Nicola I. Campbell, illustrated by Kim LaFave,
Shi-shi-etko
Groundwood Books, 2005.

Rating: E*

At a time when the Canadian government is attempting to make amends for the suffering caused by the native Residential Schools, this book is a timely publication. For many years the Canadian government believed that native people were uncivilized and made laws forcing native children as young as four years old to go to residential schools to learn European culture and religion. Parents were put in jail if they didn’t send their children. These residential schools had a huge impact on  native cultures resulting in a devastating loss of native traditions, languages and cultures. (Introduction).

In this picture book, we see a little native girl named Shi-shi-etko as she prepares to go to residential school. She has only four days remaining before she leaves in the cattle truck to go away from her family for a long period of time, to a place where the way of life is very different from the community where she has lived. Each day is spent with a member of her family - her mother, her father and her grandmother - revisiting all the places and customs that have become meaningful in her young life.

 Campbell has written the story in a gentle poetic style. Kim LaFave’s vibrant digitally created illustrations surround the text and create an ominous mood even though Campbell lays no blame and makes no complaints about what is about to happen to Shi-shi-etko in the text. Young children will see this as a simple story of a young girl getting ready to  go to school. For older readers it can be a starting point for an exploration into the whole issue of residential schools and their effects on native culture.

Thematic Links: Native Peoples; Canada - History; Residential Schools - Canada

Vicki Pennell
Vol. 11, number 2
December 2005

*Rating System:
E - Excellent, enduring, everyone should see it!
G - Good, even great at times, generally useful!
A - Average, all right, has its applications.
P - Problematic, puzzling, poorly presented.