ancestry, first came to my attention through her lovely board book, My Heart Fills With Happiness, illustrated by the talented Julie Flett. I sought out You Hold Me Up because of my positive experience with that earlier book, and on the whole I found it engaging. I certainly appreciate the intent behind the book, which is to provide a template for humane community behavior for the youngest children, and to encourage healing from the trauma inflicted by Canada's residential school system for First Nations peoples. The illustrations here are done by Danielle Daniel, a Canadian artist who is also of mixed First Nations (Anishinaabe) and European (French and Scottish) ancestry, and have an interesting folk art style to them. I've read through the book three times now, and still can't decided if I like them - I don't find them aesthetically appealing, but they draw my eye and keep my attention, all the same - so perhaps I'll have to track down Ms. Daniel's own Sometimes I Feel Like a Fox, for further consideration. I do have a weakness for fox stories, after all. In any case, this is one I would recommend to picture-book readers looking for First Nations/Native American content, as well as to those simply looking for stories to encourage kindness toward all. show less

"My heart fills with happiness when... I see the face of someone I love." So begins the simple narrative of this sweet board-book celebration of happiness, and the things in a child's life that foster it. From the smell of bannock baking in the oven to the feeling of the sun on one's cheeks, from dancing to drumming, the experiences which produce happiness are those which connect us to the world around us, and to the people closest to us...

My Heart Fills With Happiness is the first book I show more have picked up from Canadian author Monique Gray Smith, described on her website as a woman of mixed First Nations (Lakota and Cree) and European (Scottish) descent. I didn't really know anything about the author before picking it up, but being a great admirer of the illustrator, Metis artist Julie Flett, I requested it from the library. I'm glad I did, even though I don't read a great many board books, as I thought it was a lovely little volume. The artwork is (not surprisingly) beautiful, with a deep, satisfying color palette, and many appealing stylized scenes. I think my favorite was the one of the adult male drummer, with a child on his lap, although the scene with the girl twirling in her dress (as seen on the cover) was also quite charming. The cultural context here is First Nations/Native American, with reference to things like bannock - a bread I had always associated with Scotland, but which is also apparently a staple of the indigenous Canadian diet - and drumming. The emotional resonance, on the other hand, with references to such things as holding a loved one's hand, is universal. Recommended to fellow Julie Flett fans, to those looking for children's books with a First Nations context, and to anyone looking for board books addressing happiness and love in a young child's life. show less