Books at Bedtime: Shin-chi’s Canoe
Tonight I read Shin-chi’s Canoe by Nicola Campbell, illustrated by Kim LaFave to my daughter. The story is a follow-up to Campbell’s earlier book Shi-shi-etko which narrates the story of a young aboriginal girl, Shi-shi-etko, as she is separated from her family at the age of six to attend a residential school. In Shin-chi’s Canoe, Campbell returns to the same family but now it is time for Shi-shi-etko’s brother, Shin-chi to go to the same school with his sister. Shin-chi is given a little carved canoe as a parting gift from his father and the boat will serve as a reminder during the cold cruel months ahead of a request Shin-chi has made of his father: namely, to build a dugout canoe for him when he returns home at the beginning of summer.
When this book arrived at our house, my daughter was immediately taken by it. She and her classmates were all building boats to be launched at a nearby creek. Can I show this book to my teacher? She asked right away. But we haven’t read it yet, I said. We’ll read it tonight, I promise. At bedtime we curled up into bed and read Shin-Chi’s Canoe. My daughter remained silent through the reading and at the end, she made a comment that struck me. While I concentrated mostly on the social injustice of the aboriginal residential school experience, my daughter remembered instead the request Shin-chi made of his father, namely, the promise that he would have his own canoe by the end of that first year away at school. See, his Daddy’s making the canoe just like Shin-chi asked, my daughter said. Quite frankly, caught up as I was with the bigger social issue presented by the book, I had forgotten that simple request. I was amazed and humbled by my daughter’s observation. Truly, children have their own unique perspective. That is why reading to them at bedtime can be so hugely rewarding.
Incidentally, November is National American Indian Heritage Month in the United States. The story of Shin-chi and Shi-shi-etko is a great way to start educating young people about the history of aboriginal children’s lives in North America.
November 8th, 2008 at 9:27 am
Welcome to PaperTigers, Sally – it’s great to have you on board!
This is a lovely book – and it’s so true what you say about our perspective and our children’s when reading stories. I suppose also because when we are reading a book that deals wih social issues, young children are likely not to be aware of the attitudes and injustices it springs from but accept the status quo of what is presented in the story – which just goes to show what an enormous responsibility we have in choosing books to share with our children and what will influence them as the years go by…
November 8th, 2008 at 8:03 pm
Sally, this is a wonderful post! The cover illustration is gorgeous–and just the right size–and the book is one that you make me long to read–I’m so happy that you’re a PaperTiger!
November 10th, 2008 at 2:06 pm
Sally -
Glad to have you join us at PaperTigers! What a wonderful book review.
November 12th, 2008 at 7:38 pm
How lovely to imagine children launching little boats at a creek!… Thanks for sharing your and your daughter’s reaction to the book. It sounds like one of those stories that work on and can be appreciated in many levels.
June 17th, 2010 at 1:02 am
[...] back, I wrote a Books at Bedtime blog post about a book called Shin-chi’s Canoe by Nicola Campbell. This book was about a young [...]